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ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF
AMERICAN COMMERCE
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■'■"""ii ■795-1895
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF
AMERICAN COMMERCE
CONSISTING OF
ONE HUNDRED ORIGINAL ARTICLES ON COMMERCIAL TOPICS DESCRIBING THE PRACTICAL
DEVELOPMENT OF THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF TRADE IN THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE PAST CENTURY
AND SHOWING THE PRESENT MAGNITUDE OF OUR FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS
9i ^ifitotv Of 3lmer(can Comtnerce bv ®nt f^unnren 9lmerican0
WITH A
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE
OF THE IMPORTANT EVENTS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE AND INVENTION WITHIN THE PAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS
EDITED M
CHAUNCEY MfOEPEW, LL.D.
ISSUED IN COMMEMORATION OF THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST CENTURY OF AMERICAN
COMMERCIAL PROGRESS AS INAUGURATED BY THE TREATY OF AMITY, COMMERCE, AND NAVIGATION
NEGOTIATED BY CHIEF JUSTICE JAY AND APPROVED BY PRESIDENT WASHINGTON IN 1 795
IN TWO VOLUMES
c-^'> 1/
VOL. I
%iumam
NEW YORK
D. O. HAYNES & CO.
M DCCC XCV
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, by
D. O. Haynes & Co,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
THE OE VINNE PRE88, NEW-YORK.
EDITOR'S PREFACE
This volume illustrates the dignity of labor, the beneficence of liberty, and the
triumphs of invention. It is an epic on the marvels of intelligent work. The
wonders of the material development of the most remarkable of the centuries of
recorded time are exhibited in this gallery of pen-pictures. They are the word-
paintings of artists, each eminent in his own department of beneficent industry. It
is an American story; but the United States is the most conspicuous illustration and
example of the nineteenth century and its results. Peace and free institutions have
furnished the opportunity for individual efforts. States constructed, cities founded,
wildernesses settled, and vast populations prosperous in varied industries are the rich
contributions of our country to the world's progress in the past hundred years.
Capital and labor have caused and shared this creation of power and production,
and this volume, which is an encyclopedia of industrial development for a century,
written by business men, is appropriately dedicated to the business men of America.
C. M. D.
PUBLISHERS' INTRODUCTION
The evolution of an idea is always interesting. In submitting to the public this history
of American commerce, an explanation of the causes in which it had its inception may most
properly premise a review of the finished work. The present year marked for the oldest
commercial paper in America, the " Shipping and Commercial List and New York Price Cur-
rent," the completion of one hundred years of useful existence. In seeking some method of
celebrating the centennial in a manner worthy at the same time of the paper and of the busi-
ness interests of the country, the present idea was evolved. It was decided that in no better
way could service be rendered to the American commercial community than by gathering
together in compact form the interesting facts of its remarkable development. At first the
intention was to present this history in a centennial edition of the paper, and upon this plan
the work was begun. Then, as in the end, the plan contemplated the publication of one
hundred chapters, written by one hundred men representing the great lines into which our
trade and industries had been developed and specialized in recent years. The suggestion of
such a work met with most generous welcome in the business world. Its need was recognized
at once, and its novelty and value elicited eminent aid. The very success of the idea compelled
the changing of the original plan. In the form of a newspaper publication the work would
have lacked permanence and breadth of scope. It seemed almost unfair to interest representa-
tive men throughout the country, who would bring enthusiasm, ability, and experience to the
work of describing the industries of the country, and then to place upon them limitations of
space within which they could do justice neither to themselves nor to their subjects. More-
over, it was not solely as a newspaper centennial that the event was of importance ; it had a
deeper and more extended historical significance. Like the " Shipping and Commercial List"
itself, the centennial to be celebrated was but the natural outcome of a great event in the
history of our establishment as a nation.
In the year 1795 there was ratified by the Senate of the United States, and formally
approved by President Washington, a treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation with Great
Britain. This treaty, negotiated by John Jay, of New York, as envoy extraordinary, secured
to this country a commercial liberty commensurate with its position of national independence,
as recognized in the treaty of peace twelve years before. It conceded the actuality of the
national existence, and implied conviction as to its permanence. Above all, it averted the
almost certain disaster of a war, then imminent, between the two countries. The confidence
it inspired in the business world by its recognition of this country as a treaty power, and
vui ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the immediate advantages it brought to our commerce, are shown in the fact that the foreign
trade of the United States almost doubled in the single year following its making. Arranged
at a time when the American people were smarting under a sense of bitter wrong inflicted
by Great Britain, the many advantages obtained by the Jay treaty were not, at first, fully
appreciated. Political partizanship attacked it blindly, and the great party then clamoring for
an alliance with France denounced it fiercely. In its support, the calmer counsels of such great
statesmen as Washington and Hamilton, representing the conservative and substantial elements
of the nation, finally prevailed, and the treaty was adopted. Time has too fully demonstrated
the wisdom of this action to make necessary a further discussion of the long-since-refuted
arguments by which the consummation of the treaty was opposed. The era it ushered in was
for the nation one of progress and prosperity unprecedented.
The opportunity to celebrate the centennial of our oldest commercial paper as well as that
of our country's commercial progress naturally spurred us on to the highest possible attain-
ment. It was determined to have nothing ephemeral or meretricious about the publication, and
to make it, not a newspaper issue, but a standard book of reference, prepared under the best
literary guidance and made with the best mechanical skill. The opportunity was in every way
worthy of the undertaking, for in addition to the commemoration of commercial liberty there
was demanded a permanent and authentic record of the results accomplished through this
liberty. Properly produced, such a history of American commerce would not only do long-
delayed justice to the memory of the patriots of one hundred years ago, but would apprecia-
tively recognize the men who by their industry and genius have aided in the industrial advance
of this country, and would provide for the present and the future a source of inspiring and
stimulating knowledge of the grandeur of American achievement. It was to this end that this
history of American commerce, as it now appears, was undertaken, and in this spirit the work
has been carried on throughout. The incentive and the material were at hand, and the men
whose influence had directed our commercial activities in the crowning years of the century were
still here to aid in making the work authentic and complete.
These considerations were presented to Hon. Levi P. Morton, Governor of the State of New
York, and to Dr. Chauncey M. Depew. Governor Morton at once accepted the assignment of
" American Banking," and Dr. Depew generously consented to edit the entire work. From
this time the success of the undertaking was assured. The merits of the plan impressed the
leaders in other lines of industry, and the most generous cooperation followed. In choosing
the men to contribute the various articles, the editorial committee, to whom was delegated the
authority of selection, considered but one question : Was each fitted by ability and experience
to represent the industry with which he was identified ? No other question entered into the
matter. Political considerations were especially avoided. The work was to be simply a
magazine of facts collated by men who knew their significance, and made interesting with the
vitality of actual experience, — a book about business, by business men, for business men, — a
record of events in the departments of enterprise and production, with such reference to causes
and conditions as should be necessary to describe intelligently those events.
If the need of such a history was understood before, it certainly became more impressive
as the work upon the book progressed. For a century the commercial history of the United
States had remained unwritten, and records such as the compiler of political and universal
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE ix
history finds preserved for his reference, were not obtainable for a work of this character. They
were scattered, incomplete and often conflicting, through every conceivable channel, from the
old ledger entries of long-forgotten firms to the modern monographs in the files of periodical
publications. The wisdom of dividing the work into one hundred chapters written by one
hundred contributors now received corroboration anew. Upon no other plan could the data
essential to the work have been gathered ; nor by any other means could the publication have
obtained that historical accuracy and standard of authenticity which a work of this kind must
possess to have permanent value. No one historian, however industrious or versatile, could
have written " One Hundred Years of American Commerce." Only by the cooperation of the
leaders in every branch of industry treated could the desired results have been obtained, and it
is here due to the writers of this book to state that, chosen as they have been from the ranks
of the busiest men of to-day, they have still found time cheerfully and ably to cooperate for
the patriotic purposes of this history of American commerce. In order that the reader may
understand something of the plan upon which the work was written by these contributors,
we quote from the first letter of suggestions sent out by the editorial committee in charge
of the work :
" As to the character of the work. In the varied individuality of style, naturally resultant
upon so many contributors, we hope to escape that dullness of machine-made history which
keeps so many otherwise useful volumes unread. Therefore upon every contributor we would
impress the fact that he should not sacrifice his personal style or preferences. It is not the
encyclopedic knowledge of the pedant that the world wants to-day. It is the living acquain-
tance with men and things, causes and effects, that shall show what is and the promise of what
is to be. The information that every successful man has of his own business is of greater value
than the statistics of the records. In our work we desire to bring the man and the records
together, and to have him show the meaning of the records in the light of his personal and
practical knowledge. Is this to be a statistical or a descriptive work? is an important question
that has been asked. Are the articles to be nearly all statistics, and is the progress in the
various lines to be shown by figures or by words? The answer is that this is to be both a
statistical and a descriptive work; but the statistics are to be subordinated to the description,
or not used at all unless they are necessary to the description. Description without statistics
would have no force ; statistics without description would be meaningless to many. The union
of the two in the hands of men who know the significance of the statistics they cite will give
these articles their interest and weight. In dealing with branch or allied subjects pertinent to
the article under discussion, contributors are recommended merely to summarize the cognate
subject briefly and with special reference to its application. There are so many ramifications of
every great industry that to attempt to follow more than the main story would be impossible.
To conform to the centennial feature of the work, it has been decided to limit the number of
chapters to one hundred. A history of ' one hundred years of American commerce, in one
hundred chapters, by one hundred Americans,' has the ring of a slogan of success. And the
men in charge of this work will keep constantly before their minds not only the making of the
work, but the making it of such a nature that business men will not only need but want it. A
strong, accurate, and true record, as well as an attractive one, is the aim."
The policy persistently observed has been studiously to refrain from interfering with either
X ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the style or method of treatment by which each writer has stamped his own individuality upon
his work. The editors have attempted no greater uniformity than that which was necessary to
prevent extended and useless duplication in allied subjects. If, therefore, the reader of this
book finds that its chapters are not always uniform in length or treatment, he is but noting the
differences which must exist in literary work among one hundred men. In these very differ-
ences exists one of the most interesting and most effective phases of the history. In presenting
the book herewith it is only necessary to add that each article bears the trade-mark of its
quality in the signature of its contributor. When it is further recalled that actual personal
knowledge covering from one half to two thirds of the century under discussion, and directly
received but hitherto unpublished oral tradition concerning the remainder, are possessed by the
majority of the relators, the present work has had sufficient testimony to its worth. The figures
accompanying each article are such as are deemed the most authentic, and have been derived
from every available source. In the frequent preference given to the reports of the United
States census the writers have taken the stand that, however imperfect these may have been
found in certain particular instances, they are still, taken collectively and with due regard to
their official nature, the soundest basis for comparisons covering extended periods. Where
particular trades have preserved their own records, and these have been considered reliable,
figures have been based upon them, while in other instances special statistics personally
compiled by the writer have been given. In all these cases the figures given are considered
the most authentic by the writers, and this judgment by them must be the support for
their accuracy.
The method pursued in dividing the work into its one hundred chapters so as both to
comprehend and to distinguish all the great factors in the industrial activities of the country
will be apparent upon examination of the Table of Contents. Beginning with great national
interests, as banking and interstate commerce, the classification follows through the great
corporate subdivisions of industry, — as the telegraph, ship-building, newspapers, — then through
the products of the earth — as cotton, rice, and sugar — and our natural resources, — as mines,
live stock, etc., — and so on down through the long list of manufactures in which the genius of
America has been shown, to the mercantile activities comprised under the various trades. The
chapter numbered XCIX, " Other Industries," was introduced to provide representation for
other more or less important industrial factors not elsewhere treated.
The editorial management of the history, under Dr. Depew, has been conducted by Mr.
Thomas C. Quinn. Of the associate editors whose work deserves mention are Mr. Wesley W.
Pasko, Mr. William Douglas Willes, and Mr. Charles Frederick Stansbury. Mention should
be made also of the work of Mr. John Winfield Scott, whose wide acquaintance and patriotic
labors did much toward making possible the final successful result. For the typographical
excellence of the book-maker's art evidenced in this volume, credit is due to the De Vinne
Press, to whose reputation for elegance and fine work little can be added. The art work of
the history was placed in charge of the artist William C. Smith, of whose skill many of the
portraits in this work give evidence. The engraving of the portraits drawn by Mr. Smith, as
well as the reproduction of the other portraits, was done by the Gill Engraving Company.
Words of recognition are also due to the L. L. Brown Paper Company, of Adams, Mass., for
their care in the manufacture of the hand-made paper for the authors' edition of the history.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE xi
One result of the work upon this history which was not directly foreseen when the project
was conceived has been the setting aside of December 19th as " Commercial Day," in honor of
the centennial of American commercial liberty, and in recognition from year to year hereafter
of the beneficent results of American industry and enterprise which this history of American
commerce both demonstrates and commemorates. The idea of this celebration came to Dr.
Depew through his editorial work on this history. His suggestion of Commercial Day has
already been taken up throughout the country. The Chamber of Commerce and the Board of
Trade of New York led off in the movement. In the resolutions passed by the Chamber of
Commerce their leadership in the promotion of Commercial Day was most strikingly justified
by allusion to the fact that it was the solid men of New York, as represented by the Chamber
of Commerce one hundred years ago, who, uninfluenced by partizan clamor, came to the assis-
tance of President Washington in securing calmer consideration for the Jay treaty. Commercial
Day this year will be celebrated with a banquet in New York at Delmonico's, given under the
auspices of the editors and contributors to this history of American commerce, and to which
have been invited representative business men in all lines of industry and from all sections of
the country. Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade throughout the country, following
the example set by New York, will commemorate the day with appropriate exercises. From
1895, the centennial of American commercial liberty, will date Commercial Day, devoted to
the interests of American trade and to renewing from year to year the vigor of our national
patriotism and enterprise.
In the closing days of the work on this history the painful news of the death of Mr.
Frederic Gunther was received. Only a few days before his death Mr. Gunther had revised
the proof of his article on the fur trade for the history. This contribution from his experience
will remain to testify to his ability and the success of his business career.
We must finally express our deep sense of obligation to the one hundred Americans who
have cooperated in the production of this history, and to whose enthusiasm, experience, and
ability it Is a lasting monument. That our part has been done in a manner which shall be
considered worthy of them and of the commercial interests of our country is the highest praise
for which we hope.
The Publishers.
December 10, 1895.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
1 AMERICAN BANKING .
2 AMERICAN LABOR
3 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
4 INTERSTATE COMMERCE
VOLUME I
Levi P. Morton, Governor of the State of New York .
PAGE
I
. Carroll D. Wright, LL.D., Washington, D. C,
United States Commissioner of Labor ii
. WORTHINGTON C. FoRD, Washington, D, C,
Chief United States Bureau of Statistics 20
. Edward A. Moseley, Washington, D. C,
Secretary Interstate Commerce Commission 25
5 THE POSTAL SERVICE IN COMMERCE . Thomas L. James, New York,
President Lincoln National Bank, and Ex- Postmaster- General 33
6 OUR MERCHANT MARINE . , . . Eugene T. Chamberlain, Washington, D. C,
United States Commissioner of Navigation 38
7 OUR COMMERCIAL WEALTH AND VOLUME OF BUSINESS, Charles F. Clark, New York,
President The Bradstreet Company 42
Col. William Jay, New York
47
8 THE CORPORATION IN COMMERCE .
9 COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS .
10 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NEW YORK COMMERCE, General Horace Porter, LL.D., New York 55
Alexander E. Orr, New York,
President New York Chamber of Commerce 50
II OUR FOREIGN TRADE FROM A TRADER'S STANDPOINT, Charles R. Flint, New York,
Flint Eddy ^^ Co., Merchants 63
12 WALL STREET ....
13 ADVERTISING IN AMERICA
14 FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE
15 LIFE INSURANCE ....
16 AMERICAN RAILROADS
17 AMERICAN CAR-BUILDING .
18 AMERICAN SHIP-BUILDING
19 THE TELEGRAPH ....
John P. Townsend, LL.D., New York,
President Bowery Savings Bank 67
Francis Wayland Ayer, Philadelphia, N. W. Ayer b' Son 76
Henry H. Hall, New York, Hall d^ Henshaw . 84
Sheppard Homans, New York,
First President Actuarial Society of America, and
Corresponding Member Lond. Inst, of Actuaries 91
Stuyvesant Fish, New York,
President Illinois Central Railroad 98
James McMillan, Detroit,
United States Senator from Michigan 113
Charles H. Cramp, Philadelphia,
President William Cramp bf Sons
Ship and Engine Building Co. 119
General Thomas T. Eckert, New York,
President Western Union Telegraph Co. 12$
XIV
CHAPTER
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
20 THE TELEPHONE John E. Hudson, Boston,
President American Bell Telephone Co. 133
21 THE EXPRESS
22 THE STREET RAILWAYS OF AMERICA
23 THE HOTELS OF AMERICA
24 AMERICAN THEATERS Albert M. Palmer, New York, /Vw/m/br /'a/w<fr'j r/4^a^^r 157
25 AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS .
Levi C. Weir, New York,
President Adams Express Company 137
Herbert H. Vreeland, New York,
President Metropolitan Traction Company 141
Hiram Hitchcock, New York,
Hitchcock, Darling &= Co., Proprietors Fifth Avenue Hotel 149
. General Charles H. Taylor, Boston,
Editor and Managing Proprietor Boston Globe 166
26 THE AMERICAN TRADE AND TECHNICAL PRESS, David Williams, New York,
Publisher and Proprietor The Iron Age 1 74
27 AMERICAN MINES Richard P. Rothwell, New York,
Editor The Engineering and Mining Journal 178
28 AMERICAN QUARRYING
29 POWDER AND EXPLOSIVES
. Redfield Proctor, Proctor, Vt.,
United States Senator from Vermont 1 88
. Francis G. duPont, Wilmington, Del 192
30 AMERICAN LUMBER Bernhard E. Fernow, Washington, D. C,
Chief Division of Forestry, U. S. Department of Agriculture 196
31 PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS, Henry C. Folger, Jr., A. M., LL.B., New York,
Standard Oil Company 204
32 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
33 AMERICAN LIVE STOCK .
. George E. Morrow, Stillwater, Oklahoma,
President Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College,
and Director Agricultural Experiment Station 215
. Lazarus N. Bonham, Oxford, Ohio,
Ex-Secretary Ohio State Board of Agriculture 220
34 AMERICAN COTTON Richard H. Edmonds, Baltimore,
Founder and Editor Manufacturers' Record 23 1
35 AMERICAN WOOL William Lavi^rence, A. M., LL.D., Bellefontaine, Ohio,
President National Wool Growers'' Association, and
President Ohio Wool Growers'' Association 236
. Alfred Henderson, New York, /V/^r Zi^ifwo^^-rj^w cSt^ Ci?. . 248
36 AMERICAN HORTICULTURE
37 AMERICAN SUGAR . . . .
38 AMERICAN RICE . . . .
39 AMERICAN FLOUR
40 AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS .
41 AMERICAN POTTERIES
42 AMERICAN GAS INTERESTS
43 AMERICAN PAPER MILLS .
44 AMERICAN PUBLISHING
45 AMERICAN PRINTING
46 THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
47 COPPER AND BRASS
John E. Searles, New York,
Secretary and Treasurer American Sugar Refining Company 257
John F. Talmage, New York, Dan Talmage's Sons
262
Charles A. Pillsbury, Minneapolis,
Pillsbury- Washburn Flour Mills Company 266
James Gillinder, Philadelphia,
President Gillinder fir" Sons, Incorporated 274
John Moses, Trenton, N. J.,
President The John Moses <Sr» Sons Company 285
Emerson McMillin, New York, Emerson McMillin &^ Co. 295
Warner Miller, Herkimer, N. Y.,
Herkimer Paper Company 302
John W. Harper, New York, Harper <y Brothers . . 308
Theodore L. De Vinne, New York, The De Vinne Press 314
Charles Huston, Coatesville, Pa.,
President Lukens Iron and Steel Company 320
Alfred A. Cowles, New York,
Vice-President Ansonia Brass and Copper Company 329
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
XV
CHAPTER
48 LOCOMOTIVE AND ENGINE WORKS
VOLUME II
Alba B. Johnson, Philadelphia, Baldwin Locomotive Works 337
49 MACHINERY MANUFACTURING INTERESTS, William Sellers, Philadelphia,
President and Engineer William Sellers &" Co., Incorporated 346
50 AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND IMPLEMENTS, Eldridge M. Fowler, Chicago,
Vice-President McCormick Harvesting Machine Company 352
51 STOVES AND HEATING APPARATUS . . Jeremiah Dwyer, Detroit,
President Michigan Stove Company 357
52 PLUMBERS AND STEAM-FITTERS' SUPPLIES, Jordan L. Mott, New York,
Presidents. L. Mott Iron Works 364
William H. Jackson, New York,
President Jackson Architectural Iron Works 371
53 BUILDING MATERIALS
54 ELECTRICAL MANUFACTURING INTERESTS, Thomas Commerford Martin, New York,
Editor The Electrical Engineer 377
55 THE PACKING INDUSTRY
56 AMERICAN FISH FOODS
57 AMERICAN CANNING INTERESTS
58 AMERICAN WINES
59 AMERICAN DISTILLERIES .
60 THE BREWING INDUSTRY .
61 AMERICAN TOBACCO FACTORIES
62 AMERICAN SOAP FACTORIES .
63 THE CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
64 THE LEAD INDUSTRY .
65 THE SALT INDUSTRY .
66 THE BISCUIT INDUSTRY .
67 THE COTTONSEED OIL INDUSTRY
68 THE STARCH INDUSTRY .
69 THE MATCH INDUSTRY .
70 THE ICE INDUSTRY .
71 SODA FOUNTAINS
72 AMERICAN TEXTILE MILLS
Philip D. Armour, Chicago, Armour &=• Co.
■ 383
Eugene G. Blackford, New York,
Ex- Commissioner of Fisheries 389
Edward S. Judge, Baltimore,
Editor The Trade, and Secretary National
Association of Canned Food Packers 396
Charles Carpy, San Francisco,
President California Wine Association 401
James E. Pepper, Lexington, Ky., Jaities E. Pepper 6r' Co. . 407
Fred Pabst, Milwaukee, President Pabst Brewing Co. . 413
Pierre Lorillard, Junior, New York,
President P. Lorillard Company 418
Samuel Colgate, New York, Colgate 6^ Co.
422
Henry Bower, Philadelphia,
Henry Bower &f Son, Manufacturing Chemists 429
William P. Thompson, New York,
President National Lead Company 433
Henry G. Piffard, A.M., M.D., New York,
President Genesee Salt Company 442
Frank A. Kennedy, Cambridge, Mass.,
Kennedy's Branch, New York Biscuit Company 446
Thomas R. Chaney, New York,
President American Cotton Oil Company 451
Thomson Kingsford, Oswego, N. Y.,
President T. Kingsford dr' Son 456
Ohio C. Barber, Akron, Ohio,
President The Diamond Match Company 460
Robert Maclay, New York,
President Knickerbocker Ice Company 466
James W. Tufts, Boston,
President American Soda Fountain Company 470
S. N. Dexter North, A.M., Boston,
Secretary National Association of Wool Manufacturers 475
xvi ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
CHAPTER PAGB
73 AMERICAN CARPETS Sheppard Knapp, New York, Sheppard Knapp 6- Co. . 485
74 THE CORDAGE INDUSTRY
75 HIDES AND LEATHER
76 AMERICAN RUBBER MANUFACTURES
77 AMERICAN WALL PAPERS .
78 AMERICAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Benjamin C. Clark, Boston, Pearson Cordage Company . 489
Robert H. Foerderer, Philadelphia .... 494
Charles L. Johnson, New York,
Secretary United States Rubber Company 498
Henry Burn, New York,
President National Wall Paper Company 505
William Steinway, New York, President Steinway &" Sons. 509
79 AMERICAN CARRIAGE AND WAGON WORKS, Chauncey Thomas, Boston, Chauncey Thomas df Co. . 516
80 AMERICAN SAFE WORKS .
81 AMERICAN SEWING MACHINES
82 AMERICAN WATCHES AND CLOCKS
83 AMERICAN TYPEWRITERS .
84 THE BICYCLE INDUSTRY .
85 THE DRY GOODS TRADE .
Willis B. Marvin, New York, Marvin Safe Company . 521
Frederick G. Bourne, New York,
President The Singer Manufacturing Company 525
Edward Howard, Boston,
Founder The E. Howard Watch and Clock Company 540
Clarence W. Seamans, New York,
Wyckoff, Seamans &" Benedict 544
Albert A. Pope, Boston,
President Pope Manufacturing Company 549
. John N. Beach, New York, Tefft, Weller &f Co. . . 554
86 THE CLOTHING AND FURNISHING TRADE, William C. Browning, New York, Browning, King 6^ Co. 561
87 THE BOOT AND SHOE TRADE . . . William B. Rice, Boston, Rice &= Hutchins . . .566
88 THE HARNESS AND SADDLERY TRADE . Albert Morsbach, Cincinnati,
President National Wholesale Saddlery Association 575
89 THE FUR TRADE F. Frederic Gunther, New York, C. G. Gunther's Sons . 579
90 THE JEWELRY TRADE .... Charles L, Tiffany, New York, President Tiffany &i' Co. 589
91 THE GROCERY TRADE .... James E, Nichols, New York, Austin, Nichols &' Co. . 595
92 THE FRUIT TRADE John W. Nix, New York, John Nix <5^ Co.
93 THE DRUG TRADE John McKesson, New York, McKesson &= Robbins
94 THE PAINT, OIL, AND VARNISH TRADE . Daniel F. Tiemann, New York, D. F. Tiemann 6r» Co. . 620
95 THE CONFECTIONERY TRADE .
96 THE FURNITURE TRADE .
602
607
Albert F. Hayward, Boston,
President and Treasurer Fobes, Hayward Ss' Co . 625
97 THE HARDWARE TRADE .
98 THE STATIONERY TRADE .
99 OTHER INDUSTRIES .
100 THE NEXT ONE HUNDRED YEARS
George W. Gay, Grand Rapids, Mich.,
Treasurer Berkey &' Gay Furniture Company 628
Edward C. Simmons, St. Louis,
President Simmons Hardxvare Company 633
John G. Bainbridge, New York, Henry Bainbridge &> Co. 642
Albert Clark Stevens, New York, Editor Bradstreet's . 648
Chauncey M. Depew, LL.D., New York .... 675
ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME I
CHIEF-JUSTICE JOHN JAY.
LEVI P. MORTON . . .
CARROLL D. WRIGHT . .
WORTHINGTON C. FORD .
EDWARD A. MOSELEY .
THOMAS L. JAMES . . .
EUGENE T. CHAMBERLAIN
CHARLES F. CLARK
WILLIAM JAY . . .
ALEXANDER E. ORR
HORACE PORTER .
CHARLES R. FLINT .
JOHN P. TOWNSEND
FRANCIS W. AYER .
HENRY H. HALL .
SHEPPARD HOMANS
STUYVESANT FISH .
PAGE
4 JAMES MCMILLAN . .
13 CHARLES H. CRAMP .
20 THOMAS T. ECKERT .
29 JOHN E. HUDSON . .
36 LEVI C, WEIR ....
40 HERBERT H. VREELAND
45 HIRAM HITCHCOCK .
48 ALBERT M. PALMER .
53 CHARLES H. TAYLOR.
60 DAVID WILLIAMS . .
65 RICHARD P. ROTHWELL
69 REDFIELD PROCTOR .
76 FRANCIS G. DUPONT .
84 BERNHARD E. FERNOW
93 HENRY C. FOLGER, Jr.
104 GEORGE E. MORROW.
Frontispiece
FACING
FACING
PAGE
PAGE
. 117
LAZARUS N. BONHAM
. 224
. 124
RICHARD H. EDMONDS
• 232
. 128
WILLIAM LAWRENCE
. 241
• 135
ALFRED HENDERSON
. 252
. 138
JOHN E. SEARLES . .
. 260
• 145
JOHN F. TALMAGE . .
. 264
• 152
CHARLES A. PILLSBURY
. 269
. i6i
JAMES GILLINDER . .
. 276
. 168
JOHN MOSES ....
. 289
. 176
EMERSON McMILLIN .
. 296
. 181
WARNER MILLER . .
• 304
. 188
JOHN W. HARPER . .
. 308
. 192
THEODORE L. DE VINNE .317
. 200
CHARLES HUSTON . .
• 325
. 209
ALFRED A. COWLES .
. 332
. 216
VOLUME II
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW, LL. D. Frontispiece
ALBA B. JOHNSON . . .
WILLIAM SELLERS. . .
ELDRIDGE M. FOWLER .
JEREMIAH DWYER. . .
JORDAN L. MOTT . . .
WILLIAM H. JACKSON .
T. COMMERFORD MARTIN
PHILIP D. ARMOUR . .
EUGENE G. BLACKFORD
EDWARD S. JUDGE. . .
CHARLES CARPY. . . .
JAMES E. PEPPER . . .
FRED. PABST
PIERRE LORILLARD, Jr.
SAMUEL COLGATE . . .
HENRY BOWER ....
WILLIAM P. THOMPSON .
PAGE
340 HENRY G. PIFFARD
349 FRANK A. KENNEDY
352 THOMSON KINGSFORD
357 O. C. BARBER . .
364 ROBERT MACLAY
373 JAMES W. TUFTS
380 S. N. D. NORTH .
384 SHEPPARD KNAPP
389 BENJAMIN C. CLARK
396 ROBERT H. FOERDERER
401 CHARLES L. JOHNSON
408 HENRY BURN ....
416 WILLIAM STEINWAY .
420 CHAUNCEY THOMAS .
424 WILLIS B. MARVIN. .
428 FREDERICK G. BOURNE
437 EDWARD HOWARD .
FACING
PAGE
444
449
456
464
468
472
477
485
492
496
500
506
512
S16
S2I
540
CLARENCE W. SEAMANS
ALBERT A. POPE. . .
JOHN N. BEACH . . .
WILLIAM C. BROWNING
WILLIAM B. RICE . .
ALBERT MORSBACH .
F. FREDERIC GUNTHER
CHARLES L. TIFFANY
JAMES E. NICHOLS .
JOHN W. NIX ....
JOHN McKESSON . .
DANIEL F. TIEMANN .
ALBERT F. HAYWARD
GEORGE W. GAY . .
EDWARD C. SIMMONS
JOHN G. BAINBRIDGE
ALBERT CLARK STEVENS
544
549
556
564
573
576
584
593
597
604
613
620
625
628
637
644
653
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF
AMERICAN COMMERCE
THE CHRONOLOGY OF
AMERICAN COMMERCE AND INVENTION
WITH OTHER IMPORTANT HISTORICAL EVENTS
1795.
Second Year, President Washington's Second Term.
President, George Washington, Virginia.
Vice-President, John Adams, Massachusetts.
Secretary of State, Edmund Randolph, Virginia.
Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, New York.
Secretary of War, Henry Knox, Massachusetts.
Postmaster-General, Timothy Pickering, Massachusetts.
Attorney-General, William Bradford, Pennsylvania.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, F. A. Muhlenburg,
Pennsylvania.
Secretary Hamilton announced his redemption policy, Jan. 15.
Jacob Perkins, of Newburyport, Mass., patented a machine
for cutting and heading nails, Jan. 16.
Secretary Hamilton resigned, and Oliver Wolcott, of Con-
necticut, succeeded him, Jan. 31.
Federal money first reckoned by decimal system of dollars,
cents, and mills, Feb. 5.
Joseph Habersham, of Georgia, appointed Postmaster-Gen-
eral, in place of Timothy Pickering, resigned, Feb. 25.
National flag established with fifteen alternate red and white
stripes, and a blue union with fifteen white stars. May i.
Jay Treaty ratified by the Senate, June 24 ; ratifications
exchanged between the two countries, Oct. 28 ; formally an-
nounced by President Washington to the House, December.
The United States agreed to pay annual tribute to the Dey
of Algiers to secure exemption from pirates, Sept. 5.
Spain conceded the free navigation of the Mississippi River,
and the Floridaboundaries were established, Oct. 27.
Charles Lee, of Virginia, appointed Attorney-General, in
place of William Bradford.
Timothy Pickering appointed Secretary of State vice Ed-
mund Randolph, resigned, Dec. 11.
First issue of the New York Prices-Current, now the Ship-
ping and Commercial List and New York Price-Current,
Dec. 19.
£tienne Bor^ developed an improved method for the extrac-
tion of sugar from the cane.
1796.
Tennessee admitted to the Union, June i.
John Fitch ran the first screw boat using steam power on
the Collect, New York, August.
French Directory refused to recognize the United States
Minister, Charles C. Pinckney, of South Carolina, Sept. 11.
Washington issued his farewell address, Sept. 17.
Binny & Ronaldson established in Philadelphia the first
permanent type-foundry.
New York Insurance Company, the second in the country
to take marine risks, incorporated.
Major Isaac Craig and Colonel James O'Hara established
the first glass-works in Pittsburg.
1797.
John Adams inaugurated, March 4.
Thomas Newbold of New Jersey patented first cast-iron
plow, June.
Yellow fever epidemic at Philadelphia and New York, Aug.
French Directory issued decree against American commerce.
Philadelphia Quakers petitioned Congress against slavery.
1798.
Navy Department created. George Cabot first secretary.
May.
Congress suspended commercial relations with France, June.
Alien and Sedition laws passed, July.
First salt manufactory established in Ohio.
Joseph Hopkinson wrote " Hail Columbia. "
Imprisonment for debt to the United States abolished.
First machine for making combs patented by Isaac Tryon.
First American vessel launched on Lake Erie.
First merino sheep brought from Spain by Hon. William
Porter.
1799.
Napoleon overthrew the French Directory, and commercial
relations with this country were restored, August.
George Washington died at Mount Vernon, aged 67, Dec. 14.
The government paid 8 per cent, for a $5,000,000 loan.
Yellow fever epidemic in New York.
The Manhattan Company chartered in New York.
First shipment of ice from New York to Charleston, S. C.
Eliakim Spooner took out first patent for a seeding machine.
1800.
Epidemic of yellow fever at Baltimore, August.
War office and Treasury building at Washington burned,
September.
Congress first assembled at Washington, Nov. 22.
General bankruptcy law passed, December.
The Second Census gave the population of the country as
5,308,483.
United States first imported india rubber at Boston.
1801.
John Marshall chief justice of the United States, Jan. 20.
Thomas Jefferson inaugurated, March 4.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Tripoli declared war against the United States, June lo.
The federal judiciary reorganized.
Quarantine established on Staten Island.
First sheet-copper turned out from Paul Revere's mill at
Canton, Mass.
Congressional Library established.
1802.
West Point Military Academy established, March l6.
Ohio admitted to the Union, Nov. 29.
Process for making potato starch patented by John Biddis,
of Philadelphia.
First important powder-works established by Eleuthere I.
du Pont.
Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce established.
Abel Porter & Company commenced the manufacture of
gilt buttons in Connecticut.
1803.
Louisiana purchased from France for $15,000,000, Apr, 30.
Richard French and J. T. Hawkins patented the first con-
trivance for reaping machines. May 17.
First cotton mill established in New Hampshire.
Crawford built the first tavern in the White Mountains for
summer tourists.
First bank established in Cincinnati.
1804.
Lewis and Clark started to explore the Northwest, March.
Machine-embroidering introduced by John Duncan, May.
New Jersey's slaves freed, July 4.
The Burr-Hamilton duel at Weehawken, N. J., July II.
Chicago first settled as a trading post by John Kinzie.
National Bankruptcy Act repealed.
Middlesex Canal completed between Boston and the Con-
cord River.
The manufacture of white lead begun by Samuel Wetherill
in Philadelphia.
Captain John N. Chester imported the first bananas.
Almy & Brown of Providence, R. I., made first consign-
ment for sale of American cottons to Elijah Warren of Phila-
delphia.
1805.
Peace with Tripoli, June 3.
Robert Fulton originated the marine torpedo.
First cargo of ice for export shipped to Martinique by
Frederick Tudor.
First drove of cattle on the hoof for the Eastern market
crossed the Alleghanies.
Printers' ink first manufactured here.
1806.
England proclaimed the blockade of the European ports,
June 16.
France by Berlin decree proclaimed the blockade of Eng-
lish ports, Nov. 21.
The first cargo of r.nlhracite coal shipped to Philadelphia
from the Pennsylvania mines.
First confectionery factory established in New York by
Ridley.
David Melville, of Newport, R. I., made earliest use of gas
to light his house.
First American saws manufactured by William Rowland,
of Philadelphia.
1807.
Aaron Burr's trial for treason began. May 22.
Fulton's first steamboat, the Clermont, made the trip from
New York to Albany, Aug. II.
Aaron Burr acquitted, Sept. i.
The Embargo passed by Congress, Dec. 22.
Patent shot-tower of Paul Beck built on the Schuylkill.
Eli Terry, of Plymouth, Conn., began the manufacture of
clocks by machinery.
Machine for the simultaneous cutting and heading of tacks
patented by Jesse Reed, of Bridgewater.
Shipment of ice from Boston to Havana commenced.
Anthony Tiemann introduced the manufacture of colors.
First wheat-starch factory started at Utica by Edward and
John Gilbert.
1808.
Importation of slaves forbidden, Jan. i.
The Phcenix, built by John Stevens, of Hoboken, made first
sea trip by steamboat, between New York and Philadelphia.
American Fur Company founded by John Jacob Astor.
First patent for stoves to warm by rarefied air granted to
Daniel Pettibone, of Philadelphia.
Bakewell and Page inaugurated the manufacture of flint-
glass at Pittsburg.
First queens ware made by Columbia Pottery Company at
Philadelphia.
1809.
James Madison inaugurated, March 4.
Embargo removed except to French and English ports,
March 15.
Cotton duck for sail-cloth first made in the United States.
Abel Stowell, of Worcester, Mass., patented a machine for
cutting screws.
Discovery of Manhattan Island celebrated by a banquet at
the old City Hotel, New York.
1810.
The Third Census gave the population of the country as
7,239,881.
Peregrine Williamson, of Baltimore, made the first metallic
pens.
Astoria, Oregon, founded by the Pacific Fur Company
and John Jacob Astor.
Kaolin discovered at Monkton, Vermont.
Plan for cantaliver bridge across East River proposed by
Thomas Pope.
George Frederick Cooke, the English actor, inaugurated
the star system in American theatres.
Simmons and Rundel, of Charleston, S. C, patented a pro-
cess for saturating water with " fixed air," producing a sort of
soda water.
1811.
The first steamboat left Pittsburgh for New Orleans via the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers, Oct. 27.
Gen. Harrison defeated Tecumseh at Tippecanoe, Ind.,
Nov. 7.
Congress refused to recharter the Bank of the United States.
First steam ferry-boat ran between Hoboken and New York.
Wooden shoe pegs invented.
Exports of flour exceeded 1,000,000 barrels for the first
time.
1812.
A ninety days' embargo proclaimed, Apr. 4.
Louisiana admitted to the Union, Apr. 30.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
War declared against England, June i8.
Engagement between the Constitution and the Guerri^re,
Aug. 19.
The first pin factory was established in New York.
Pittsburgh started the first rolling-mill.
1813.
Engagement between the Chesapeake and Shannon, June i.
Commodore Perry's great Lake Erie victory, Sept. 13.
Two New York men began the manufacture of hair-cloth at
Rahway, N. J.
First Brooklyn ferry ran.
Stereotyping and printing from stereotype plates was
introduced.
First complete mill in the world for turning out raw cotton
as finished cloth, established at Waltham, Mass.
Illuminating gas apparatus patented by David Melville.
Francis C. Lowell brought out the power-loom.
1814.
Washington captured by the British, and public buildings
and records burned, Aug. 25.
Specie payment suspended, Sept. i.
Delegates from New England States convened at Hartford,
Conn., to devise defense against the British independently of
the National Government, Dec. 15.
Treaty of peace with England signed at Ghent, Dec. 24.
Steel plate engraving invented by Jacob Perkins, of New-
burjrport, Mass.
1815.
Gen. Jackson defeated the British at New Orleans, Jan. 8.
War against the United States declared by the Dey of Algiers,
March.
Commercial convention with England signed, July 3.
Secretary of the Treasury Dallas proposed a protective tariff.
Steam-power first applied to machinery for cabinet-making.
The first steamboat ascended the Mississippi to Louisville.
1816.
First savings-bank opened in America, at Philadelphia, No-
vember.
Indiana admitted to the Union, Dec. 11.
Lighting the streets with gas introduced at Baltimore.
First Seminole war.
Concessions granted by the Spanish government allowing
shipment of ice to Cuba.
Black-Bail packets, the first line, established between New
York and Liverpool.
1817.
United States National Bank opened again at Philadelphia,
January.
James Monroe inaugurated, March 4.
Ground broken in construction of Erie Canal, July 4.
Mississippi admitted to the Union, Dec. 10.
Steam-power first applied to paper-making at Pittsburgh.
Work begun by the United States Coast Survey.
First Deaf and Dumb Asylum established at Hartford, Conn.
Harper's publishing house founded.
Gas employed in lighthouse illumination by David Melville.
Thomas Gilpin & Co. operated the first cylinder machine
for making paper at Wilmington, Del.
Steam navigation began on Lake Erie.
1818.
Congress established the flag with thirteen stripes, and a
star for each State, Apr. 14.
Illinois admitted to the union, Dec. 3.
Western State banks suspended.
Reed principle for musical instruments patented by Aaron
Merrill Peasley.
First line of steam packets on Long Island Sound between
New York and New Haven.
Elisha Mills began the packing industry at Cincinnati.
First stage-coach over the Cumberland road to Wheeling.
The internal revenue tax on whisky abolished.
Du Pont powder-works destroyed by terrific explosion.
First drove of western cattle brought to New York.
1819.
Florida purchased from Spain for $5,000,000, Feb. 22.
The first paper devoted to agricultural interests published
at Baltimore, Apr. 2.
The Odd Fellows organized at Baltimore, Apr. 26.
Steamship Savannah started on first trans-Atlantic trip of
steam-vessel. May 21, and arrived at Liverpool, June 20.
Alabama admitted to the Union, Dec. 14.
Seth Boyden began the manufacture of patent leather at
Newark.
The manufacture of porcelain from domestic materials was
begun in New York by Dr. H. Mead.
Great financial depression existed.
First savings-bank opened in New York.
John Conant of Vermont invented his cooking- stove.
Plow with interchangeable parts patented by Jethro Wood.
Ezra Daggett and Thomas Kensett put up the first canned
goods in New York.
1820.
Thomas Blanchard patented the gun-stock lathe, Jan. 20.
Maine admitted to the Union, March 15.
The Fourth Census gave the population of the country as
9,633,822.
Anthracite coal first used successfully for the generation of
steam at Philadelphia.
The first steamboat ran on Lake Michigan.
First rubber shoes imported from South America.
Daily meeting with regular call of stocks begun on
"Change."
The United States Pharmacopoeia established.
1821.
Missouri Compromise adopted, Feb. 26.
General Jackson took possession of Florida on behalf of
the United States, July I.
Missouri admitted to the Union, Aug. 10.
New York quarantine station and hospitals established
at Castleton, S. L, September.
Sophia Woodhouse, of Wethersfield, Conn., patented the
straw hat, Dec. 25.
American Colonization Society secured Liberia, December.
Bronze printing patented by George J. Newbury.
Remains of Major Andre removed from Tappan, N. Y.,
to Westminster Abbey, London.
The rotary steam-engine patented by Mr. Ward, of Colum-
bia, S. C.
The first college of pharmacy established at Philadelphia.
1822.
Treaty of commerce and navigation concluded with France,
June 24.
The Merrimac Manufacturing Company started the city of
Lowell, Mass., Sept. 3.
Mason and Baldwin of Philadelphia began engraving cy-
linders for calico printing.
First patent of artificial teeth secured by C. M. Graham.
xxil
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Iron conduit pipes were first used in the Fairmount Water
Works at Pliiladelphia.
Thomas Skidmore of New York introduced India rubber
tubes for gaseous fluids.
Naval expedition sent against the West Indian pirates by
United States.
Lock coulter for plows patented by David Peacock of New
Jersey.
Depau's line of Havre packets established.
The first wheel mill for incorporating powder erected on
Brandywine Creek, Del.
Luke Davies opened the first store distinctively for men's
furnishing goods.
1823.
Monroe Doctrine promulgated, Dec. 2. European powers
not to be permitted to interfere with the independent States
of America, or to acquire dominion on this continent.
First steam-power printing-press set up in Albany by a
printer named Van Benthuysen.
Champlain Canal, connecting the Hudson at Albany with
Lake Champlain, opened.
Manufacture and tin-plating of lead pipe for stills was
begun in New York by Thomas Ewbank.
The first smelting-works in the lead region of the upper
Mississippi erected by Col. James Johnson of Kentucky.
Nicholas Longworth of Cincinnati commenced the making
of wine with the muscatel grape.
First corporation for the manufacture of gas started as the
New York Gas-Light Company with a capital of $1,000,000.
1824.
Lafayette arrived at Staten Island on his visit to the United
States, Aug. 15.
The geological survey of North Carolina was begun by
Denison Olmsted.
Zadoc Pratt established a great hemlock tanning factory
in Greene Co., New York.
Cape Cod began to manufacture isinglass from hake.
The first juvenile reformatory established in New York.
Glazed-ground wall-papers were first made.
1826.
John Quincy Adams inaugurated, March 4.
Comer-stone of Bunker Hill Monument laid by Lafayette,
June 17.
Isaiah Lukins of Philadelphia patented the lithotritor in
England, Sept. 15.
First boats left Buffalo by the Erie Canal, Oct. 26.
De Witt Clinton and the first boats arrived in New York
via the Erie Canal, and a grand celebration took place in
this city, Nov. 4.
First performance of Italian opera at New York, Nov. 29.
Isaac Babbitt, of Taunton, Mass., invented Babbitt metal
and commenced the manufacture of Britannia ware.
William Ellis Tucker commenced the manufacture of porce-
lain at Philadelphia.
The so-called labor movement first came into prominence.
The circular saw brought out by Mr. Richardson of Phila-
delphia.
Taylor & Rich erected the first mahogany mill.
1826.
Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin, died, Jan. 8.
New England Society for the Promotion of Manufactures
and the Mechanic Arts chartered, March 3.
Death of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, July 4.
First railroad with metal rails from Quincy, Mass., to tide
water, three miles away, Oct, 7.
James Oram, founder of the Shipping List and New York
Price Current, died Oct. 27; born May 10, 1760.
National Academy of Design founded in New York.
Power-loom for weaving wire invented by John S. Gastrin,
of New York.
Manufacture of palm-leaf hats begun in Massachusetts.
Ice first cut on Rockland Lake and retailed in New York.
Failures of the great tea importers caused a heavy loss to
the Government in customs duties.
Composition rollers for printing presses first used.
W. Kendall patented the insertable tooth for rotary saws.
1827,
Switchback Railroad operating by gravity opened at Mauch
Chunk, Pennsylvania, Jan. 8.
First general convention of the manufacturing interests
of the country held at Harrisburg, Pa., July 30.
English artists introduced lithography at Boston.
James McClintin of Chambersburg, Pa., invented the first
practical contrivance for mortising and tenoning.
The manufacture of wood type was begun at New York
by Darius Wells.
The first bell made from blistered bar steel in New York.
Rope factories first applied steam as power at Wheeling.
Sandwich Glass Company made first pressed glass.
First drove of hogs entered Chicago.
Stone for Bunker Hill monument quarried at Quincy.
Harrison Gray Dyar constructed an electric telegraph on
Long Island.
Jacob Perkins built a compound stationary engine, using
steam of 1400 pounds pressure.
1828.
The American Institute organized, Feb. 19.
Heavy duties laid on imported fabrics of cotton or wool.
May 15.
The first wool sale was held at Boston and brought $300,-
000, June 10.
First edition of Webster's American Dictionary published,
June.
First American power-loom for weaving checks and plaids
patented by Rev. E. Burt, of Conn., August 19.
Franklin Institute medal awarded Seth Boyden for first
buckles and bits made of annealed cast iron, Oct. 16.
First patent for locomotive issued to William Howard of
Baltimore.
Manufacture of varnish begun in New York by P. B. Smith.
William Woodworth of Hudson, N. Y., invented the first
machine for planing, cutting, tonguing, and grooving boards.
Sea Island cotton first appeared in the market.
The first trip-hammer shop for the manufacture of axes
built by Samuel Collins, at Collinsville, Conn.
Manufacture of horse collars begun by Timothy Deming
at East Hartford, Conn.
Carbondale Railroad, the first on which a locomotive was
used, built.
1829.
Andrew Jackson inaugurated, March 4.
Safety Fund Banking Act passed in New York State, April.
First annual fair at Castle Garden of the American Insti-
tute of the State of New York, Nov. i.
Hamilton Stewart began in Philadelphia the manufacture of
damask table linen, December.
Tin ore discovered at Goshen, Conn., by Prof. Hitchcock.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The manufacture of sewing silk by machinery begun by
James Conant at Mansfield, Mass.
Dr. John M. Revere of New York perfected the process
of galvanizing iron.
First paper from grass and straw fiber made by machinery
by G. A. Shryock, of Philadelphia.
The Stourbridge Lion, the first locomotive ever run in this
country, arrived from England.
1830.
First American locomotive constructed by Peter Cooper for
the Baltimore and Ohio R. R.
Joseph Smith organized the first Mormon Church at Man-
chester, N. Y., Apr. 6.
The Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario com-
pleted, Aug. 3.
The City of Chicago was laid out, Aug. 4.
The Fifth Census gave the population of the country as
12,866,020.
The first astronomical telescope was erected at Yale.
Joseph Dixon began the manufacture of lead-pencils at
Salem, Mass.
First native Georgia gold came to the United States.
The omnibus first appeared in the streets of New York.
Windham, Conn., turned out the first Fourdrinier ma-
chines.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened its first section
operated by horse power.
Holmes, Hotchkiss, Brown & Elton commenced the manu-
facture of sheet brass at Waterbury, Conn.
First locomotive constructed in the United States for actual
service, the Best Friend, built at West Point Foundry Works
for the South Carolina Railroad.
1831.
The first train drawn by a locomotive ran on the South
Carolina Railroad, Jan. 15.
The Mohawk and Hudson Railroad opened in September.
Discovery of chloroform announced by Samuel Guthrie, of
Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., Oct. 12.
The first four-wheel car trucks used on the South Caro-
lina Railroad.
Timothy Bailey of Albany invented the power-loom for
stocking knitting.
The Morris Canal opened, connecting Newark with the
Delaware river.
The West Feliciana Railroad, the first west of the Alle-
ghanies, incorporated in Louisiana.
The Baldwin Locomotive-Works established in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania inaugurated a system of internal improve-
ments, consisting of 292 miles of canal and 126 of railroad.
1832.
Asiatic cholera made its first appearance in New York,
June 21.
Commercial and financial distress, July to October.
The first street-railway in the country opened in New York
between City Plall and Fourteenth street, November.
Davis & Gartner, of York, Pa., built three locomotives of
the grasshopper pattern for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
The NuUification Ordinance passed by South Carolina.
First hogs packed in Chicago by George Dole.
Egbert Egberts, of Cohoes, brought out the power knitting-
machine.
First cargo of Sicily oranges and lemons imported.
Manufacture of table cutlery begun in this country.
Use of tan-bark in manufacture of white lead introduced.
First soda water apparatus manufactured by John Matthews
of New York.
Trowbridge, Dwight & Company established the Ayholesale
clothing manufacture at New Haven.
First shirt factory established by David & Isaac Judson in
New York.
Swiveling fore-end truck for locomotives introduced to gen-
eral use.
1833.
The first cargo of American ice was exported to India by
Frederick Tudor, May.
The " New York Sun " founded, Sept. 3.
Government funds withdrawn from the Bank of the United
States, October.
The first company to import and breed cattle organized,
Nov. 2.
Commercial treaties were entered into with Austria, Tur-
key, and the Two Kingdoms of Sicily.
Treasury Building at Washington was burned.
Obed Hussey patented and exhibited in Ohio the first practi-
cal reaping-machine.
Ross Winans built the first typical American passenger cars.
The Roxbury India- Rubber Company, the first in the busi-
ness, organized.
Samuel Preston invented the pegging-machine.
The crosshead pump for supplying feed-water to the boiler
in locomotives introduced.
1834.
New York National Guard called out for the first time in
suppressing the anti-abolition riots, April.
Cornelius M. Lawrence first mayor chosen by vote of the
people in New York, May.
Cyrus Hall McCormick patented his reaper, June 21.
The first vessel arrived at Chicago from the lower lakes,
July 12.
Lathe for turning lasts patented, Dec. 25.
First attempt at crushing the oil from cotton-seed made
at Natchez.
Screws were first made entirely by machinery.
Rope-yarn spinner invented in New York.
The first saw-mill in the Saginaw valley built by Harvey
Williams.
Half-crank locomotive driving axles introduced.
The manufacture of door locks begun in Connecticut.
1835.
New York voted to begin the Croton Aqueduct, March.
Solyman Merrick, of Springfield, Mass., patented the first
practical screw wrench, Aug. 17.
Texas declared independence, Nov. 7.
Great New York fire. Loss $20,000,000, Dec. 16.
Chicago opened her first bank and organized a fire de-
partment.
The first house was built on the site of San Francisco.
Samuel Colt began the manufacture of the revolving pistol.
The circular web knitting-machine invented in Connecticut.
Horseshoes were first made by machinery by Henry Bur-
den, at Troy.
Improved methods of minting introduced from Europe by
Franklin Peale.
Pins first made by machinery in New York.
Gas companies organized in Philadelphia and New Orleans.
The "New York Herald" established..
TTie first furnaces made in New England by William A.
Wheeler, of Worcester, Mass.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Professor Morse exhibited his telegraph in the University
of New York.
First link in rail connection of New York and Boston formed
by the opening of the Boston and Providence Railroad.
1836.
President Nicholas Biddle secured, on Feb. 13, a charter
from the State of Pennsylvania for the Bank of the United
States, the Federal charter of which expired March 30.
Arkansas admitted to the Union, June 15.
Specie Circular issued, July il.
First patent of friction match granted Alonzo D. Phillips,
of Springfield, Mass., Oct. 24.
United States Patent Office and contents burned, Dec. 15.
The manufacture of fine-cut chewing tobacco by machinery
commenced at Centreville, Miss.
Brigham Young was elected president of the Mormons.
First sleeping-car ran on the Cumberland Valley Railroad.
First transatlantic cotton freight steamship built for Savan-
nah merchants.
The first cargo of wheat shipped on Lake Michigan for
Buffalo.
Astor House opened in New York.
First American patent issued for a typewriting machine.
E. R. Campbell patented the coupling together of two pairs
of locomotive driving-wheels.
Rubber belting patented.
Power presses introduced for magazine and newspaper
printing.
James Atwater, of New York, brought out the illuminated
case stove.
J. & L. K. Bridge imported from Sicily the first cargo of
flaxseed.
1837.
Fire at Charleston, S. C, Apr. 27, destroyed 1158 buildings.
Michigan admitted to the Union, Jan. 26.
Martin Van Buren inaugurated, March 4.
Suspension of banks and general panic, May 10.
Sub-treasuries recommended by President Van Buren,
Sept. 4.
Pitts Brothers patented the combined threshing and clean-
ing-machine, Dec. 29.
Chicago incorporated as a city.
Capt. John Ericsson successfully applied the screw pro-
peller to steam vessels.
The fancy weaving loom was patented by William Crompton.
Canning of com commenced at Philadelphia by Thomas B.
Smith.
Counterbalance weights introduced for locomotive driving-
wheels.
1838.
Fire at Charleston, S. C, Apr. 27, destroying 1 158 buildings.
The Specie Circular repealed. May 31.
Congress constituted every railroad a postal route, July 7.
Capt. Charles Wilkes started on his South Sea explora-
tions, Aug. 18.
The National Silk Society organized at Baltimore, Dec. II.
First New Jersey zinc ores smelted at Washington.
Branch United States mint established at Dahlonega, Ga.
The Smithsonian Institution founded in Washington.
Solid pin heads first manufactured at Birmingham, Conn.
Dimond Chandler began the manufacture of gold spectacles
and silver thimbles at Longnieadow, Mass.
Elisha H. Root, of Collinsville, Conn., invented the first
machine for punching and making the eyes of axes, hatchets,
and hammers.
First shipment of wheat from Chicago.
David Bruce, Jr., invented the type-casting machine.
First tiles made by Abraham Miller at Philadelphia.
Steam introduced in heating processes in sugar-refining.
1839.
The first express started by W. F. Harnden between New
York and Boston, March 4.
The United States Bank, rechartered by the State of Penn-
sylvania, failed, Oct. 10.
John William Draper, professor of chemistry in University
of New York, took the first photograph from life, November.
Hot-water heating introduced at Niblo's conservatory.
The ice-plow invented.
First pottery built at East Liverpool, O.
1840.
Adams Express commenced between New York and Bos-
ton, May 4.
First successful iron-furnace with anthracite and hot-blast
fired by David Thomas at Catasauqua, Pa., July 4.
Steamship Britannia, the first Cunard liner, left Liverpool
for New York, July 4.
The Sixth Census gave the population of the country as
17,069,453.
The first castings for structural iron made.
John Ames, of Springfield, Mass., patented the first machine
for making, ruling, and cutting paper.
Henry Disston commenced the manufacture of saws.
Patent for the electric telegraph issued to Professor Morse.
Jonas Chickering patented the grand piano with full iron-
frame.
First advertising agency opened in Philadelphia by Volney
B. Palmer.
The manufacture of blasting-powder begun.
Edwin Hodges built first brass-wire-drawing mill at West
Torrington, Conn.
The American buggy first came into general use.
A walking-beam electric engine constructed by Davis &
Cooke.
1841.
William Henry Harrison inaugurated, March 4.
President Harrison died and Vice-president Tyler suc-
ceeded him, Apr. 4.
First edition of Horace Greeley's Tribune, Apr. 10.
First steam fire-engine completed and used in New York,
July-
President Tyler vetoed a bill for a United States Bank,
Aug. 16.
A second bill for a United States Bank vetoed, Sept. 9.
The india-rubber ball patented by Edwin Chaffee, of Cam-
bridgeport.
Congress passed a general bankruptcy law.
Samuel Slocum, of New York, invented a machine to stick
pins in paper.
The manufacture of the metal stencil was begun in Boston
by John Pope.
First electrotypes appeared in " Mapes' Magazine."
Frederick E. Sickles invented the drop cut-off valve gear for
steam-engines.
The first mercantile agency established.
Making of Connellsville coke commenced.
Canning of Maine salmon begun.
The city of Philadelphia acquired its own gas plant.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
XXV
1842.
Dorr's Rebellion in Rhode Island, May i8.
Fremont's first western expedition, June lo.
Croton water was let into the Fifth Avenue aqueduct, July 4.
Professor Morse laid first submarine telegraph wire between
New York and Governor's Island, Oct. 18.
President proclaimed treaty settlement with England of
the Northwestern Boundary question, Nov. 10.
The first attempt at a machine for sewing was made by J.
J. Greenough, but proved impracticable.
Reuben Partridge patented the match-splint machine.
John Ryle built the first silk piece loom at Paterson, N. J.
Walwortli & Nason introduced the Perkins hot-water heater.
Thomas Kingsford discovered and perfected a process for
making starch for commercial uses from corn.
American ice first exported to London.
First factory for pocket-knives estabhshed in Connecticut.
1843.
Ericsson built the Princeton, the first screw war vessel
in the world.
Napoleon E. Guerin introduced hatching of eggs by arti-
ficial heat.
The manufacture of manilla grass paper was begun in Bos-
ton by Lyman Hollingsworth.
Improvement in pills patented by Benjamin Brandreth.
Patent issued to Enos Wilder for the first fire-proof safe.
Congress voted an appropriation of $30,000 to Professor
Morse for an experimental telegraph line between Washington
and Baltimore.
1844.
Prof. Morse sent a telegraphic message from Baltimore
to Washington, May 27.
Treaty with China opened several ports there to trade and
residence, July 3.
United States recognized the independence of the Sand-
wich Islands, July 6.
U. A. Boyden built the first turbine water wheel for a
Lowell cotton mill, August.
Williams & Ketcham patented the first mowing-machine,
Nov. 18.
Copper mining was commenced in the Lake Superior region.
Patent granted to Charles Goodyear for the vulcanization
of rubber.
First wall-paper printing-machine imported from England.
Leverett Candee made first boots and shoes from vulcanized
rubber.
Power-loom for ingrain carpets invented by Erastus B.
Bigelow.
A. D. Puffer, of Boston, secured a patent for the first soda-
water cooler.
1845.
President Tyler authorized the annexation of Texas, Mar. i.
Florida admitted to the Union, March 3.
James K. Polk inaugurated, March 4.
Telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington opened
for the public business, April I.
Fire did $10,000,000 damage in Pittsburg, Apr. 10.
Naval Academy founded at Annapolis, Oct. 10.
Texas admitted to the Union, Dec, 29.
Anti-rent riots in New York State.
Borings in Tarentum, Pa., struck petroleum.
E. B. Bigelow invented the carpet-loom.
The manufacture of files was commenced at Matteawan,
N. Y., by John Rothery.
Eastwick & Harrison invented the equalizing beams con-
necting locomotive driving-wheels.
First shipment of apples from Boston to Glasgow.
Sebastian Chauveau, of Philadelphia, introduced the use of
machinery in making confectionery.
First slate quarry in Vermont opened by Colonel Allen and
Caleb Ranney at Scotch Hill.
Lowest price on record for cotton.
1846.
Magnetic Telegraph Company organized Jan. 14, and line
completed between New York and Philadelphia, Jan. 18.
War declared against Mexico, May il.
California declared independence from Mexico, July 5.
New Mexico annexed by the United States, Aug. 22.
Elias Howe, Jr., patented the first sewing-machine, Sept. 10.
The anesthetic property of ether discovered by Dr. Wil-
liam T. G. Morton, of Boston, Sept. 30.
Iowa admitted to the Union.
Mormons selected site of Salt Lake City.
Japan refused to open commercial relations with this country.
The "ten-wheel " locomotive introduced.
Oliver R. Chase, of Boston, built first machine for making
lozenges.
Eastern Hotel, in Boston, the first public building to be
heated by steam.
First iron furnace using raw bituminous coal erected at
Lowell, Mahoning County, O.
1847.
Commodore Shubrick proclaimed the annexation of Cali-
fornia by the United States, Feb. 8.
G. Page patented the revolving-disk harrow, August 7.
The City of Mexico fell to General Scott, Sept. 14.
Zinc was discovered in paying quantities in Lehigh
County, Pa.
Pig iron decarbonized by an air-current into steel by Wil-
liam Kelly, of Kentucky.
Richard M. Hoe patented the type-revolving press.
Farmer constructed an electro-magnetic locomotive which
drew a car containing two persons.
Use of adhesive postage stamps first authorized.
Auction sales of plants and flowers begun in New York.
1848.
John M. Marshall discovered gold in California, Jan. 18.
Treaty of peace with Mexico signed at Guadaloupe Hi-
dalgo, Feb. 2.
Astor Library founded, May.
Wisconsin admitted to the Union, May 29.
First meeting of the American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science held at Philadelphia, Sept. 20.
Cochituate water introduced into Boston, Oct. 25.
Machine for punching and pointing wooden pegs patented
by Henry P. Westcott.
Suspension bridge completed across the Ohio river at
Wheeling.
Rogers Locomotive Works shipped locomotives to Cuba.
First cast-iron-front building in the world erected in New
York.
Erastus B. Bigelow invented the power-loom for weaving
Brussels and tapestry carpets.
1849.
First diploma to woman physician granted at Geneva, N. Y.,
to Elizabeth Blackwell, January.
First bank established in San Francisco, Jan. 9.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Zachary Taylor inaugurated, March 5.
Great inundation at New Orleans, March.
Astor Place Opera House riots, May 10.
Asiatic cholera epidemic in New Orleans, New York, St.
Louis, Philadelphia, Nashville, Buffalo, Chicago, and Boston,
August.
Connecticut river successfully dammed for utilization of
water-power, Oct. 22.
Overland rush for California commenced.
The improved steam-engine valve patented by George H.
Corliss.
Department of the Interior organized with Thomas Ewing
as first Secretary.
New York Associated Press founded.
Henry Evans of Newark introduced the pendulum press
for can tops.
1850.
The first meeting of influential men was held at Phila-
delphia to consider the question of a transcontinental railroad,
Apr. I.
First number of Harper's Magazine was published, June.
Clayton-Bulwer Treaty promulgated, July 4.
President Taylor died, July 9.
Vice-president Millard Fillmore succeeded to the chair,
July 10.
The manufacture of watches by machinery was commenced
in Boston by Dennison, Howard, and Davis, July.
Fugitive Slave Bill passed, Aug. 23.
California admitted to the Union, Sept. 9.
The Seventh Census gave the population of the country as
22,191,876.
S. S. Putnam, of Neponset, Mass., began the manufacture
of nails for horse shoes by machinery.
Collins Line, the first American line of steamships to Liver-
pool, established under government subsidy.
Export of coal first attained commercial importance.
First ice machine patented.
Thomas Kingsford discovered the food properties of corn-
starch.
Machinery first came into use in the boot and shoe shops.
The manufacture of reed organs commenced.
Page, of Washington, constructed an electro-magnetic loco-
motive of sixteen horse-power.
1851.
Minot's Ledge Light carried away, Apr. 16.
Fire did $3,000,000 damage at San Francisco, May 3.
Southern Rights Convention held at Charleston, May 8.
New York and Lake Erie Railroad completed from Pier-
mont to Dunkirk, May 14.
A second fire destroyed $3,000,000 more property in San
Francisco, June 22.
Nicaragua route between New York and San Francisco
opened, Aug. 12.
Hudson River Railroad completed from New York to Al-
bany, Oct. 8.
Louis Kossuth arrived on his visit to this country, Dec. 5.
Principal room of the Library of Congress destroyed by
fire, Dec. 14.
The canal from Evansville, Ind., to Lake Erie completed.
Postal rate established at three cents per half ounce for dis-
tance less than 3000 miles.
Nelson Goodyear patented process for making hard rubber.
A. C. Gallahue, Elmer Townsend and B. F. Sturtevant
patented a pegging machine which cut and drove.
Western Union Telegraph Company established.
Electric locomotive taking its power from a stationary bat-
tery constructed by Thomas Hall, of Boston.
Cyrus H. McCormick wins a great victory with his reaping-
machine at the World's Fair in London.
1852.
Fisheries dispute with England, May 26.
Fire did $5,000,000 damage at Sacramento, Nov. 2.
Commodore Perry started for Japan on his special mis-
sion to open up commerce there, Nov. 24.
United States refused to join England and France in a per-
petual renunciation of annexation designs on Cuba, Dec. I.
The electric telegraph fire-alarm introduced in Boston.
American Pharmaceutical Association organized.
First paints ready mixed for use, made.
Maker's stamp on boiler-plate first demanded by law.
Tilton, Pepper & Scudder start the first plate-glass works
in Brooklyn.
First pottery in Trenton built by Speeler, Taylor & Bloor.
Lamp chimneys first manufactured by Christopher Dor-
flinger in Brooklyn.
1853.
Ericsson's caloric ship made its trial trip, Jan. II.
Franklin Pierce inaugurated, March 4.
Capt. Ringgold's South Sea expedition sailed, May.
World's Fair opened at the Crystal Palace, in New York,
July 14.
Commodore Perry presented to Japan the President's desire
to establish commercial relations, July 14.
Purchase of Central Park authorized, July 23.
New York Clearing House established, Oct. II.
The first paper collar was seen in New York.
Lumber-rafting inaugurated by Schulenberg & Borckler.
United States Pottery Company of Bennington made first
inlaid-flooring tiles.
Steam fire-engines put into permanent service in Cincinnati.
Yellow fever epidemic at New Orleans caused 7848 deaths.
1854.
Cyrus Field, Peter Cooper, and others organized the New
York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company, Mar. i.
The Homestead Bill passed by Congress to encourage set-
tlement on the public lands, March 3.
Treaty with Japan signed, March 31.
Kansas Nebraska bill passed. May.
Reciprocity Treaty concluded with England concerning the
Newfoundland fisheries, June 7.
Otis Tufts patented an elevator for hotels, Aug. 9.
The steamship Arctic lost at sea and 350 people perished,
Sept. 27.
The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, the first petroleum
company, incorporated in New York, Dec. 30.
Registry system established by the post-office.
The first merchant flouring-mill started in Minneapolis.
Mellier process for straw-paper brought out by A. C. Mel-
lier.
G. D. Dows introduced in Boston the first marble soda
fountain.
1855.
The first bridge across the Mississippi river completed at
Minneapolis, Minn., January.
Tlie railroad between Panama and Colon completed, Jan. 28.
Suspension bridge at Niagara completed, March.
Cotton-seed oil first successfully made by Paul Aldige at
New Orleans.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
xxvu
Hugh Burgess patented chemical wood pulp.
Year of the country's greatest maritime construction.
Vacuum pan introduced in the sugar refineries.
Yellow fever ravaged Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va.
1856.
First telegraph cable laid across the Hudson at New York,
Feb. 12.
The first railroad in California was completed, Feb. 22.
Central Park purchased for $5,398,695, February.
The first street-railroad in New England began running be-
between Boston and Cambridge, March 26.
George Esterly patented a corn cultivator, April 22.
New York, Newfoundland, and London Electric Telegraph
Company organized, May 6, and cable laid to Newfoundland.
Statue of George Washington was unveiled in Union Square,
July-
Gail Borden patented condensed milk, Nov. 4, and its man-
ufacture commenced at Litchfield, Conn.
Bessemer steel first made at Phillipsburg, N. J.
Cyrus W. Field established telegraphic communication with
Newfoundland.
Sorghum was introduced.
The first vessel made the passage from Milwaukee to Eu-
rope via the Welland Canal, Great Lakes, and St. Lawrence
river.
First refined spelter made at Bethlehem, Pa.
Borax discovered in California.
Use of the adhesive postage-stamp made compulsory.
1857.
James Buchanan inaugurated, March 4.
Dred Scott decision, March 6.
First great strike and railroad riots commenced on the Balti-
more and Ohio, Apr. 27.
Pennsylvania Railroad bought for $7,500,000 the railway
and canal system built by the State, June 25.
Police riots began in New York, July 3.
Ohio Life and Trust Company suspended, and a financial
panic followed, Aug. 24.
First and unsuccessful attempt to lay a transatlantic tele-
graph cable, August.
Specie payment suspended, Oct. 15.
Resumption of specie payment, Dec. 4.
General Rodman began his experiments to discover pressures
in the bores of guns at the moment of firing.
The Steamship Central America, having on board $7,800,-
000 of treasure from California, foundered off the Cuban coast.
The manufacture of straw-paper begun by J. B. Palser at
Fort Edward.
Japan teas appeared in the market.
1858.
Minnesota admitted to the Union, May 11.
First transatlantic cable successfully laid, Aug. 4.
First message sent over the transatlantic cable, Aug. 16.
Peter Cooper presented Cooper Union to the public.
Gold was discovered at Pike's Peak, Colorado.
Wells, Fargo & Co. established the Overland Mail Co.
First cut loaf sugar made in this country.
Creasing-machine for harness-making patented by W. K.
Thornton, of Michigan.
E. S. Drake sank the first petroleum well at Titusville, Pa.
1859.
Oregon admitted to the Union, Feb. 14.
Treaty with China, Aug. 16.
John Brown's Raid on Harper's Ferry, Oct. 16.
Ddbut of Adelina Patti in opera in New York, Nov. 24.
The improved grand piano patented by Steinway, Dec. 20.
Photolithography for maps in colors was introduced.
First shipment of flour from Minneapolis to the East.
Farmer invented the self-exciting dynamo to take the place
of the galvanic battery.
1860.
1 1 7 operatives killed and 312 injured by collapse of the Pem-
berton Cotton Mills in Lawrence, Mass., Jan. 10.
The chain of railroads was completed from Bangor, Me., to
New Orleans, January.
The Japanese ambassadors to ratify Perry's Treaty arrived
at San Francisco, March 27.
The Great Eastern arrived at New York, June 28.
Colonel WiUiam Walker, the famous filibuster in Central
America, was shot at Truxillo, Sept. 12.
The Prince of Wales arrived at Washington and visited the
President, Oct. 3.
South Carolina seceded from the Union, Dec. 20.
Central Park was opened to the public.
The Eighth Census gave the population of the country as
31,443,321.
The " oil fever " broke out in the Alleghany River valley.
American merchant marine at the point of its greatest pros-
perity.
First importations of Sisal hemp.
Salt first attained commercial importance in Michigan.
The transcontinental telegraph sanctioned by Congress.
First wrought-iron I-beams rolled by Peter Cooper at Tren-
ton.
Alexander Smith and Halcyon Skinner of Yonkers secured
a patent for power-loom to weave Axminster and Moquette
carpets.
Centrifugal machine introduced in the sugar refineries.
1861.
First shot of the Rebellion was fired in Charleston harbor
against Star of the West, Jan. 9.
Mississippi seceded, Jan. 9.
Florida seceded, Jan. 10.
Alabama seceded, Jan. 11.
Georgia seceded, Jan. 19.
Louisiana seceded, Jan. 26.
Kansas admitted to the Union, Jan. 29.
North Carolina seceded, Jan. 30.
Texas seceded, Feb. i.
First flowing oil-well struck in Pennsylvania, Feb. I.
Provisional Confederate Government organized at Mont-
gomery, Ala., Feb. 9.
Jefferson Davis inaugurated president of the Confederacy,
Feb. 19.
Abraham Lincoln inaugurated. Mar. 4.
Fort Sumter fell, Apr. 14.
Virginia seceded, Apr. 17.
Stephen A. Douglas died, June 3.
First balloon reconnaissances, June 23.
Battle of Bull Run, July 21.
Telegraphic communication opened between St. Louis and
San Francisco, Oct. 25.
Capt. Wilkes boarded British steamship Trent and seized
Mason and Slidell, Nov. 8.
First message sent over the transcontinental telegraph line,
Nov. 15.
Banks suspended cash payments, Dec. 30.
zxvui
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Stereotyping for newspapers introduced by the " New- York
Tribune " and " New- York Herald."
The McKay sewing-machine patented.
1862.
Mason and Shdell released and sail for Europe, Jan. i.
First legal tender act passed, Feb. 25.
Battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, March 9.
The National Guard created by New York, April.
Farragut captured New Orleans, Apr. 24.
Revenue tax imposed on spirits, July I.
Union Pacific Railroad chartered, July i.
Postage stamps used for fractional currency, July.
Announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, Sept. 22.
Dr. R. J. Catling completed the first Catling gun at In-
dianapolis, Ind., Nov. 4.
Lockhart & Company export first shipment of American oil.
Chicago became the recognized center of the packing in-
dustry.
Confederate cruiser Alabama captured and burned ten mer-
chantmen in two weeks.
Brewers' Association organized.
1863.
3,120,000 slaves freed by the Emancipation Proclamation,
Jan. I.
The National Academy of Science created by Congress,
March 3.
West Virginia admitted to the Union, June 19.
Certificate of authority of the Comptroller of the Currency
issued to the first of the present national banks, June 20,
Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3.
Draft Riots in New York, July I3-17.
Habeas corpus suspended, Sept. 15.
Distance limit for letter postage in the United States re-
moved.
First harness-thread factory established at Paterson, N. J.,
by Barbour Brothers.
Henry Disston built first crucible-steel melting plant for
saw steel.
The channeling-machine invented by George J. Wardwell,
of Rutland, Vt.
The so-called musical telephone brought out by Reis.
1864.
Funding of the greenbacks in the six per cents, stopped,
Jan. 21.
Sanitary Fair opened at Philadelphia, June 7.
Battle between the Kearsarge and Alabama, June 19.
Gold dollar was worth $2.85, July 11.
Nevada admitted to the Union, Oct. 31.
From Dec. 1861 to October 1869, the advance in the price
of cotton goods had been 1000 per cent.
Columbia College School of Mines organized, Nov. 15.
General Sherman left Atlanta for the Sea, Nov. 16.
Northern Pacific Railroad chartered.
Postal money-order system established.
George M. Pullman built the " Pioneer," his first car.
1865.
Union troops entered Richmond, Apr. 2.
Lee surrendered, Apr. 9.
President Lincoln assassinated, Apr. 14.
Andrew Johnson succeeded to the presidency, Apr. 15.
Johnston surrendered, April 26.
Jefferson Davis captured. May li.
First rail laid on the line of the Union Pacific, July.
Capt. Wirz, jailer of Andersonville Prison, hanged, Aug. 21.
All restrictions removed from Southern ports, Sept. I.
Martial law ended in Kentucky, Oct. 12.
Habeas corpus restored in the Northern States, Dec. i.
National Wool Growers' Association organized, December.
The Bullock perfecting press brought out.
Polished plate glass first made at Lenox, Mass.
New York Stock Exchange moved into its present building.
Broad and Wall streets.
1866.
France acceded to request of United States to withdraw
troops from Mexico, Jan. 9.
President Johnson publicly denounced the Reconstruction
Committee, Feb. 22.
The President proclaimed the Rebellion at an end, Apr. 2.
Civil Rights Bill passed over President's veto, Apr. 9.
Jefferson Davis indicted for complicity in the assassination
of Lincoln, May 8.
Fenian invasion of Canada, June I.
Commercial convention concluded with Japan, June 25.
Fire did $10,000,000 damage at Portland, Me., July 4.
Tennessee restored to the Union by Congress, July 23.
The second Atlantic cable successfully laid, Aug. 16.
Convention of workingmen at Baltimore made first demand
for an eight-hour working day, Aug. 21.
The lost Atlantic cable of 1865 brought up, spliced, and laid,
September.
Congress established the elective franchise without respect
to race or color in the District of Columbia, Dec. 14.
Daniel G. Chase, of Chicago, patented a machine for mak-
ing conversation lozenges.
National Board of Fire Underwriters organized.
Salmon canning on the Columbia river begun.
Steinway & Son perfected and introduced the upright piano.
Tallemont & Carrol patented the velocipede with two
wheels.
1867.
French troops evacuated the City of Mexico, Feb. 5.
Nebraska admitted to the Union, March i.
Military Reconstruction Bill passed, March 2.
National Bankruptcy Bill, March 2.
Jefferson Davis released on $100,000 bail. May 13.
The President removed Secretary of War Stanton, Aug. 12.
First steel rails rolled by Cambria Iron Company of Johns-
town, Pa., August.
The President proclaimed general amnesty to all who took
part in the Rebellion, Sept. 7.
Alaska purchased from Russia for $7,200,000, Oct. 9.
Convention of the manufacturers of the country at Cleve-
land, O., demanded the full payment of the national debt,
Dec. 18.
Pullman Palace Car Company organized.
First consignment of California green fruit received in New
York.
Ground wood pulp first put into printing paper.
Hard-rubber-covered harness trimmings patented by An-
drew Albright, of Newark.
American Institute of Architects founded.
Master Car Builders' Association organized.
1868.
The non-concurrence in removal of the Senate returned
Secretary Stanton to the War Department, Jan. 13.
Fire did $3,000,000 damage in Chicago, Jan. 28.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
House resolved that President Johnson be impeached,
Feb. 22.
Race riots between Irish and German immigrants on Ward's
Island, March 5.
Impeachment trial of President Johnson begun, March 7.
Memorial Statue of Abraham Lincoln unveiled at Washing-
ton, Apr. 15.
Secretary Stanton finally retired and succeeded by Gen.
John M. Schofield, Apr. 26.
North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Ala-
bama, and Florida again admitted to representation in the
Union, June 12.
Arkansas readmitted to the Union, June 20.
New treaty with China, July 4.
A majority of the States adopted the Fourteenth Amend-
ment to the Constitution, July 20.
Congress passed bill providing for the payment of the na-
tional debt, July 25.
Gen. Grant abolished by proclamation the military districts
as authorized by the Reconstruction Act, July 28.
President Johnson acquitted on impeachment proceedings.
First Westinghouse air-brake used on the Pittsburg, Cin-
cinnati and St. Louis.
Improved typewriting machine patented by C. Latham
Sholes.
First Siemens-Martin open-hearth furnace built at the New
Jersey Steel and Iron Company's works at Trenton.
1869.
Great Niagara Suspension Bridge opened, Jan. i.
Improvements to East River channel began at Hell Gate,
Jan. II.
Ulysses S. Grant inaugurated, March 4.
First transcontinental railroad completed by the junction
of the Union and Central Pacific, May 15.
United States end of first Franco-American cable landed
at Duxbury, Mass., July 23.
Ground broken in the construction of the New York Post-
Office by Col. Joseph Dodd, Aug. 9.
Black Friday in Wall Street, Sept. 24.
Treaty negotiated for the annexation of San Domingo, but
rejected by Senate, Nov. 29.
Cable screw-wire machine for boot and shoe manufacture
invented.
System of traveling theatrical companies introduced.
1870.
Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi, the first colored man elected
to the United States Senate, Feb. 25.
President proclaimed Fifteenth Amendment ratified by the
States, March 30.
Attorney General Hoar and Secretary of the Interior Cox
resigned, June 20.
Kansas Pacific Railroad opened to Denver, Aug. 15.
President proclaimed neutrality in Franco- Prussian trou-
bles, Aug. 22.
General Robert E. Lee died, aged sixty- three, Oct. 12.
The Ninth Census gave the population of the country as
38,558,783.
Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia restored to the Union.
Terra-cotta first generally used for building purposes.
Soleil's polariscope introduced into this country.
Single or continuous process for making wall-paper intro-
duced.
Bigelow attacher and heeling machine introduced in shoe
factories.
Granger movement began in Illinois.
Rhode Island passed first of the drug laws.
Chicago-Omaha railroad pool.
Advertisements in magazines first largely published by
Scribner's Monthly.
1871.
Income-tax law repealed, Jan. 26.
To relieve the destitution in France caused by the Franco-
Prussian War, A. T. Stewart, the New York merchant, sent a
$50,000 cargo of flour to Havre, Feb. 25.
Congress passed the bill for a centennial celebration in 1876,
March 3.
The first Civil Service Commission was authorized, March 3.
Charles Sumner was removed from the chairmanship of the
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, March 9.
United States and England agreed to submit Alabama claims
to arbitration. May 8.
Ship canal across the Isthmus of Darien reported feasible
by Commander Selfridge, United States Navy, July.
Anti-Tweed mass meeting in New York upon the dis-
covery of his gigantic frauds, Sept. 24.
The great Chicago fire destroyed $200,000,000 worth of
property in that city, and 250 lives were lost, Oct. 8.
The Post-Office extended its money-order system, making
it international, October.
R. Hoe & Company complete the perfecting press.
Texas Pacific Railroad incorporated.
1872.
Yellowstone National Park created by Congress, Feb. 27.
Amnesty Bill passed by Congress completed the political
reorganization of the country, and filled every seat in the na-
tional legislative body. May 22.
Geneva Tribunal met, and $15,500,000 awarded the United
States on the Alabama claims, June 15.
Import duties on tea and coffee abolished, July I.
Great fire in Boston ; damage $75,000,000, Nov. 9.
The Bonanza mines on the Comstock Lode discovered.
First iron oil-tank cars used.
Water-gas process patented by Lowe.
Cable grip patented by Andrew S. Halliday.
Hoffman Brothers made first practical application of the
band saw.
National Stove Manufacturers' Association organized.
Carriage Builders' National Association organized.
1873.
Political riots in New Orleans, March I.
The annual salary of the President of the United States fixed
at $50,000, March 4.
Chicago celebrated the rebuilding in nineteen months of the
entire section laid waste by the great fire, June.
Congress abolished the franking privilege, July i.
Jay Cooke & Co., the New York bankers, failed, and a fi-
nancial panic ensued, Sept. 18.
Acquittal of Mayor A. Oakey Hall of New York on charges
of corruption, Dec. 24.
Westinghouse automatic air-brake introduced.
First Lowe apparatus for water-gas erected at Philadelphia.
Apparatus for hot soda water patented.
First East and West trunk line agreement made at the Sa-
ratoga Conference.
1874.
Mill River dam in Massachusetts burst, destroying four vil-
lages and causing the loss of over 200 lives, May 16.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The great steel bridge across the Mississippi at St. Louis
completed by James B. Eads, July 4.
Fire did $4,000,000 damage at Chicago, July 14.
Shore end of a new Atlantic cable landed at Rye Beach, N. Y.,
July IS-
The Lincoln monument at Springfield, 111., dedicated, and
the remains of the martyred President placed in the crypt
prepared, Oct. 15.
Bradford oil field discovered, Dec. 6.
King David Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Islands arrived in
Washington on a visit to the United States, Dec. 12.
James Lick, of San Francisco, deeded millions to a board
of trustees to be used in benevolent undertakings.
Massachusetts passed a ten-hour law.
First trunk pipe-line from oil regions to Pittsburgh.
Barbed-wire manufacture began at De Kalb, 111.
First fast mail on the New York Central Railroad.
1876.
Bloody political riots in New Orleans, Jan. 4.
Senator Sherman's bill for the resumption of specie pay-
ment passed to take effect Jan. I, 1879, Jan. 14.
Hoosac Tunnel completed, Feb. 9.
Oshkosh burned, Apr. 28.
Bank of California in San Francisco suspended, Aug. 26.
Vice-president Henry Wilson died and was succeeded by
Thomas N. Ferry, President pro tern, of the Senate, Nov. 22.
William M. Tweed escaped from his Ludlow Street jailers,
Dec. 4.
Secretary Benjamin H. Bristow exposed the whisky frauds.
First use of natural gas as a fuel in glass-making by Roches-
ter Tumbler Works.
The Palace Hotel opened in San Francisco.
First typewriting machine offered for sale.
1876.
Great forgeries by E. D. Winslow, of Boston, discovered,
Jan. 24.
Gen. O. E. Babcock, private secretary to the President,
acquitted of complicity in the whisky frauds, Feb. 7.
Secretary of War Belknap resigned, under charges, March 2 ;
was impeached and arrested, March 8, and acquitted, Aug. i.
Bell secured his first patent for the telephone, March 7.
A. T. Stewart died, aged seventy-three, Apr. 10.
Dom Pedro, Emperor of Brazil, arrived in New York on a
visit to the United States, Apr. 15.
President Grant opened the Centennial World's Fair in
Philadelphia, May 10.
Peter Cooper was nominated for the presidency by the Na-
tional Greenback party. May 18.
James Bailey, the first of the A. T. Stewart cousins, com-
menced a contest over the will, June.
Secretary of the Treasury Bristow resigned, June 17.
The Custer Massacre, June 25.
Colorado admitted to the Union, Aug. I.
William M. Tweed re-arrested at Vigo, Spain, and returned
to New York, Sept. 6.
Hallett's Point Ledge removed by dynamite, Sept. 24.
The first cremation furnace completed at Washington, Pa.^
Oct. I.
President declared South Carolina in a state of insurrec-
tion, and Federal troops were stationed at the polls, Oct. 17.
The famous Ilayes-Tilden presidential election, Nov. 7-
The Brooklyn Theater fire, 300 Hves lost, Dec. 5.
Exportation of dressed beef begun.
Power-loom for hard-drawn wire cloth invented by Wick-
wire, of Cortlandt, N. Y.
1877.
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt died, aged eighty-two,
leaving an estate of $100,000,000, Jan. 4.
The Special Commission announced Hayes elected presi-
dent by the Electoral College with 185 votes ; Samuel J. Til-
den, the Democratic candidate, received 184, March 2.
Rutherford B. Hayes inaugurated, March 5.
Alexander Graham Bell successfully tested the telephone
between Boston and Salem, Mass., March 15.
United States troops withdrawn from New Orleans, Apr. 24.
The great Railroad Strike commenced in and about Pitts-
burgh, July I.
Moons of Mars discovered by Asaph Hall, Aug. 11.
Canal at Keokuk on the Mississippi completed, Aug. 22.
Brigham Young died, aged seventy-six, Aug. 29.
Bell's improved telephone put into general use.
Goodyear welt machine brought out.
Col. A. A. Pope has the first bicycle built in this country.
1878.
Gold quoted at loi J^ on Wall street, being lower than it had
been since 1862, Jan. 23.
Bland Silver Bill passed over President's veto, February.
William M. Tweed died in Ludlow Street Jail, Apr. 12.
The first train ran on the Gilbert Elevated Road on Sixth
Avenue, Apr. 29.
Chin Lan Pin, the first regularly accredited resident ambas-
sador from the Chinese Empire arrived in San Francisco,
July 25.
The first train on the New York Elevated Road on the
East side, Aug. 15.
The repeal of the National Bankruptcy Act became effec-
tive, Sept. I.
Subdivision of the electric current accomplished by Edison,
and incandescent lights introduced, October.
The Manhattan Savings Institution in New York burglar-
ized to the extent of nearly $3,000,000, Oct. 27.
A. T. Stewart's body stolen, Nov. 8.
Yellow fever epidemic in the South. Memphis almost de-
populated.
Wall Street quoted gold at par, Dec. 17.
Knickerbocker Ice Company inaugurated long-distance
shipments of ice by rail.
Blake transmitter for telephones brought out.
1879.
The Government resumed specie payments, Jan. i.
A National Board of Health established, March 3.
The United States Geological Survey created, March 3.
Beef-canning on a large scale introduced by the packing
houses.
1880.
Ferdinand de Lesseps entertained by the American Society
of Civil Engineers at New York, Feb. 26.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in New York,
March 30.
The P'irst National Meet of American bicyclists was held
at Newport, R. I., May 31.
The Egyptian obelisk arrived in New York, July 19.
Dr. Henry S. Tanner of Minneapohs ended a forty days'
fast, Aug. 7.
The Tenth Census gave the population of the country as
50,155,783.
Germany prohibited the importation of American pork.
Knickerbocker Ice Co. imported first Norwegian ice.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Edison built the first electric road at Menlo Park.
California State Board of Viticulture created.
Dongola kid put on the market.
1881.
Representatives from nineteen governments met at an In-
ternational Sanitary Conference in Washington, Jan. 5.
James A. Garfield inaugurated, March 4.
Star Route frauds discovered, March.
The Jeannette Arctic Expedition lost in the ice, June II.
President Garfield assassinated by Charles J. Guiteau, July 2.
President Garfield died, Sept. 19.
Chester A. Arthur succeeded to the presidency, Sept. 20.
Cases against Star Route principals dismissed, Nov. 10.
France prohibited the importation of American pork.
Monroe doctrine emphasized by Secretary Blaine.
1882.
Congress increased the number of representatives in the
House to 325, by a new apportionment based on the census of
1880, February.
Fire did $2,250,000 damage at Haverhill, Mass, Feb. 17.
James G. Blaine's famous eulogy on Garfield delivered in the
House of Representatives, Feb. 27.
Congress passed the first Chinese Restriction bill. May 6.
Guiteau hanged, June 30.
Bill passed to extend the charters of the national banks,
July 12.
National Wholesale Druggists' Association organized.
Mississippi floods rendered 85,000 people destitute.
1883.
The National Civil Service created, Jan. 16.
Revised Tariff adopted, March 3.
Taxes on capital and deposits of the national banks abol-
ished, March 30.
Peter Cooper died, aged ninety-two, Apr. 4.
S. G. W. Benjamin appointed first minister resident to Per-
sia, May.
Treaty concluded with Corea, May 15.
The Brooklyn Bridge opened. May 24.
Gen. Brady and ex-Senator Kellogg, of Louisiana, finally
acquitted on charges connected with the Star Route frauds,
June 14.
Last spike driven in the Northern Pacific Railroad, Sept. 8.
Letter postage reduced to two cents, Oct. i.
Centenary of British evacuation of New York celebrated.
First canneries for Alaska salmon established.
Machine for stuffing horse-collars patented by William
Foglesong, of Dayton, O.
1884.
Commercial Convention with Spain signed, Feb. 13.
Treaty with Mexico ratified, March I.
Mob riots in Cincinnati, March 28-30.
Marine Bank and Grant and Ward failures. May.
Corner stone of pedestal for Statue ®f Liberty laid, Aug. 5
Treaty of Reciprocity with San Domingo signed, Dec. 4.
The New Orleans Exposition opened, Dec. 16.
National Confectioners' Association of the United States
organized.
Telephone wires first put under ground.
1885.
Washington Monument dedicated, Feb. 22.
Grover Cleveland inaugurated, March 4.
President James D, Fish of the Marine Bank sentenced to
ten years at Sing Sing, June 27.
Gen. Grant died, aged 63, July 23.
Anti-Chinese riots in the West, Sept. 2.
Flood Rock in the East River blown up by dynamite, Oct. 10.
Ferdinand Ward sentenced to ten years at Sing Sing, Nov. i.
Fire did $2,500,000 damage at Galveston, Texas, Nov. 13.
Vice-president Thomas A. Hendricks died at Indianapolis,
aged sixty-six, Nov. 25.
Ohio oil field discovered at Lima.
Long-distance telephone introduced to use.
1886.
Senator Hoar's Presidential Succession Bill passed, Jan. 19.
Commission appointed to investigate Jacob Sharp and the
New York " Boodle Aldermen," Jan. 26.
General strike on the New York street-railroads, March 4.
Boycott by Knights of Labor begun on the Gould railroad
system in the West, March 6.
Anarchist riots and bomb throwing in Chicago, May.
The great Charleston earthquake, Aug. 31.
The Statue of Liberty dedicated, Oct. 28.
Steamship Oregon was sunk off the Long Island coast.
Wire nails first manufactured.
First oil-tank steamers built.
Experiments made with electrical locomotives by Frank J.
Sprague on the elevated road in New York.
1887.
Senator Edmund's Retaliatory Bill in the Canadian Fisher-
ies dispute passed, Jan. 19.
The courts twice declared boycotting illegal, February.
The Trade Dollar Bill passed, Feb. 19.
Strike of the Massachusetts shoe factory operatives, February.
Inter-State Commerce Commission created, April 3.
Building trades' strike in Chicago, and stove molders' strike
in St. Louis, April.
Lehigh Valley coal miners went out, Aug. 30.
First vestibule Pullman train in service.
Experiment stations established by the government.
Beet sugar first successfully produced at Alvarado, California.
1888.
Bell telephone patents confirmed by the United States Su-
preme Court, March.
Fisheries treaty negotiated with England but rejected by
the Senate, August.
The first electric street-railway was built by Frank J.
Sprague at Richmond.
1889.
Strike on New York street railroads, Jan. 28.
Department of Agriculture created, with Norman J. Cole-
man secretary, Feb. 11.
Benjamin Harrison inaugurated. Mar. 4.
U. S. men-of-war Vandalia, Nipsic, and Trenton wrecked
at Apia, Samoa, Mar. 16.
Centennial of President Washington's inauguration cele-
brated at New York, Apr. 29.
Johnstown, Pa., inundated by bursting of a reservoir. May
31, 3000 lives lost.
Seattle, Wash., swept by a fire which destroyed $5,000,000
worth of property, June 6.
New York naval militia created, June 14.
North Dakota admitted to the Union, Nov. i.
South Dakota admitted to the Union, Nov. 2.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Montana admitted to the Union, Nov. 8.
Washington admitted to the Union, Nov. il.
Fire did $4,000,000 damage at Lynn, Mass., Nov. 26.
Jefferson Davis died at New Orleans, Dec. 6.
Tanks for the making of window glass introduced by J.
Chambers at Jeannette, Fa.
1890.
The United States recognized the Republic of Brazil, Jan. 29.
The Lenox Hill and Sixth National Bank, of New York,
suspended, Jan. 30.
The Centennial of the United States Supreme Court cele-
brated, Feb. 4.
President Harrison signed the World's Fair Bill, Apr. 25.
Idaho admitted to the Union, July 3.
Wyoming admitted to the Union, July 11.
William Kemmler, the first murderer killed by electricity,
was executed at Auburn Prison, N. Y., Aug. 6.
Great strike on the New York Central Railroad, Aug. 8.
President Harrison signed the McKinley Tariff Bill, Oct. I.
Several heavy failures occurred in Wall Street, Nov. 10.
The Eleventh Census gave the population of the country as
62,662,250.
National Wholesale Saddlery Association of the United
States organized.
1891.
Proclamation of Reciprocity Agreement with Brazil, Feb. 5.
International Copyright bill passed, March 4.
Italy recalled Baron Fava owing to troubles over the New
Orleans race riots, March 31.
The centennial of the patent system was celebrated in
Washington by a Congress of Inventors, Apr. 8.
Treaty of Reciprocity with Spain, Apr. 20.
The first railroad passenger train ran to the summit of
Pike's Peak, June 30.
Commencement of rain-making experiments in Texas,
Aug. 10.
First armor-plate supplied to the government by the Beth-
lehem Iron Company and Carnegie, Phipps & Company,
1892.
Chilian outrages on American seamen, Jan. 18.
Constitutionality of the McKinley Tariff affirmed by the
United States Supreme Court, Feb. 29.
The Standard Oil Trust dissolved by consent of the share-
holders, March 21.
$3,000,000 cotton fire in New Orleans, Apr. 3,
Platinum discovered in South Dakota, Apr. 30.
Homestead Steel Works closed, June 30.
Attempted landing of a Pinkerton force precipitated the
bloody Homestead riots, July 6.
Work resumed at Homestead, Aug. 3.
Railroad strike at Buffalo called out the militia, Aug. 13.
The Atlantic liner Moravia arrived in New York with cholera
on board, Aug. 31.
Fire did $7,000,000 damage at Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 28.
Discoveries of gold in Colorado, Dec. 21.
Long-distance telephone line between New York and Chi-
cago formally opened.
A Vauclain compound-locomotive attained a speed of 97
miles an hour, being one mile in 37 seconds.
1893.
News received of the Hawaiian revolution, Jan. 28.
Annexation of Hawaii recommended by President Harri-
son, Feb. 15.
The President raised the Stars and Stripes on the New
York of the new American line, Feb. 22.
Grover Cleveland inaugurated, March 4.
President Cleveland withdrew the Hawaiian treaty from
the Senate, March 9.
Fire did $4,500,000 damage in Boston, March 10.
The World's Fair opened at Chicago by President Cleve-
land, May I.
Locomotive No. 999, of the New York Central, covered one
mile in 32 seconds. May 10.
Chinese Exclusion Act confirmed. May 14.
Wide-spread distrust breaks out in a terrible financial panic,
June 20.
$8,000,000 Clearing House Certificates issued to give relief,
June 30.
Congress met in special session, Aug. 7.
The panic had passed, but confidence was not restored,
September.
Mayor Carter H. Harrison, of Chicago, assassinated, Oct. 28.
World's Fair closed, Oct. 30.
The Silver Repeal Bill passed, Nov. i.
The last outstanding Clearing House Loan Certificate
retired, Nov. i.
1894.
World's Fair Buildings burned with a loss of $2,000,000,
Jan. 8.
Decision of Court of Appeals allowed foreign corporations
to buy and sell New York real estate, Jan. 16.
$50,000,000 of 5 per cent, bonds issued, February ; second
issue of $50,000,000, November.
Coxey's Commonweal Army arrived in Washington, Apr. 29.
Boycott on the Pullman Works began the great Chicago
railroad strike, June 25.
The Hawaiian Republic proclaimed, July 4.
Chicago railroad strike ended, July 13.
Fire did $3,000,000 damage in Chicago, Aug. I.
The United States recognized the Hawaiian Republic,
Aug. 9.
The Wilson Tariff Bill passed, Aug. 27.
Launch and christening by Mrs. Grover Cleveland of steam-
ship St. Louis, largest vessel built in America, November 12.
1895.
The Bond Syndicate took an issue of $62,317,500 of gov-
ernment " coin " bonds, February.
The Empire State Express on the New York Central cov-
ered a distance of 436}^ miles in 4075^ minutes, Sept. II.
The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad equipped
its Nantasket Beach branch to operate by electricity.
Steamship St. Paul, the second great American liner,
launched.
The Baldwin Locomotive Works consummated a working
agreement with the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing
Company for the production of electric equipment for railway
service.
Great activity in the iron and steel industries.
Message by President Cleveland to Congress on Venezuela,
emphasizing the Monroe Doctrine.
" Commercial Day," December 19, observed in New York,
and by commercial organizations generally throughout the
country. The American Commerce Banquet at Delmonico's,
New York.
The New York " Shipping and Commercial List and New
York Price Current " attains its hundredth year.
CHAPTER I
AMERICAN BANKING
BANKS and banking, taken of themselves, con-
stitute a chapter of first importance in Amer-
ican records. To the national life the bank-
ing system is as the arterial system to the animal life.
Through it circulates the vitalizing current which
sustains the brain of business and statecraft, and
strengthens the arm of labor. It facilitates all com-
mercial transactions, and utilizes all the resources of
trade, gathering together the surplus capital of the
country, each depositor affording comparatively
little, but collectively producing a sum immense in
quantity, which can be loaned in portions to those
who may need it. No part of the uninvested capital
then remains unused ; what is not required by one
can be used by another.
In this country the existence of banks dates from
the time of the Revolutionary War. Since then
the methods pursued to attain the ends proper to the
banking function have been frequently and often
radically changed. They have always been, however,
more or less sound, considered with regard to their
adaptation to the times they served and the needs
they had to supply. In the history of their varia-
tions, therefore, we must see the effect of changed
conditions, rather than assume the downfall of early
error. One century ago the fiscal affairs of America
rested in the hands of a great national bank, the Bank
of the United States. The institution was modeled
almost exactly upon the plan of the Bank of England,
then, as now, one of the greatest financial factors in
the world. For forty years, with a brief lapse of be-
tween four and five years, just before and during the
War of 1812, this institution continued to be the
dominant power in the financial affairs of America.
Its passing away was marked by one of the bitterest
political fights known to history, waged by that
doughty old partisan, Andrew Jackson, and his suc-
cessor, Martin Van Buren. The next quarter of a
century saw the so-called State-bank system in full
control. Many of these State banks were, undoubt-
edly, as sound and solvent as any of the great insti-
tutions to-day. Others, it is equally true to say, were
not. The condition of affairs which resulted from
their operation, as a whole, however, can scarcely
be said to have been of the best. With no uniform
basis for their government, the prosperity of the time
had constantly to struggle under the disadvantage of
a demoraHzed currency, discounted in direct propor-
tion to the number of miles it traveled from home.
The Civil War, with its terrible demands upon the
country, found this system unable to respond as fully
as was needed, and a new system, the one under
which we have remained until to-day, was devised.
It avoids the centralization of power in any one great
chartered institution, and distributes it at large among
the banks of the country. It places the pledge of our
government behind every bank-note issued in the
United States. Around this national system has
grown up the financial world of to-day. Among
these facilities are banks of discount and deposit,
which furnish their conveniences to the mercantile
world; great private houses, with branches reaching
to every other country, and furnishing a medium of
foreign exchange which renders possible the extended
commercial enterprises which now characterize Amer-
ica; and savings institutions, trust companies, and
financial engines without number, all furnishing the
power to drive the great business machines of to-day.
The beginning of American banking is so indis-
solubly linked with the name and fame of Alexander
Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury of the United
States, that many have forgotten the fact that Robert
Morris, the Philadelphia merchant, was the first great
American banker. He it was who, in company with
George Clymer and a few other gentlemen, taking as
their sole security bills drawn in desperation by the
Continental Congress on John Jay, then in Spain ne-
gotiating a loan, established on their own personal
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
credit in 1780 the Pennsylvania Bank, in Carpenters'
Hall, Philadelphia. This was the first bank es-
tablished in the United States. Its only object was
to aid, with all its resources, the government in
transporting and maintaining the army, then in the
most desperate need. This patriotic end it accom-
plished, and to its aid, given at a most critical time
in the national history, it is scarcely possible to as-
cribe too great an importance,
Robert Morris having been appointed Superin-
tendent of Finance, the Bank of Pennsylvania went
out of existence in the following year, and Congress,
acting by Mr. Morris's advice, granted in December
to him and his associates a charter for the Bank of
N orth America, and in J anuary , i78i,thenew bank be-
gan business in Philadelphia. Thomas Willing was its
first president, and there were twelve directors. While
this bank was, like its predecessor, designed to give
aid to the government, then in those desperate finan-
cial straits which marked the closing years of the
war, it was also intended to furnish its facilities to in-
dividuals and to carry on a general banking business.
Its capital was $400,000, and it was conducted on a
specie basis, its notes being declared legal tender. It
also secured a charter from the State of Pennsylva-
nia, and as it was the only bank in the country at that
time, it soon began to roll up large profits. The years
1783 and 1 784 saw this prosperous institution declar-
ing dividends of 14 per cent. Such success imme-
diately produced emulators, and a coiporation was
formed to start a rival bank. Before its charter had
been secured, however, its leading projectors were
pacified by being allowed to obtain large blocks of
a new issue of $500,000 worth of stock. This pre-
served its field undivided, and its prosperity contin-
ued. In 1 787 it was rechartered by the Pennsylvania
legislature as a State bank, and with renewals from
time to time, has since continued.
New York, having seen the success of the Bank of
Pennsylvania, and her merchants, appreciating the
facilities afforded by such an institution, began agitat-
ing the question of the establishmentof a bank in their
city. A number of prominent men assembled, and a
plan was proposed which was at once called by its
opponents the " land " bank. It provided for pa}ang
in but a small proportion of the capital in specie, the
balance to be secured by land accepted at two thirds
of its appraised value, and against which notes, pay-
able in specie, could be issued for one third of its
value. Of this plan Chancellor Livingston was the
great supporter, and his influence had nearly carried
it through the legislature when it applied to be
chartered. Its adversaries, prominent among whom
was Alexander Hamilton, managed to defeat its
passage, however, and it was never revived. Much
more serious was the experience of a modified form
of "land" bank which convulsed the colony of
Massachusetts a number of years before, and was
finally established after the deposition of an opposing
governor. In a short time, however, the British
government dissolved it, and placed some severe re-
strictions upon banks in that particular colony.
The demand for a bank continued to be made
by the New York merchants, and on February 23,
1784, a call was issued for a meeting which was
held at the Merchants' Coffee House and General
Alexander MacDougal occupied the chair. It was
then decided to start a bank with a capital of
$500,000, either gold or silver, divided into 1000
shares. On March 15th, 500 shares having been
taken, the stockholders organized by the election of
General MacDougal as president, and Samuel Frank-
lin, Robert Bowne, Comfort Sands, Alexander Ham-
ilton, Joshua Waddington, Thomas Randall, William
Maxwell, Nicholas Low, Daniel McCormick, Isaac
Roosevelt, John Vanderbilt, and Thomas B. Stough-
ton, as directors. William Seton was elected cash-
ier, and so unused were New York business men of
that day to banks and banking methods that Cash-
ier Seton was immediately sent to Philadelphia,
with letters of introduction to the Bank of North
America, to learn how such affairs were properly
conducted. The stockholders, in the interim, urged
on by the hopes of large profits, hastened all their
arrangements, and as a charter had not been se-
cured from the legislature, the bank started without
one, opening its doors June 9, 1784.
This bank, known as the Bank of New York, had
for its original location the old mansion of William
Walton, at No. 67 St. George's (now Franklin)
Square. Three stories high, and built of the old
yellow Holland brick with hewn stone lintels, this
ancient house, erected in 1752, remained standing
until 1 88 1.
But even at this early day, it appears, there were
many people who believed that banks were antago-
nistic to the interests of the community, and in 1785
and 1786, currency becoming scarce, a cry went up
that these institutions were hoarding specie, and in
some States, notably New York, where the feeling was
greatest, issues of paper money were put out by the
legislatures. Financial affairs were in this condition,
general confidence being shaken, when, the Con-
stitution having been adopted and General George
Washington elected to the presidency, Alexander
Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, came
AMERICAN BANKING
forward with his famous financial policy. The na-
tion assumed and bonded the debt incurred by the
Continental Congress and the various colonies in
carrying on the war, and, going further, established
in 1 791 the Bank of the United States. This bank,
which was chartered by Congress for twenty years,
was estabhshed to act as the fiscal agent of the
government and to be the depository for the public
moneys. It was also authorized to issue its notes,
payable in specie, and was made in every way possi-
ble the agent of the United States Treasury and the
great power in the financial affairs of the country.
Its capital was placed at $10,000,000, divided into
25,000 shares of $400 each, payable one fourth in
specie and three fourths in 6 per cent, stocks of the
United States. It was allowed to hold property of
all kinds up to the value of $15,000,000, inclusive
of its capital stock, and further to establish branch
banks in the various cities. In accordance with
this last provision it at once opened in New York a
branch known as an office of discount and deposit.
The prosperity of the Bank of the United States be-
gan at once, and during its whole career it averaged
annual dividends of 8 and 10 per cent.
The influence of Hamilton's policy was immedi-
ately felt, and prosperity speedily returned. The
spirit of speculation was let loose in the land and
a stringency resulted in the currency that seemed
likely to have serious consequences, and was only
averted by Alexander Hamilton and the United
States Treasury coming three times to the relief of
the straitened business community. After this little
set-back, which was of short duration, business con-
tinued steadily to improve. In New York, where
political influence had prevented the granting of
charters for new banks, a corporation known as the
Manhattan Company, and headed by Aaron Burr,
succeeded in 1799 in getting a charter, ostensibly to
provide New York with pure water. The capital
of the company was placed at $2,000,000, and, un-
noticed by the politicians in power, the charter con-
tained a clause which, after reciting that the capital
was to be devoted to establishing a water-supply,
declared that the surplus should be " employed in
the purchase of public or other stocks or any other
moneyed transactions or operations not inconsistent
with the laws and constitution of the State of New
York." It is needless to say that with such a clause
in its charter $500,000 was quickly found, and the
money, after fulfilling the object for which the char-
ter was granted, was devoted to the establishment of
a new bank. In 1803 no less than forty banks were
open and doing business throughout the country.
The expiration in 181 1 of the charter of the Bank
of the United States, which had failed of renewal,
followed by the war declared in 181 2 against Eng-
land, placed the country in a most unsatisfactory
position. Having httle or no credit, it found itself
forced to fall back in great measure on the banks.
These were all institutions under State charters, no
less than 123 new ones having been created in the
four years following the closing of the United States
Bank. These had an aggregate capital of $40,000,-
000 and emitted notes to the face value of $200,-
000,000, a large portion of which, in the Middle
States especially, were issued as loans to the gov-
ernment.
As might, perhaps, have been expected in view of
the prostration of the public credit, the strain upon
the banks speedily became too great, and Septem-
ber I, 18 14, specie payment was suspended. It
was during this period that the private banker first
assumed the importance in the commercial world
that he has to-day. Stephen Girard, the great
Philadelphia merchant, purchased in 181 1 the build-
ing and stock of the late Bank of the United States,
and then began carrying on a banking business him-
self, with a capital of $1,200,000, which he shortiy
increased to $4,000,000. While private bankers
had, of course, existed, there had been none in
America on such a grand scale, and it marks the
beginning of the era of great houses whose names
are associated with money the world over. Girard's
patriotism was, too, quite equal to his sagacity, and
in the closing years of the war, after the Treasury had
vainly tried to float a loan of $5,000,000, but had
only been able to secure a total subscription of $20,-
000, Girard took the whole amount. The assist-
ance thus furnished undoubtedly had its effect in
bringing about the successful peace. This was ac-
complished in December, 1814, and one of the acts
of Congress soon after was to grant a new charter
for twenty years to the Bank of the United States.
This institution accordingly resumed business in
January, 181 7, and speedily became one of the
greatest financial institutions in the world. Its capi-
tal was fixed at $35,000,000, divided into 350,000
shares. Of this, $7,000,000 was held by the United
States. Of the remainder a great amount, as much as
84,000 shares at one time, was held in foreign coun-
tries, and the stock was quoted at 50 per cent, above
par. This bank issued notes, none being less than
five dollars, payable in specie on demand, and did
a general banking business, discounting notes and
making advances on bullion at the rate of 6 per
cent.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Its government was entrusted to twenty-five di-
rectors, five of whom, being holders of stock, were
appointed by the President of the United States.
From these directors was chosen a board of seven
which, headed by the president, had active control
of all its operations. It rapidly established branch
offices in all the cities of any importance, and in
1830 there were twenty-seven of these branch banks
in existence and doing a thriving business.
One of the first effects of the rechartering of the
Bank of the United States was to force the large num-
ber of State banks either to resume specie payments
or to wind up their affairs. Many were forced to the
latter alternative, and of the 446 State banks then ex-
isting, there were 165, including those ruined by the
war, which went out of business. From the aggre-
gate State banking capital of $90,000,000, in the
whole country, these suspensions withdrew $30,000,-
000. Of this amount, $5,000,000 was an actual
loss and was distributed between the government
and individual holders. For some time after this
the State banks can scarcely be said to have in-
creased, although they continued in existence and
legislative provision for them and their government
was made in many of the States.
In New York a general banking law, known as
the Safety Fund Act, was passed in April, 1829.
Under it banks were allowed to issue circulating
notes up to twice the amount of their capital, and
their loans were limited to two and a half times their
capital. A guarantee fund was created by the an-
nual payment of one half of one per cent, on the
capital stock to the State Treasurer. This payment
was only to continue until three per cent, had been
paid, and the fund thus created was to go to mak-
ing good the payment of the circulation and other
debts of any such banks as might become insolvent.
Other States had different regulations, not all of
them as wise as New York, perhaps, but each one
establishing certain precautions.
Coincident almost with the rechartering of the
United States Bank was the introduction of banks
for savings. These institutions are a branch of bank-
ing that, while deserving an extended mention, must
fall, under the lines of this article, within a brief
space. Benevolent in conception and designed to
afford the poor an opportunity to save in small
amounts, their plan is simply one of deposit, on
which the bank, as borrower, pays to the depositors
a fair rate of interest, and with the advantage of a
large capital, the aggregate of many small deposits,
makes advantageous investments unattainable to
small capitals such as the individual depositor could
control. They differ from regular banks because
of their philanthropic purposes, in being exempt
from taxation, and in not loaning or investing their
funds on personal security.
The first American savings bank was opened in
Philadelphia in 1816 and was called the Philadel-
phia Savings Fund Society. The same year one
was estabhshed in Boston, New York following in
1 8 19, and in 1820 there were ten in the country,
having 8635 depositors and $1,138,570 in deposits.
They have increased with the country, and in 1890
there were 921 with 4,258,893 depositors, and hav-
ing placed to their credit the enormous sum of
$1,524,844,500.
For many years the Bank of the United States
continued to grow more and more powerful. Its
resources increased, its business extended, and it be-
came a factor in the industrial and commercial life
of the nation, such as had not been dreamed possi-
ble. On the first of November, 1832, it was accord-
ing to its own showing one of the richest institutions
in the world. Its total liabilities, including the
notes it had in circulation, its deposits, and the debts
owing to holders of public funds, were $37,296,-
950.20; while its assets, including specie, cash in
Europe, and debts from industrial and banking
companies, were $79,593,870.97. This left the
enormous surplus of $42,296,920.77. It seemed as
stable as any institution of its kind in the world, not
excepting the famous Bank of England, and it
afforded a currency for general circulation that was
freely accepted everywhere. But the great power
of the Bank of the United States had made it ene-
mies, and a demand arose, upon General Jackson's
election to the presidency, that it should not be re-
chartered. The officers were chiefly of the party
opposed to him. Immediately upon entering ofllice
the President announced that he would refuse to
sign any bill extending the life of the Bank of the
United States. He declared that it was dangerous
to the liberties of the United States, and that it was
unconstitutional. Shortly after this, the public funds
were withdrawn from the bank. So great had been
the prosperity of the country during the twenty
years this bank had operated, however, that the war
debt of the nation had been completely paid and a
surplus of $40,000,000 remained. This surplus,
upon its withdrawal from the Bank of the United
States, Congress voted to distribute among the States.
The blow dealt to the great bank by this withdrawal
was a terrible one, and with the loss of its charter
impending and the unrelenting enmity of the Admin-
istration, it was thought it must close. Nicholas
Levi P. Morton.
AMERICAN BANKING
Biddle, its president, determined not to give up,
however, and on February i8, 1836, he stole a march
on President Jackson by having it incorporated by
the State legislature as the Pennsylvania Bank of
the United States. In this form, as a State bank, it
continued to exist, but it never assumed the impor-
tance it had had before. It finally closed in 1840.
All this, however, took years to work itself out,
and in the meantime much was happening in the
financial world. The demise of the Bank of the
United States as a national institution left the field to
the banks chartered by the States. These at once
made the most of their opportunity ; and helped, as
they were, by receiving on deposit large sums of the
distributed public moneys, they increased rapidly,
and 1837 saw 634 of them in the country, having an
aggregate capital of $291,000,000. With the great
prosperity which, in the shape of State bank-notes,
came over the country with these financial changes,
arose also a spirit of the wildest speculation. Public
lands were the chosen field of the operators, and the
dealing ran into millions. It was all based, though,
on the current notes, many of these being issued by
" wildcat " banks, and worthless. Trouble seemed
certain, and President Jackson, in trying to establish
our finances on a sound basis, issued his famous Spe-
cie Circular, ordering all agents to accept nothing but
specie in payment for the public lands. This pre-
cipitated the crash. The banks were called upon at
once to redeem all their circulation in specie, and
after vainly attempting to do so, they suspended pay-
ment on May 9, 1837. Six months later, no relief
having come, a meeting of 136 delegates from banks
all over the country was held in New York to con-
sider whether means could be devised for resumption,
but no relief at that time was found possible.
It was during this unlucky year that, at President
Van Buren's suggestion, the sub-treasury plan as it
now exists was brought forward as a measure to pre-
vent the loss of the public moneys by the failure of
banks. It was defeated at this time, but three years
later passed, only to be repealed in the succeeding
year. Five years afterward, however, it was finally
reenacted.
In May, 1838, the New York banks resumed pay-
ment. They were followed in August by the Phila-
delphia and Southern banks, but these only held out
for a little over a year, and on September 9, 1839,
suspended again. Despite all the trouble in which
the banks were involved, they increased almost as
rapidly as before. In 1840 their number had swelled
to 901, with a total capital of $358,000,000. The
system of State banks, nevertheless, had grown un-
popular, and the suspensions of 1837 and 1839 and
the continuing uncertainty and lack of confidence
caused a strong demand for a return to the old na-
tional banking system. At this time the presidential
campaign in which General Harrison was elected
came on. One of the great issues on which this cam-
paign was fought and won was that a new national
bank should be estabhshed at once, and immediately
upon his inauguration General Harrison called a spe-
cial session of Congress to consider the matter. But he
was destined never to carry out the wishes of his party,
for he died before Congress had convened, and his
successor. President Tyler, twice vetoed the measure
when it was passed and presented to him, — as a bill
to estabHsh a " Financial Agent of the Government"
"to act for it in all fiscal matters, and to facilitate
mercantile exchanges throughout the country." This
action on the part of the President settled the ques-
tion of banks acting under the authority of the United
States for many years thereafter, and until 1864 all
banks of issue and deposit were operated under char-
ters obtained in their various States. The effects of
the lack of uniformity in the system were soon visible,
not only in the stringency from 1840 to 1843, ^.nd the
later suspension of 1857, but in the generally demor-
alized currency, which, with the exception of specie,
had its standard of par only in its own neighborhood,
and could be passed at any considerable distance
only at a great discount. The farther away it went
from the bank of issue the less it was worth. The
State banks continued to put forth as many notes as
they could pass. Many of these banks were perfectly
solvent institutions, and were wisely conducted upon
a sound basis; but truth compels the statement that
many others were not, while at the root of the whole
system was the lack of an essential uniformity. Bank
failures were very common. It is worthy of mention
here that throughout all the vexations and inconve-
niences caused by the State banks in their day, New
England was little affected. What was known as the
Suffolk Bank System was there in use; by this the
Suffolk Bank of Boston redeemed and collected for
all New England banks, each of which had a stipu-
lated deposit, the whole aggregating $300,000, with
the Suffolk Bank for this purpose.
The stringency of 1840-43 having been safely
tided over by the banks, better times appeared, and
a still further impetus was given to our national pros-
perity in 1849 by the discovery of gold in California,
developing great activity both industrially and com-
mercially. In the next four or five years the one
event which stands out conspicuously in American
banking was the establishment on October 11, 1853,
6
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
of the New York Clearing House Association. This
association, of the utmost importance in expediting
and giving security to the great banking interests of
the country, began with a membership of fifty-two
banks. Its system, so simple and yet so effective
that it seems almost impossible its origination and es-
tablishment could have been so long delayed, is that
by which each bank, instead of presenting separately
to the other banks for payment such of their checks
as it holds and in its turn paying cash to all the other
banks for such of its own checks as they hold, sends
them all at a certain hour to the Clearing House.
Here all the checks are assorted, a clerk being pres-
ent from each bank having a membership; and the sum
total of the checks each bank presents, compared with
the sum total of the checks presented against it, gives
a balance for which the Clearing House draws its
check, and transactions that would have taken many
clerks and messengers a whole day to complete,
are finished in an hour or a little more. In addition
to the convenience of this system, its beneficial effect
in economizing currency is immense. When it is re-
membered that the great banking interests which
center in New York have transactions daily involv-
ing exchanges of from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000,
it will be readily understood what a vast loss such an
amount of idle money would entail under the old
system of separate clearance payments. The Clear-
ing House, with its system of balances, is able to
settle it all by the use of from 3^ to 4 per cent, of
the total currency amount involved.
In addition to these advantages, the Clearing
House is an assurance of protection for its mem-
bers, and in its more extended operations of issuing
loan certificates at critical times has been a bulwark
of safety to the banking interests of the whole coun-
try. By its help, at the outbreak of the Civil War,
the New York banks were enabled to come instantly
to the assistance of the government with large
sums, which they could scarcely have commanded
otherwise; and later, in the panics of 1873 and 1893,
the issuance of $25,000,000 in loan certificates on
the first occasion, and nearly $50,000,000 on the
second, again did much toward enabling the banks
to withstand the terrible pressure of those times.
Between these years the average daily exchanges
of the Clearing House were $105,964,277 and the
average daily balances $3,939,265. At present
sixty-six banks are members of the Clearing House
Association. Besides these, eighty-one other banks
and trust companies which are not members are
cleared here through the banks which belong to the
association. A sixty-seventh member of the Clear-
ing House Association is the Assistant Treasurer of
the United States, at the sub-treasury in New York.
Almost 90 per cent, of the government expendi-
tures being made in New York by check, the mem-
bership of the Assistant Treasurer greatly facilitates
clearance.
The advantages of the clearing-house system were
immediately recognized when the New York asso-
ciation started, and Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago,
St. Louis, and other cities soon adopted it.
Returning to 1853, the banking interests of the
country continued much in the same condition, but
trouble was already brewing from over-speculation,
and in 1857 the great financial and industrial de-
pression, which was fortunately as short as it was
sharp, struck the country. The great storm broke
on August 24th of that year, when the Ohio Life and
Trust Company suspended with liabilities of $7,-
000,000. It was a terrible failure, and on September
25th and 26th the Philadelphia banks were forced
to suspend; a general suspension in Virginia, Mary-
land, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia
soon following. The trouble increased in New
York, and a run on the banks threatening serious
consequences, the legislature on October 14th au-
thorized a suspension of specie payments for one
year. The banks accordingly closed, but on Decem-
ber 24th, after only two months, the city banks re-
sumed. The Massachusetts banks also suspended,
and the panic became general in New England,
factories being shut down, banks closed, and troops
held in readiness to suppress anticipated riots among
the great crowds who were thrown out of work. For-
tunately the trouble did not last long, but while it
existed there were 5123 failures, with total liabilities
of $291,750,000.
The resumption of banks and renewal of business
was general early in the succeeding year, and that
the banks of the country suffered as little as any of
the great interests affected is shown by the fact that
in i860, one year prior to the long suspension of
specie payments caused by the war, there were in
the country' 1562 banks, with an aggregate capital
of $422,000,000 and a circulation of about $207,-
000,000. They held in specie at the time $83,594,-
537, and were credited with deposits of $254,000,000.
During the next four years the part played by the
banks was loyal and patriotic, but the history of
that time with its government issues of " legal ten-
ders" comes more properly within the domain of
national finance. The national banking law, which
regulates the banks to-day, was passed June 3, 1864.
Its provisions are simple and eminently secure, and
AMERICAN BANKING
in their operation have proved most satisfactory.
They require a company of five persons or more
and a fully paid-up capital. As a security for their
notes of issue they are obliged to hold the govern-
ment's pledge in the form of United States bonds,
on which they are allowed circulation by the Comp-
troller of the Currency up to 90 per cent, of their
par value. Shortly after this law was passed, Con-
gress placed a prohibitive tax of 10 per cent, on the
circulating notes of the State banks, so that for the
first time since 1836 the currency of the country re-
turned to the original basis of the national credit,
where it has since remained,
The national banking law had no sooner passed
than many of the old State banks began changing
to the new system. While the war lasted the num-
ber of the national banks was about 500. Those
that remained under the old State charters contin-
ued to do, as they are doing to-day, a general bank-
ing business of discount, loan, and deposit, but the
circulation of their notes became impossible owing
to the tax. When the national banks were first or-
ganized Congress had provided that the total cir-
culation to be allotted them by the Comptroller of
the Currency should not exceed $300,000,000. So
rapid was their increase, however, that four years
later the full amount of these notes had been issued,
and there were 1629 national banks with a paid-in
capital of $426,189,111. Of these banks Massa-
chusetts had 207 ; New York, 299 ; Pennsylvania,
197; and Ohio, 133. Two years later, inconven-
ience being experienced because the limit of circu-
lation had been reached, Congress authorized an
extra issue of $54,000,000, which was almost imme-
diately taken up.
The following year (1873) saw the disastrous ordeal
of panic and distress through which it was inevitable
the nation should pass on its return from the infla-
tion caused by the great war loans to the sound and
normal basis of peaceful prosperity. It was passed
without wreck, although commercial and financial
interests suffered heavily. In 1875 Congress re-
moved all restrictions upon the total amount of
notes the national banks might issue. It also voted
the resumption of specie payment, which had been
suspended since 1861, and decreed that it should
take place January i, 1879. This resumption, it
may be said, to the undying credit of the American
nation, was accompHshed without the slightest dis-
turbance of business. Since then, the number of na-
' tional banks in the country has increased steadily
each year. With 2047 banks, having an aggregate
capital of $497,864,833 and a total surplus of $134,-
123,649 in 1875, the next ten years showed, in 1885,
the existence of 2665, with capital amounting to
$524,599,602 and a surplus of $146,903,495, mak-
ing an increase of 618 banks and a gain of $26,734,-
769 capital and $12,779,846 surplus. Still growing
and prosperous, the country continued to call for the
further extension of the banks with their facilities and
assistance, and in 1892 their number had become
3701, having an aggregate capital of $679,076,650
and a surplus of $237,761,865. These banks in
their average daily deposits took over $300,000,000,
which shows the enormous part they play in the
business world. Of this, about 90 per cent, is in the
form of the almost universal check.
In this year (1892) came upon the country the
beginning of the depression of business and financial
stringency that is now so happily showing signs of
abatement. It came more gradually than such
crises usually come and has been more persistent.
Without actual panic the country verged perilously
near to disaster. The money-broker, who had almost
disappeared since the days of the war, reappeared
and secured premium for currency of any sort. The
banks had very little money of any kind, and for a
time payments were almost wholly in certified checks.
This showed that the trouble was not really organic,
and vast sums of idle money, hoarded and withdrawn
from circulation, further attested that the country
was not impoverished. But confidence was lacking,
and it operated as a check on enterprise which, re-
acting industrially as it always does, reached all
classes and caused much suffering. It also gave
rise to the great danger of a run being commenced
on the savings-banks. In the West, indeed, this did
happen ; and many perfectly solvent institutions were
forced to the wall, being unable to realize quickly
enough on their securities to meet demands. In
New York, when the trouble became threatening,
and a rush of eager, excited depositors was to be
expected at almost any moment, the savings-bank
officials met, and taking advantage of the law, de-
clined to pay any accounts without three months'
notice. This saved the banks, but it was the nearest
approach to suspension that had been known since
1873-
The causes of the trouble have been matter for
much discussion and difference of opinion during
the past two years ; and a belief that its roots lay in
certain fallacies of national finance, has caused action
by Congress, which has undoubtedly been beneficial
in its effect. Still, it is questionable whether the true
seat of the difficulty has been, or will be, reached by
any of these measures or plans of alleviation. An
8
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
overreaching speculation, which had locked up re-
sources that should have been available, coupled
with great uncertainty and some apprehension, per-
haps owing to political events and the commercial
and industrial changes they might be expected to
bring with them, had much to do with it. To-day,
it is pleasant to believe we have passed beyond it.
In this brief resume of a century of banking in
America, the vastness of the present interests has
been already foreshadowed. How enormous these
interests are and of how general usefulness, words
alone can convey no adequate idea. In figures only
can expression be found for the financial magnitudes
that make up the American banking interests of to-
day. From the $400,000 capital represented by
Robert Morris's bank in Philadelphia a little over
100 years ago, the aggregate capital of the banks
of the United States is now, according to the
latest available statistics, the tremendous sum of
$1,069,826,555, while one person in every seven or
eight in the whole country patronizes the banks as
a depositor and thus gains the privilege of their con-
veniences and economy. Against the above aggre-
gate of capital the banks hold aggregate resources
amounting to $7,342,397,052, and of the 12,000
banks in existence, exclusive of loan and trust com-
panies, in the year ending July, 1894, only seventy-
nine failures occurred. The solvency of the system
is well evidenced in this, and safeguarded as the
banks are by Federal and State legislation, with reg-
ular examinations by experts and sworn reports from
officials, it is fair to say that no community enjoys
greater security for its funds of deposit or exchange.
The very foundation of the American system for the
past thirty years has been the national bank, which
has opened its doors in nearly every town and hamlet
of the country where the common business of life is
transacted. It is a well- organized, carefully super-
vised, uniform system, which renders its benefits to
the individual directly and indirectly, as well as in
the revenue it affords the government. The latest
statistics give the number of national banks in the
country, October 31, 1894, as 3756, in which there
were 287,842 shareholders. Their aggregate capital
was $672,671,365, and their total surplus and un-
divided profits $334,121,082. Of these banks and
their capital, Pennsylvania led with 406 within her
borders, but her capitalization was but $74,168,390,
or less than that of New York with 334 banks and
$87,346,060 capital, or than Massachusetts with 267
banks and $97,992,500. In the importance of its
national banks Ohio ranks fourth, with 246 institu-
tions having a capital of $45,240,100.
The total resources of the national banks on
October 2, 1894, were $3,473,922,055, and on Oc-
tober 31st of the same year they had a total cir-
culation of $207,472,603 outstanding, as security for
which there were United States bonds on deposit to
the value of $199,706,200, and $28,071,239 lawful
money reserved on deposit to redeem circulation.
Their total loans and discounts were $2,007,122,-
191. In individual deposits the national banks
held on July 18, 1894, $1,647,017,129, and the
number of depositors was given as 1,929,340.
Under the latest statement of the condition of the
national banks, based on Comptroller Eckels's call
of July nth last, the figures show the aggregate of
resources and liabilities to have been $3,410,002,-
591 each. The whole number of national banks
was 3715.
As the national banks do not usually pay interest
on current balances, the fact that they are utilized as
banks of deposit to such a great extent shows the
appreciation in which the facilities afforded by them
for the transaction of business are held by the public
at large. Since the national banking system started,
upward of thirty years ago, the aid rendered through
it to the business world in carrying on its undertak-
ings has come to be fully recognized. The ruinous
rates of exchange prevailing under the old State-
bank system, prior to the war, are happily forgotten.
A check or draft can be bought from a bank
in New Orleans or San Francisco, drawn on its
New York correspondent, which will cost but the
smallest fraction of i per cent., or nothing at all, ac-
cording to the time of year and the direction in
which money is moving. For this same exchange
in 1859 the average rate was from i to i^ per
cent., a tax upon the extension of business that
could not be borne in the present era of close
competition and narrow margins. Again, on the
total issue of about $200,000,000 of State bank-
notes in circulation prior to i860, a loss of from i per
cent, to 10 per cent, was entailed upon the holders
in any but the most restricted local transactions.
The advantage of replacing this circulation of dis-
count by a bank-note of uniform appearance, with
value fixed by law and ordered receivable at par
by every other bank in the system, was speedily
apparent. Furthermore, behind this uniformity lies
as security the quickest asset known, in the shape of
the United States bond fully covering the circula-
tion. Lawful money reserves further provide for the
redemption of circulating notes by these banks, and
a further reserve of deposit funds is ordered not
alone to secure depositors, but to still further hedge
I
AMERICAN BANKING
about the reserves from possible impairment. In
all these ways, as well as by the reductions achieved
in rates of interest on loans and discounts, through
making available a largely increased capital, together
with lessened charges for collection made possible
by thorough organization, the people have directly
felt the benefits of improved banking methods. The
immense aggregate saving that is accomplished an-
nually along these lines can be gathered from the
fact that the clearing houses of the United States in
the single year of 1894 had clearings amounting to
over $45,000,000,000. With such great sums as
these, the smallest fractional charge possible becomes
heavy in the aggregate of transactions.
Of the relation of the national banks to the gov-
ernment there is but little dispute, and practically
but one opinion — that it is mutually beneficial.
Until March 3, 1883, both capital and deposits of
the national banks were taxed, and a further tax of
I per cent, on their circulation has been continued
from the first. From these three items of taxation,
the first two discontinued since 1883, an aggregate
amount of $144,660,952 had been yielded up to
July 1 8, 1894. In addition to this a conservative
estimate allows two fifths per cent, of revenue to
government on the national bank-note circulation,
through failures to redeem, which forces the banks
to make the full amount good before taking down
their deposit of United States bonds against which
the notes were issued.
As government depositories the national banks
further perform without charge duties that annually
save the government a great deal of money. Since
their inauguration the national banks have received
and stored in their vaults, at various times, $3,-
500,000,000, a service of great value. As a gov-
ernor of the national currency, operating to keep it
within controllable bounds, the national banks have
also been of the greatest assistance through the fa-
cilities they afford for the issue of instruments of
credit. The depositors in the national banks in
1894 outnumbered by 492,702 those in all the
State and private banks and loan and trust compa-
nies combined. As these, together with the national
banks, are utilized for checking against balances on
deposit rather than on those in banks for savings, it
is readily seen that the check is more largely em-
ployed at the national banks than at the other insti-
tutions, and inasmuch as at least 53 per cent, of
even the retail, and consequently more largely cash,
business of the country is transacted through the
medium of these small pieces of paper, while from
90 to 92 per cent, of the total business is thus
transacted, the important part they play will be like-
wise readily understood. The circulating medium
which, in a relative sense, these instruments of
credit supply, is perhaps a relief that should coun-
terbalance the complaint sometimes made regarding
the non-elasticity of issue under the present national
banking system. The average annual circulation
of the national banks between 1864 and 1894 was
$282,801,252, and the security of the notes is ab-
solute. A fluctuating market for bonds, against
which only a percentage of issue is allowed, has
undoubtedly made the lines of issue a little rigid,
but whether more so than is consistent with proper
precautions against possible manipulation or infla-
tion is a matter of extreme doubt. In fact, so far
as the system goes, it is the most perfect yet de-
vised, and in its operation has united uniformity
and stability with great facility of adaptation to
the constantly arising needs of the commercial and
financial interests.
On the national banks as a foundation, then, rests
the great superstructure of State, private, and sav-
ings-bank institutions, which, together with the
building and loan associations and the loan and
trust companies, constitute the remainder of the
money-managing world of this country. Of the
State banks there were in the United States 5033 on
July I, 1894, with an aggregate capital of $244,-
435,573 and resources amounting to $1,077,164,-
813. These banks held a surplus of $74,412,319.
The aggregate deposits were $658,107,494, and the
loans and discounts $665,988,823. Of United
States bonds these banks held but $604,055, as
against $10,662,200 held as investment by the na-
tional banks in addition to those deposited as secur-
ity. The business is profitable, but in the average
rather less so than that of the national banks. In
all the respects of general banking the State banks
transact the same kinds of business as the national
institutions, with the exception of the issuance of
circulating notes and the performance of those
functions of a governmental nature entailed by a
Federal charter.
The savings-banks in existence in July, 1894, were
1024 in number and in two classes, the mutual and
the stock. The latter class, of which there were
378, is of comparatively slight importance, not more
than 15 per cent, of the total figures of this branch
of banking being accredited to it. The capital
stock of the savings-banks of the country is about
$30,000,000, and their total resources are $1,980,-
744,189. The total amount of the deposits of indi-
vidual savings is $1,747,961,280, while about $30,-
10
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
000,000 more is held subject to check. The loans
of these banks amount to $1,026,622,425, of which
but a very small percentage relatively is secured on
other than real or intrinsic values.
The private banks, while neither so numerous nor
so heavily capitalized as the branches just men-
tioned, are a most potent factor in the commercial
world, by their especial prominence in the field of
foreign exchange. Their number in 1894 was 904,
and their total capital $26,652,167, with resources
of $105,379,051. Their surplus was placed at $6,-
005,126. The total of the loans and discounts was
$66,596,017, being $521,468 in excess of deposits.
The 224 loan and trust companies have a total
capitalization of $97,068,092 and a surplus of $57,-
663,599. Their total resources are $705,186,944, of
which loans and discounts are $374,421,713. With
the exception of the national and savings-banks,
these companies are the heaviest holders of United
States bonds among the banks, $13,449,411 being
accredited to them.
These five branches constitute, properly speaking,
the American banks. The building and loan as-
sociations are a species of cooperative banking, sav-
ings, and loan business, and, since they started in
1840, have grown rapidly. The statistics of 1894
gave 5838 of them in operation in the United
States. These wonderfully fast-spreading institu-
tions, deriving their capital from dues assessed on
their members and loaning it again to those giving
real security, had in 1894 the enormous sum of
$470,142,524 loaned on real estate alone. As
nearly all the loans are small in amount, being
simply enough to build a home for some compara-
tively poor person, the extent of this cooperative
undertaking is readily seen. In addition to these
loans on real estate, the associations have combined
resources sufficient to bring the total to $528,852,-
885, against which the heaviest items are $370,003,-
478 for dues paid in, and $35,775,366 on paid-up
stock.
Under these various heads, then, the banking in-
terests of America have grouped themselves in the
closing years of the nineteenth century. Beneath
them all are the broad, strong shoulders of the United
States government, bearing the final responsibility.
In the magnitude of the interests now represented in
the bank, all branches of industry and commercial
activity have at last come to see their share. In the
statistics of the annual report is told each year the
story of what America has achieved. In the exten-
sion of the bank to the remoter districts are carried
the same improvements to the every-day business
conditions of the community that the waterworks
brings to the sanitary conditions, or the public school
to the educational conditions. The bank is the agent
of civilization in its advance, whether in new coun-
tries or new fields of human endeavor. In the city it
is the great driving engine furnishing the power for
the machinery of affairs. The few brief figures of the
dry and business-like report, giving the resources of
the banks of the United States at $7,342,397,052,
tell most eloquently the commercial and industrial
achievements of the American people. To this suc-
cess the banking interests have contributed in no
scanty measure, and in it they, in common with all
the people, share to-day.
One very prominent feature in the history of bank-
ing has been the part played by private banks. It
has been seen that Stephen Girard was very import-
ant in the history of Philadelphia banking; and later.
Prime, Ward & King, bankers in New York, were
enabled to perform eminent services for their country
by loans negotiated in England. It was not, how-
ever, till about the time that the supply of gold from
California raised the prices of commodities all over
the globe, that many important American houses in
banking circles became prominent. Every great city
now has its private banks and bankers, who exercise
an important part in the economy and distribution of
wealth. They are able to handle business without
making it known to the whole world; they can af-
ford instant aid, without appeal to a board of direc-
tors, and everywhere they have proved of value.
Such names as those of the Drexels, the Morgans,
the Peabodys, and the Browns, will instantly occur
to every one as household words in the realm of
finance.
p^-^-^— XV^V>^K^
CHAPTER II
AMERICAN LABOR
4 CCORDING to the census of 1890, the total
/ \ number of people engaged in gainful oc-
A. \. cupations of all kinds was 22,735,661, of
which number 18,820,950 were males and 3,914,711
females. These figures include all engaged in any
gainful occupation, whether wage-earners or wage-
payers, whether employers or employees, and whether
engaged in manual or professional service. Elimi-
nating the wage-earners from this vast number, it
is found that they constituted 15,099,901, of which
number 11,802,540 were males and 3,297,361 were
females. If we classify this large number of wage-
earners, we find that 3,639,437 were engaged in
agriculture, fisheries, and mining; 4,153,385 in do-
mestic and personal service; 2,364,661 in trade and
transportation, and 4,942,418 in manufacturing and
mechanical industries. These statements are general,
and that more specific information may be at hand
the table on the next page has been made, giving
the number of males and females and the total
employed in specific occupations where more than
50,000 were engaged.
It would be exceedingly interesting if the growth
of this great body of working-people, numbering
over 15,000,000 at the present time, and the in-
fluences which have brought it into existence, could
be traced step by step during all the past 100 years.
It is impossible to give statistical statements of the
number of persons employed in any industry, or
otherwise, until the census of 1850, so we cannot
ascertain what the strength of the body of working-
people was in 1795. A fair calculation, based on
relative statistics at different periods, would indicate
that it was less than 500,000. Calculations in this
respect are not satisfactory, however, because labor
at the beginning of the loo-year period of which we
are treating was engaged in domestic manufactures,
of which no general account exists.
Four fifths of the population of the United States
at the close of the Revolutionary War was, according
to Mr. Bancroft, the historian, of English descent.
He states that in 1775 the colonies were inhabited
by persons one fifth of whom had for their mother
tongue some other language than the English. At
the present time careful consideration would indi-
cate that only about one half of our population can
claim the English as their mother tongue ; and yet,
during the first quarter of the present century, im-
migration could not have afiected the nationality of
our working-people to any great extent, the accepted
estimate of the total number of immigrants between
1790 and 1819 being placed at 250,000. Prior to
this year (1819) no account was taken of the num-
ber of immigrants settling in the country, but since
that year the Federal government has taken account
of immigration. In no year between 1820 and 1824,
inclusive, did the number arriving in this country
reach 10,000. In 1833 the largest number in the
first third of the present century arrived, when
58,640 immigrants were registered. In only two
years, 1835 and 1838, has the number been less
than that just given, but with these two exceptions,
the annual immigration has been progressive, al-
though varying in volume. Great impetus was
given in the forties, the movement being accelerated
by the famine in Ireland in 1846 and 1847, and by
political causes in Germany. The total immigra-
tion since the Revolutionary War and up to July
31, 1895, was 17,731,678, while the foreign-bom
residing in this country at the census of 1890 was
9,249,547, being 14.77 P^^ cent, of the whole
population.
These large additions to our population must
have had a marked influence upon our industrial
conditions. In 1880 30.63 per cent, of all persons
engaged in manufacturing and mechanical indus-
tries were foreign-bom, while in 1890 31.56 per
cent, of those so engaged were born abroad. In
12
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
1880 12.52 per cent, of the foreign-bom were en-
gaged in agriculture. It is seen, therefore, that the
manufacturing and mechanical industries have ab-
sorbed a much larger proportion of the new ele-
ment than has agriculture. The tendency of our
immigrants is to assimilate with our mechanical in-
dustries. This, of course, increases the supply of
labor in comparison to the demand, and may have
at times lowered wages and crippled the consuming
power of the whole body of the population. I am
satisfied that this has not been serious, and it may
have been imperceptible, for at the time of the ac-
celerated movement of immigration there was a vast
development of the railroad interests of the country,
which development could not have been carried on
so extensively and completely as it was without a
large body of common laborers. Immigration sup-
plied this labor, but it soon began to find its way
into organized industry. As the tendency of wages
has been constantly upward since the close of the
last century, it cannot be argued that the assimila-
tion of immigrants with our own native labor has
reduced wages, but it can be assumed — without the
possibility of proof, however — that such assimilation
may have retarded their increase beyond what was
experienced.
During the past few years the industrial depres-
sion has checked immigration, but with renewed
prosperity the movement may assume its normal
proportions. The character of immigration has
changed, and this change has not been for the bet-
ter. If immigration could be left entirely to natural
motives it is quite evident that the movement would
be retarded gradually, but it is stimulated by trans-
portation companies, in their desire to secure busi-
ness, to such an extent that a large body of objec-
tionable immigrants has been brought to the country
during the past ten years. When it is known that an
immigrant can be transported from Italy to Chicago
for less money than a first-class passenger can travel
from New York to Chicago it is not strange that
people flock to the United States; and during this
past decade it is quite certain that labor in America
has suffered through this class of immigration, espe-
cially in mining districts, where wages have been
kept down and much distress has prevailed through
NUMBER OF MALE AND FEMALE WAGE-EARNERS REPORTED FOR OCCUPATIONS IN WHICH
50,000 OR OVER WERE EMPLOYED IN 1890
Occupations.
Agriculture, Fisheries, and Min-
ing:
Agricultural laborers
Fishermen and oystermen. . . .
Lumbermen and raftsmen ....
Miners (coal)
Miners (not otherwise noted) .
Stock-raisers, herders and
drovers
Domestic and Personal Service :
Barbers and hair-dressers
Bartenders
Engineers and firemen (not
locomotive)
Housekeepers and stewards. .
Laborers (not specified)
Launderers and laundresses. .
Nurses and midwives
Servants
Watchmen, policemen, and de-
tectives
Trade and Transportation :
Agents (claim, commission,
real estate, insurance, etc.)
and collectors
Bookkeepers and accountants.
Clerks and copyists
Draymen, hackmen, teamsters,
etc
Hostlers
Locomotive engineers and fire-
men
Messengers and errand and
office boys
Sailors
Salesmen and saleswomen . . .
Steam-railroad employees (not
otherwise specified)
Males.
2,556,930
59,887
65,829
208,330
140,906
70,047
82,151
55.660
139,718
6,008
1,858,504
31,816
6,688
237,523
74,350
169,704
131,602
492,852
368,265
54,005
79,459
48,446
55,875
205,931
381.312
Females. Total,
447,085
263
28
219
687
2,825
147
47
86,802
54,813
216,627
51,402
1,205,876
283
4,875
27,772
64,048
237
24
2,909
58,449
1.438
3,004,015
60,150
65.857
208,549
141,039
70,734
84,976
55,807
139,765
92,810
1,913.317
248,443
58,090
1,443,399
74,633
174,579
159,374
556,900
368,502
54,029
79.463
51,355
55.904
264,380
382,750
Occupations.
Telegraph and telephone oper
ators
Manufacturing and Mechan-
ical Industries:
Bakers
Blacksmiths
Boot and shoe makers and re-
pairers
Brick and tile makers and terra-
cotta workers
Butchers
Carpenters and joiners
Cotton-mill operatives
Dressmakers
Iron and steel workers
Machinists
Marble and stone cutters
Masons (brick and stone) ....
Mill and factory operatives
(not specified)
Millers (flour and grist)
Milliners
Molders
Painters, glaziers, and var-
nishers
Plumbers and gas and steam
fitters
Printers, lithographers, and
pressmen
Sawand planin g mill employees
Seamstresses
Tailors and tailoresses
Tinners and tinware-makers.
Tobacco and cigar factory
operatives
Wood-workers (not otherwise
specified)
Woolen-mill operatives
Males. Females. Total.
43.740
57,908
205,256
179,838
60,007
105,313
611,226
80,144
828
142,087
176,937
61,006
158,874
51,561
52,745
406
66,241
218,622
56,555
80,889
133,216
3.988
121,586
54427
83,601
63,529
47,636
8,474
2,273
59
33.609
194
129
191
92,914
288,155
2,449
139
63
42
41,850
99
60,058
47
1,246
42
5.565
302
145.716
63,611
947
27,821
3.696
36,435
52,214
60,181
205,315
213.447
60,201
105,442
611,417
173,058
288,983
144,536
177,076
61,069
158,916
93,4"
52,844
60,464
66,288
219,868
56,597
86,454
133,518
149,704
185,197
55.374
111,422
67,225
84,071
Carroll D. Wright.
AMERICAN LABOR
18
the influx of very cheap foreign labor. It may be
said, with almost entire truthfulness, that the mining
industry is the one that has chiefly suffered in
various directions through foreign immigration.
In 1795 the labor of the country was, as already
stated, of a domestic character. Working-people
were engaged in agricultural pursuits, the fisheries,
and in the clearing of the forests, while a small per-
centage were engaged in what is known as domestic
manufacture and in commerce. The factory system,
dating from 1790 as the year of its birth, did not
become influential, so far as labor was concerned,
until after 1820. With the complete estabHshment
of textile factories, which occurred in 1813 at Wal-
tham, Mass., which town has the honor of erecting
the first complete factory in the world for the manu-
facture of finished cloth, in all the various processes,
from the raw material, labor began to find new ave-
nues of employment, and the young women of the
rural districts were induced to enter factories as
spinners and weavers. The growth of the textile
factory was rapid after 1820, both in the New Eng-
land and the Middle States. Fair wages and easy
work attracted the women of our own country and
English girls, and until Irish immigration com-
menced in earnest our textile factories were sup-
plied with English and American girls mostly, but
since their day there have been various changes.
The American and the English girl stepped out of
the factories and up into higher callings, and the
Irish operative stepped in. The Irish operative has
during the last twenty years or more, however, been
giving way gradually to the French- Canadian and
representatives of other nationalities. Practically
during the last fifty years there have been three
changes in nationalities in the operatives of our
textile works. With the adaptation of steam and
water-power in the textile industry other industries
grew. Of course, all manufacturing received a great
impetus during the Revolutionary War, when our
people were obliged to furnish their own supplies.
During the war the manufacturers extended their
enterprises and built mills — which are sometimes
called factories — but they were simple in their con-
struction. At the close of the war all these efforts
either ceased or the production of the mills was
greatly reduced.
The American nation found itself independent
politically of Great Britain, but still a subject of it in
respect to all its manufacturing interests. The Eng-
lish government sought to prevent the planting of
the factory system here, but through the ingenuity
and perseverance of Samuel Slater, who had served
his apprenticeship in the construction and manage-
ment of factory machinery in England, the system
was established in the United States; and then, as a
result of the earlier legislation after the adoption of
the Federal constitution, manufactures were stimu-
lated and the era of industrial progress in this coun-
try was opened. It can be said that the century
from 1795 to the present year has been one of con-
stant progress in the labor world, the factory sys-
tem gradually taking over to itself industry after
industry, until nearly everything is now produced
under it. The old domestic or hand system has
passed away almost entirely, and the regime of
invention and machinery holds full sway. These
great industrial changes have practically wrought a
revolution in this and other countries, bringing con-
stant employment to our working-people, and result-
ing in a tendency all through the century to the
increase of wages and a decrease in the cost of
production.
Along with this change in the method of produc-
tion, mining has been developed to an enormous
degree, until now the United States produces as
much iron as the mother country. The development
of iron-mining and the manufacture of iron have
brought into employment a vast body of skilled
workmen, and the ramifications of the industry still
greater forces. Our large towns and cities are, as a
rule, thoroughly equipped with sewers, and the
manufacture of pipes and mains for this purpose, as
well as the manufacture of gas-pipes and mains and
plumbing work generally, has been the result. These
latter changes have occurred within the last fifty
years.
The change in the system of work has practically
done away with apprenticeships. Manual training
and the work of trade schools are fitting boys and
young men for skilled work in a better way than did
the apprenticeship system, which was the universal
rule at the beginning of our century. With the es-
tablishment of the factory system apprenticeships
were less obligatory. By 1850 the resort to them was
waning, while since the vast development of the fac-
tory system, especially subsequent to the Civil War,
they have been still less prevalent. Another great
change which has come in the way of industry is the
employment of women. They were engaged only in
domestic labor, except in rare instances, in 1795, but
now there are few occupations in which they are
not represented. The number grows from census to
census. This change was brought about by the
adoption of the factory system, under which women
found they could attend light-running machines with
14
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
skill and with fair remuneration. While their com-
pensation is exceedingly low now in almost all indus-
trial pursuits, yet it is something where nothing was
received before. They constitute a new economic
factor in industry, and being a new economic factor,
they cannot as yet hope to receive liberal wages. It
can hardly be said that they have displaced men, but
they have displaced boys and girls to a considerable
extent. The first tendency under the factory system
was to employ children, and the number constantly
employed increased from year to year, until during
the last fifteen or twenty years, when the number has
been rapidly on the decline. Public sentiment voiced
by legislation, as well as the economies of production,
is driving the children out of our factories : women
are taking their places. In some industries men have
taken the places of women, the change of the form of
work resulting in such displacement. Laundry work
is practically factory work now ; and the old domes-
tic hand- weavers, who were to a large extent women,
have seen their work transferred to the factory.
These industrial revolutions have carried with them
other changes, which perhaps are more ethical than
economical in their relations. For instance, under the
old system of labor, employers had a paternal rela-
tion to their employees, and even in the early cotton
mills in New England the paternal system of caring
for employees was adopted. This was chiefly notice-
able at Lowell, and later on also in Manchester,
Conn., under the Cheneys' administration of the silk-
works ; but as the factory system has spread this pa-
ternal care has been lessened, although during the
last few years there has been a great revival in the
discussion of the usefulness of such paternal over-
sight. The absolute necessity for the congregation
of great bodies of working-people in one locality is
everywhere stimulating the thought that there should
be some other rule than that of entire non-interference
with the welfare of employees. The public is consid-
ering this question, and great employers here and
there are trying the experiment of taking an interest
in the home welfare of their employees as well as in
their efficiency.
The changes in the industrial system have had
many ramifications. The labor movement in this
country, that is, the organized attempt of labor to
impress its aims upon the whole people, may be said
to have begun with the century that is now closing,
but it did not gain full headway until the nineteenth
century was fairly on its way. This is true, notwith-
standing the labor question has been present always
in the development of the world; but contempora-
neous with the development of the industries of the
United States the movement, as it is now known, has
taken place, and its speed has been accelerated as the
industrial development has progressed. Prior to
the establishment of the factory system there was lit-
tle organization. Here and there a club of skilled
workingmen existed. This was notably in the
Eastern and Middle States. Since 1825, however,
the movement has been rapid, and its results, while
not always satisfactory, are indicative of real pro-
gress. In the early years of the labor movement
many arguments were advanced against it, and the
attempt made to prevent workingmen from joining
in organization. The merchants and ship owners
of Boston, at a meeting held in the Exchange Cof-
fee Rooms on May 15, 1832, voted to discoun-
tenance and check what was called the unlaw-
ful combination formed to control the freedom of
individuals as to the hours of labor, and to thwart
and embarrass those by whom they were employed
and liberally paid. This meeting was emphatic in
its declaration that there was a pernicious and de-
moralizing tendency in combinations and an un-
reasonableness in any attempt made by organizations
to secure more favorable conditions of work. It was
held everywhere that labor ought always to be left
free to regulate itself, and that neither the employee
nor the employer should have the power to control
the other; and the old stock argument that organi-
zation would drive trade from the country was re-
sorted to then, as now, and a resolution was adopted
at the meeting referred to, that the members of it
would neither employ any journeyman who at the
time belonged to a labor combination nor give work
to any master mechanic who employed them while
they continued pledged to their associations. These
statements sound very much like those made at the
present time, and yet the story of labor organization —
its course, its successes, its failures, the philosophy un-
derlying it, and the influence it has exerted in many
directions — goes to prove that the world is growing
better, and that the condition of labor as it now exists
is a vast improvement upon its condition at any other
period. This might be proved by an exhaustive cita-
tion of wages and prices during the past 100 years,
were such citation necessary. It may, perhaps, be
well simply to say that wages, even during the past
half-century, have increased, on the whole, something
over sixty per cent., while the general course of prices
has been downward. This is true of other countries
in which machinery performs an important part in
production, but it is essentially true in America, for
here, with our vast resources, our peculiar systems of
education and of government, exerting great influence
AMERICAN LABOR
15
upon the minds of all, wages are higher than in any
other country in the world. The standard of living
is necessarily higher, of course, and the workingman
finds that he is able not only to preserve his working
condition, but to participate in other things which
are essential to his spiritual development.
To-day organized labor has many defenders. It is
looked upon with disfavor in some quarters, but I
think, as a rule, employers are quite willing that their
employees should organize, for they have their own
organizations and do not feel like denying the right to
others. Of course, a very large proportion of the
working-people of this country are unorganized, and
I presume this is true of manufacturers and employ-
ers on their side; but as the methods of production are
brought to a larger and grander scale, organization in
every direction will more and more prevail. At pres-
ent organized labor is estimated at 1,400,000, This
is the result of an estimate based on the claims of
different organizations. I am inclined to think it is
too liberal an estimate, and yet, placed in compari-
son with 15,000,000 wage-earners, it does not seem
large ; but, as a rule, organized labor is employed in
the manufacturing and mechanical industries, and in
this sense the percentage is high. The proportion of
organized manufacturers to the whole body is prob-
ably much larger.
As the labor movement has grown strikes have
become more frequent, and while undoubtedly the
era of strikes is passing away, yet it will be some
time before the downward scale is reached as to
numbers and importance. The great strikes in the
country have had a marked influence in many direc-
tions. They have excited working-people to under-
take other strikes; they have brought bitterness
between employer and employee, and yet on the
whole they are bringing a new line of thought to the
public mind, and their study will, I feel sure, result in
good to all classes. Strikes are teaching the public
its interests in industry as over against the personal
and selfish interests of the two parties immediately
involved.
The labor question has met with a great change as
a result of the Civil War. Our negro population has
lost some of the old occupations in which it was en-
gaged in the North half a century ago, but it is gain-
ing others. In the South the employment of the
negro is becoming more varied and his condition
more hopeful as one of pecuniary prosperity. Negro
labor is abundant, good, and steady in certain lines.
The question is often asked, whether the division of
employment lessens the quality of work. I do not
believe it does. The great principles of modem in-
dustry are association, concentration, and specializa-
tion. With the first the second is absolutely essential,
and the third is the result of concentration. If these
things lessen the quality of the work, then the op-
posite must be true — that without them quality is im-
proved. This carries the argument too far. If there
is much truth in it, then the simplest, humblest kind of
work is best for the worker. Sawing wood and pav-
ing streets, the most ordinary manual toil, are better
for the worker than the employment of his intellect
in tending a machine. A study of all the facts leads
to the positive conclusion that the division of employ-
ment does not lessen the quality of the worker when
considered as a man.
Working-people have experimented with coopera-
tion, profit-sharing schemes, and other methods of
increasing wages. These experiments have in many
instances proved failures; in others, successes.
They are likely to do some good, but it will be a
long time before the moral character of the men in-
volved will permit successful management of co-
operative schemes. The principle is right. The
cooperative principle is that of our modem system
of industry. Pure cooperation, probably, cannot
succeed, from an economic point of view, but the
cooperative spirit can prevail to a higher degree
than it now does; and all these things — combinations
of workingmen, public sentiment, economic condi-
tions (and the latter more largely than any other) —
have reduced the hours of labor from eleven, twelve,
and thirteen per day to eight, nine, and ten per day.
These changes, however, came gradually, and as the
result of improved methods of production.
After the economic changes were assured law
stepped in and made the custom the public voice.
The first ten-hour law in this country, however, was
not passed until 1874, when the State of Massachu-
setts provided that women and children should not
be employed over ten hours a day in the textile fac-
tories of the State. Another specific change which
has come is the frequent payment of employees for
their services. The method in former times was to
pay the working-people part in cash and part in
goods, and settlements were made at long intervals.
Now everywhere, with a few exceptions in the West,
where to some extent the truck system still prevails,
cash payments at short intervals are the rule. This
change has been brought about both by public senti-
ment and by statutory enactments.
One of the greatest changes which has been
wrought by the new system has come through cor-
porations. When the century began, the working-
man and his employer were practically associated;
16
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
they worked side by side ; they had a personal ac-
quaintance each with the other, and their interests
were, to a large extent, practically the same. With
the establishment of the factory system there came
the necessity of using large capital, more than one
man or a firm of men contributing ; so the corpora-
tion became a necessary factor in the development
of industry. Many small stockholders aggregated
their means and made a large capital. The inter-
ests of the stockholders had to be administered by
a corporation government, and this corporation gov-
ernment employed men and women. The ethical
relations were changed at once. As a great capital
is now the result of the aggregation of small savings
in many respects — although in some instances the
stockholders are heavy capitalists — the organization
of labor has grown on the ground that one organi-
zation should deal with another; that if the stock-
holders lose their personality and are represented by
a manager, the large body of working-people lose
their personality, and their interests should be repre-
sented by a manager or a committee. One of the
vital changes resulting from this growth of corpora-
tions is the liability of the employer to the employee
for damages received while in the employment of
the corporation. The old common-law rule relating
to the liability of employers for accidents occurring
to their employees is that a workman cannot recover
damages for injuries received through the carelessness
or negligence of a co-employee, although a stranger
may recover for an injury following the same care-
lessness or negligence. This rule grew up under the
domestic system,when employer and employee worked
side by side, and each knew the character and skill
of the other, and when several workmen working
together were supposed to be acquainted with the
risks of their occupation as well as with the character
and skill of their co-employees. But when expanded
methods are introduced this old rule becomes some-
what ridiculous; for co-employees maybe a brakeman
and a switch-tender, and under this rule a brake-
man on a train running, perhaps, 500 miles, could
secure no damages whatever from a railroad cor-
poration employing him, in consequence of any in-
juries received through the carelessness or negligence
of a s^vitchman along any part of the line, although
the brakeman knew nothing of the switchman, had
no knowledge of his skill or capacity when he en-
gaged with the company, and in no sense of the
word, so far as risk and association of service were
concerned, could be considered the co-employee of
the switchman. Yet, as the common-law rule grew
up before great industrial enterprises were estab-
lished, courts have projected it, and have ruled that
in such a case as that just mentioned the switchman
and brakeman were co-employees, and that therefore
the employer could not be held liable. This rule is
being broken down by statutory restrictions in differ-
ent parts of the world, although it has not generally
been modified, and still holds good in many States.
There are very many other points where changes
in relationship have been made by the change in
system. Looking the field over broadly, the con-
clusion must be reached that on the whole the work-
ing-people have been gainers during the progress of
the past century — gainers not only in wages, both
real and nominal, but in their relations to society ; so
with the facts briefly stated we may well consider
such relations and the general philosophy of Ameri-
can labor conditions.
De Tocqueville, when studying this country, ob-
served that amongst a democratic people where
there is no hereditary wealth every man works, or
has worked, to earn a living, or is the son of parents
who have worked, and that in such a community
the notion of labor is presented to the mind on every
side as the necessary, natural, and honest condition
of human existence ; that in America even a wealthy
man thinks he owes it to public opinion to devote
his leisure to some kind of industrial or commercial
pursuit, or to public business, and would think him-
self in bad repute if he employed his life solely in
living.
These reflections of De Tocqueville, conveying
the idea of life or of actual living, are stimulated by
all the elements which make up the essential char-
acteristics of this period. Nearly all the great for-
tunes, as they now exist, have been built upon the
actual toil of some industrious ancestor. It does
not do for our wealthiest people, if they wish to be
called simply aristocratic, to look beyond a genera-
tion, or, at the most, three generations, to find their
ancestry engaged in arduous labor, building from
that condition to a business career, and leaving be-
hind them at its close possessions upon which have
been erected great fortunes. In some instances, to
be sure, present fortunes are the result of fortunate
speculation or investment in real estate, but the rule
is the other way, and as first stated.
The American nation consists of workers ; and at
the present time more than at any previous period
the younger members of very wealthy families are
devoting their time and service to labor as assiduously
as if their subsistence depended upon their earnings.
In America, therefore, labor holds a more honora-
ble place in the minds of all the people than it does
AMERICAN LABOR
17
in any other land, and individuals can look forward
to the highest class of associations, both social and
intellectual, as a result of their application of skill,
provided always they are ruled by integrity, and
shall build up a character which will sustain itself
under all conditions. A workingman may not en-
ter the highest social ranks while a workingman, es-
pecially in dense social centres, but in our country
villages and large towns observation teaches that the
American workingman has the entree to the best so-
ciety in his community, without regard to the size
of his bank-account, character being the card on
which he gains his admission. I have attended so-
cial functions where I have met skilled mechanics
and wealthy men, and have found them meeting on
an equality, each regarding the other on the basis of
the personal character which he brought to the
function.
There is another side to this, of course, and a
picture of certain features of American labor can be
drawn under which the individual feels that he
must keep at the bottom, at least, of the social
ladder. A study of conditions, however, proves
that the base of the social structure is growing nar-
rower as time, as education, as a wise altruism lead
men out of their lowly conditions to a better plane;
and the American laborer everywhere is an active,
earnest, and, I believe, an honest factor in keeping
up the struggle to secure a higher standard of liv-
ing. If the facts were otherwise the outlook would,
indeed, be a despondent one ; but a glance at the
facts proves the reverse, and shows that the propor-
tion of wage-earners to the total population is con-
stantly increasing.
Our 15,000,000, and over, of wage-earners con-
stitute a vast body on whose prosperity, intelli-
gence, and moral worth is based the welfare of the
Republic. With their happiness goes the happiness
of the whole people. When they are unhappy, dis-
turbed, and discontented the Republic is resting upon
an insecure foundation. I do not mean that discon-
tent can or ought to be removed, it being not wise
that perfect contentment should rule in all things,
for perfect contentment means a stationary condi-
tion. Progress can come only when the body of
workers in a community are contented because
moving onward and upward. Absolute " content-
ment with one's lot is the virtue of the subjects of a
despotically governed and non-progressive state,"
and this sort of contentment does not indicate hap-
piness, but a stationary condition, which ultimately
leads to retrogression, a loss of ambition, and the
growing disuse of the inventive genius of man.
Our American wage-earners demand, and are enti-
tled to, something more than is indicated by con-
tentment, for their experience with inventions, and
under our educational system, teaches them that
from rude instruments of toil they have become
intelligent factors, in both a social and a political
sense. They are not simply animals, wanting an
animal's contentment; they are something more,
and they want, and are entitled to, the contentment
belonging to the best environment. They are, in a
sense, and a valuable sense, the patrons of all that
gives character to a great nation. They believe in
education, in art, in music, in the progress of the
sciences, and in political purity, and are informing
themselves on the great topics which engage the
thoughts of our statecraftsmen. They are often
able not only to present their views clearly and
forcibly, but to indulge in discussions which would
be a credit to any legislative body. These features
constitute the American wage-earners' exceedingly
active, and, in a short-sighted way, sometimes un-
comfortable, elements in the great struggle that is
going on to lift themselves and all connected with
them to a higher plane of living. All who aid in
this struggle are the friends of humanity; all who
throw obstacles in its way are the enemies of
humanity — not knowingly, perhaps, but because
they cannot reach far enough in their comprehen-
sion of conditions, and growing conditions, too, to
see that happiness and prosperity must be the result
of the struggle. Selfishness and ignorance would
keep men on a level ; progressive movements mean
more, and look to the leading forth of all the best
faculties of all members of the community.
All the disturbances which we have seen during
the past score of years, and which seem, super-
ficially considered, to indicate that we are approach-
ing an industrial war, are but protests against fixed
conditions. These disturbances very often arise
from unwise considerations and from ignorance of
the conditions of production, but they all indicate
one grand trend ; and while it is to be hoped they
will grow less and less as intelligence develops the
unwisdom of certain forms of contest, they must be
considered as a part of the progressive movements
of our age, to be deprecated, to be sure, when there
is an inimical animus underlying them — to be dep-
recated, perhaps, in most instances — and yet, out of
them, American labor emerges with a clearer under-
standing of the inevitable conditions of life and a
clearer view of the higher ethical elements essential
to overcome them. These views constitute the chief
elements of what is known as the labor movement.
18
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
in which American labor has actively participated
for a great many years — first, seeking organization;
second, by organization, making its protests and
issuing its demands. Philosophically, these protests
and demands must be viewed as educational factors
and not as war factors.
I have always liked the definition of labor which
John Ruskin has given us. " Labor," he says, " is
the contest of the Hfe of man with an opposite ; the
term * life ' including his intellect, soul and physical
power, contending mth question, difficulty, trial or
material force. Labor is of a higher or lower order
as it includes more or fewer of the elements of Hfe ;
and labor of good quality, in any kind, includes
always as much intellect and feeling as will fully
and harmoniously regulate the physical force."
The truth of this definition must be accepted, and
with its acceptance the labor movement, so-called,
is at once lifted from a sordid to a high ethical
plane; taken out of narrow grooves and made to
become the very essence of the whole of the relig-
ious and political movements of the closing years of
this century. Whether Ruskin's definition is recog-
nized or not, the truth exists, and so the struggle of
the wage-earner becomes of that high order which
insists upon recognition as a factor in securing to all
people something beyond the mere wants of exist-
ence. A man who is working simply to secure food,
shelter, and raiment, that is, the conditions abso-
lutely essential to keep him an efficient working
machine, is not the best product of civilization;
but the man who is willing to work industriously to
secure these absolute necessaries to make his serv-
ices efficient, and then, over and beyond them,
something of the spiritualizing necessaries of life, is
a credit to our civilization ; and these spiritualizing
influences can be secured only when, after paying
for the necessary lubrication of his working muscles,
he is able to furnish himself and his loved ones with
elements of life which have heretofore been consid-
ered luxuries. He must be able to secure some-
thing of these higher elements, or he loses, and
retrogression is the result. He must be able to
educate his family, and to give them of the best
things of life to such an extent that they become
active participants in the results of invention, which
throw around life everywhere more than could be
secured under old conditions.
With his conscience quickened by the very atmos-
phere that surrounds him, the wage-earner under-
stands, more than any other wage-earner anywhere,
that the sacredness of property must be insisted
upon and preserved, and that all attacks upon ex-
isting institutions must be repelled, especially when
those attacks are made for the purpose of destruc-
tion with a view to the building of a new structure
upon the ruins of the old. He is often radical in
his political views, but as a class in the community
he is ready to aid in the improvement of govern-
mental and social structures rather than to assist in
their destruction, even when the view is presented
that only on their destruction can a properly devel-
oped new structure be erected. He is often led
away by specious arguments, and under such condi-
tions allies himself to various so-called progressive
movements; but he is always open to conviction,
and when he sees that he is simply being led on the
old, well-beaten paths of iconoclasm, he turns and
allies himself with those who are seeking real and
true progress through evolutionary processes.
The American workingman is sometimes a social-
ist, but he does not believe that socialism, and espe-
cially political socialism, has anything in it which
will help him to secure the coveted margin over
necessaries — anything that will help him to things
spiritualizing. He is a socialist, as a rule, in a cer-
tain sense, but his socialism is not political; it comes
from a spirit within him, and it seeks to aid all who
are engaged with him in the struggle to secure better
environment. This sort of socialism in American
labor has no danger in it. On the other hand, it
is critical in its nature, and thus helps the whole
body of the people to understand what evils exist
and what conditions ought to be secured in their
place.
The American laborer, as such, is never an an-
archist, for he is a law-and-order man, and believes
that through development of the individual char-
acter the best social conditions can be reached. Now,
as the wage-earners of this country comprehend these
high and moral grounds more fully and more clearly,
they will become more contented in the true sense —
not contented to stand still, but contented with the
knowledge that they are progressing.
From what has been said it will be clearly under-
stood that conditions are not always favorable; that
there are fluctuations, business depressions, having
their discouraging influence, and strikes, unsettiing
the public mind. The clash between ethical and eco-
nomical conditions leads to disruptions sometimes in
business associations, and arrays, to all appearances,
capital on the one side and labor on the other, and
gives color to the prophecy sometimes put forth that
ultimately this clash will lead to bloody strife. I
cannot acquiesce in this view, although I see clearly
the clash itself, and largely the causes for it. The
AMERICAN LABOR
19
causes are mostly ethical, growing out of the rela-
tions of men and the lack of appreciation of the duty
which is owed to the public. Macaulay said that
the evils arising from liberty were only to be cured
with more liberty. So the evils which apparently
surround us at the present time, and which appar-
ently grow out of the industrial world, are the results
of an intelligence which did not exist in the past, and
the cure for them is more intelligence. Capital and
labor are intelligent enough to get into difficulty :
they are not intelligent enough yet to keep out of diffi-
culty. It requires a very high moral character on the
part of both employer and employee for each to rec-
ognize the rights and the privileges of the other; but
with this recognition, quarrels, as such, will largely
cease, and contests of mind will take the place of
those unhappy contests which are now so frequent.
When the employee recognizes that his highest social
duty is to render the very best service of which he is
capable, and the employer recognizes that his highest
social duty is to compensate the best service with
the best wage, a vast deal of friction will be avoided.
Integrity of business involves both the employing
and the employed elements of society. Confidence
in each other is the surest cure for many of the dif-
ficulties, and while the world is growing altruistic,
it will not grow altruistic at the expense of individ-
ual development; but after the rendering of the best
social service there will come a coordinated force
involving both altruism and individualism. Either
means destruction in a degree. Coordination means
success and reasonable happiness. The ethical force
cannot rule at the expense of the economical, nor can
the economical force rule at the expense of the eth-
ical. Their coordination is the true line of progress.
As American labor comprehends this more and
more clearly, and I believe it is comprehending
these principles, and as the employer comprehends
them more and more clearly — and I believe that he
is so doing — we may hope for the adjustment of dif-
ficulties on a plane of moral responsibility not yet
reached, except incidentally. The settlement of labor
controversies is one thing, their prevention another.
If the intelligence of different elements has not reached
that degree whereby they can be prevented, then
there should be some recognition of that settlement
and adjustment which recognize the importance of
each side in the success of industrial enterprises. Amer-
ican labor is doing much, and can do much more, in
bringing about such prevention and such adjustment.
May every struggle to that end meet with the cordial
appreciation and support of all right-minded citi-
zens ! The century closes with omens of this con-
summation. We must not look for Utopias nor the
millennium ; but we must look for the evolution of
moral forces through industrial forces, for society
flourishes or decays as industrial elements prosper
or decline.
CHAPTER III
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
THE imports and exports of the United States
are the expression and measure of its com-
mercial dealings with the nations and peoples
of the world. Their development and importance
have been commensurate with the economic growth
and political power of the country and people. To
compare the foreign trade of the United States in 1 795
with that in 1895 would be to compare a wheelbarrow
with a locomotive or an ocean liner. The local na-
ture, the simplicity of character, and the limited quan-
tity of the trade in the earlier period have become the
world-wide, the complex, and enormously extended
commerce of to-day. Then the trade was confined
as well by the limited markets as by the selfish greed
of nations possessed of colonial dependencies, mo-
nopolized by themselves in production and in com-
merce. Then the long and comparatively infrequent
voyages made commerce a matter of speculation,
of widely fluctuating prices, of capital at risk, and
consequently of doubtful returns. Now the world
is one great market to buy and to sell in. Prices are
equalized and made stable by banking facilities, by
rapid communication by mail or telegraph, by fre-
quent voyages, and by the free and cosmopoHtan
movements of labor and capital. The millions ven-
tured in foreign trade in the last century have be-
come the hundreds of millions embarked in foreign
trade to-day ; and over and above the great transfer
of commodities from country to country there is a
large and ever-increasing transaction in securities,
national. State, and corporate. Mere statistics can
convey only one idea of this growth and develop-
ment. They may point out the mass or quantity,
which is the least interesting and vital phase of the
question ; but the nature or character of that mass
has also materially changed. It is on this change
of nature that I wish to say something.
When the peace of 1783 was declared the United
States comprised a strip of territory on the At-
lantic Ocean extending from Maine to Florida, and
bounded on the west by the Mississippi River. In
1790 the total area of settlement v/as 239,935 square
miles, having a population of 3,929,214 souls. In
this comparatively limited area important commer-
cial products were raised. The tobacco of Virginia
and Maryland supplied the world ; the rice and in-
digo of the Carolinas stood high in European mar-
kets ; and the fish and lumber products of New Eng-
land, with the breadstuffs of the Middle States, gave
a large and profitable commerce with the West Indian
Islands, then colonial possessions of Europe. In
New York the fur trade centered, and even as early
as this time the Northwest Territory pointed to an
agricultural possibility which fifty years later was
to begin an economic revolution in Europe, the re-
sults of which are still incomplete. The extension
of national territory west of the Mississippi, and
southward so as to include Florida and Texas, has
contributed to develop commerce on almost the
same lines which were marked out in the first years
of the Republic.
It was agriculture in 1795 which contributed most
largely to the export trade ; it is agriculture in 1895
which still feeds the largest part of the exports.
The rise of cotton culture, and its rapid extension
through the South, were the leading features of our
export development for fifty years. The rapid set-
tlement of the West, and an enormous extension of
agricultural production in cereals and provisions,
were the leading features of the subsequent forty
years. Beginning with 1816, the establishment of
manufactures, fostered and assured by the peculiar
inventiveness of Americans, laid the foundation of
industries which at the end of eighty years are fitted
in many lines not only to compete with, but almost
to supply, the world. In 1895 the estimated popu-
lation of the country was 70,000,000 and the area
of the country in land surface was 2,970,000 square
miles. The value of domestic exports per capita
of population in the last decade of the eighteenth
WORTHINGTON C. FoRD.
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
21
century was somewhat less than $6 ; the per capita
exports in 1895 were over $11, The productive
capacity of the country has thus been sufficient to
feed, clothe, and support in increasing comfort a
population which has increased in numbers seven-
teenfold ; and at the same time afforded a surplus
which has given an export trade double in relative
importance and increased fifty or sixty fold in abso-
lute value, as the $800,000,000 of 1895 represent an
enormous trade, conducted on a basis of low prices,
compared with the trade of 1795, conducted under
the regime of high prices.
The lasting and substantial qualities of American
export trade are proved by its survival of accidents
and adverse conditions which threatened at times
to overwhelm it. The Napoleonic wars practically
closed the ports of the civilized world to American
products and American shipping, and the disaster
was aggravated by the domestic Embargo. Wild-
cat banking schemes have periodically swept over
the country, entailing wide-spread ruin and economic
disturbance, shaking the commercial system of the
country to its very foundation. State and corpo-
ration repudiation and defalcation have at times
thrown a cloud over American interests, and have
retarded development, while even destroying some-
thing of what had already been accomplished. To
these exceptional and preventable conditions should
be added others which the economist has recognized
as periodic and inevitable — recurrent waves of finan-
cial distress and commercial depression, which have
seemed to follow a definite law, and yet can never
be foreseen, or their effects provided against and
neutrahzed.
The geographical distribution of exports would
necessitate a sketch of the changes in political divi-
sions throughout the world during the century. The
breaking up of the old colonial system and the rise
of independent States and powers, the formation
of aUiances essentially modifying the sovereignty of
political divisions, have introduced so many new
conditions that the geographical nomenclature of
1795 will not apply in 1895. The great Spanish
and Portuguese colonies in the New World have
with few exceptions become emancipated from the
mother countries, and as independent powers have
sought and developed commercial connections pro-
hibited under the mercantile system of the last cen-
tury. Central and South America have framed and
maintained commercial systems of their own, instead
of feeding and supporting a commerce profitable
only to the mother state. The Floridas in 1795
were counted among the possessions of Spain. Hayti
2*
was a French colony. Germany had no existence as
a united power, and the Hanse towns represented
commercial Germany. The trade with Canada was
of little importance. Australia was a geographical
name. Texas was part of a foreign country, as was
all westward of the Mississippi ; and the exchange of
merchandise with Africa and Asia, while important
even at that day, was Hmited in its development by
local hostihties and by trading monopolies.
The embryonic condition of exports is shown by
the distribution of 1795. Of a total of nearly $48,-
000,000 outgoing, $31,000,000 were sent to Euro-
pean countries, $14,000,000 to the West Indian
possessions of those countries, and $3,000,000 to
all the rest of the world. The intimate connection
between political and commercial conditions is shown
by the fact that the exports to France and the French
West Indies were $12,653,635 ; to the Hanse ports,
$9,655,524 ; while to Great Britain and her posses-
sions in the West Indies and North America the
exports were $9,218,540. France ranked first in
importance, Germany second, and Great Britain
third. The treaty of Jay and the necessities of the
British West Indies made necessary some alterations
in the regulations imposed by Parhament on colo-
nial trade, and these changes were reflected in the
current of the leading exports of the United States.
France lost her dominant position and was super-
seded by Great Britain. This relative position has
never been changed.
A study of the yearly fluctuations in the export
trade, and a general statement of the leading causes,
would be of exceeding interest. Each article would
present the material for a study of commercial con-
ditions as influenced by competition, production, or
political factors. This, however, would be out of
the question in an article of this length. The high-
est development of exports has occurred within the
last thirty years, when the rapid settlement of the
West, and the improved methods of transportation
have enabled its products to reach a market at such
rates as allow aggressive competition with similar
products of other exporting countries. Without
modern appliances the large export trade in fresh
meats, butter, fruits, and even oleomargarine, could
not exist.
Another side of this story is of high economic
value, showing how a productive interest may wane
and die through the rise of more favorable condi-
tions elsewhere for producing or marketing, or by
the discovery of other products which will better
attain the end to which they are the means. In
the same manner an interest may out of a very small
22
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
beginning become sufficiently important to control
the market of the world. A century ago indigo was
a large product of the Carolinas ; it ceased to be an
article of export, in quantity, at the beginning of the
century. The United States was a large exporter
of rice in 1795 ; in 1895 it was an even larger im-
porter. Forty years ago whaling was a profitable
pursuit, and whale and fish oils constituted an item
of export. That industry has almost disappeared as
a commercial factor ; but the $2,000,000 or $3,000,-
000 worth of whale-oil has been more than compen-
sated by the $45,000,000 of exports of petroleum,
an article which came into use about thirty years ago.
The ills of other nations have at times redounded
to the benefit of the United States. European wars
created an opening for the prepared meat products
of the West ; the vine diseases in the wine countries
of Europe gave an opportunity for an export of
American wine — an export which must grow. Coal
was not sent abroad in any quantity till 1850, but it
now represents a trade of more than $10,000,000.
Cotton was imported from the West Indian Islands
in 1795 ; it has long been the principal item of ex-
port. Copper, when it touched $2,000,000 in the
trade retvu^s of 1858, was believed to have reached
a very high point ; but that product of the American
mine now controls the world's markets, and an ex-
port of $13,000,000 is not believed to have touched
an even reasonable limit.
In 1895, seventy per cent, of the total value of
domestic exports was composed of agricultural pro-
ducts. The products of the fisheries and of the
forest and mining, partaking of the qualities of agri-
cultural products in being subject to the law of
diminishing returns, raised the proportion to seventy-
seven per cent., leaving about twenty-three per cent,
contributed by American manufactures. The arti-
cles of food and the crude materials of manufactures
are exported to countries which have developed in-
dustrial rather than agricultural systems, and which
need the food to support their laboring populations,
and the raw materials to feed their industries. So
long as the United Kingdom held almost the mo-
nopoly in the great manufacturing industries where
machinery has superseded hand labor, our export
trade was chiefly with that country. Within twenty-
five years the rise of large manufacturing interests
on the Continent, and the extension of merchant
marines of continental countries, have been reflected
in the direction of American exports. What would
formerly have gone to Great Britain and thence been
distributed throughout continental Europe is now
sent to the continental countries direct.
To sum up, the United States export trade con-
tributes the cotton used in cotton manufactures
wherever the industry is developed; by its bread-
stuffs and provisions it contributes a necessary ele-
ment to the support of the industrial peoples of other
lands, supplying a cheap and wholesome food; its
mineral oils are to be found everywhere, giving a
cheap and safe light to peoples who have lived here-
tofore in semi-darkness ; its tobacco has always been
appreciated, as have its naval stores ; its agricultural
implements and tram-cars, its clocks and watches,
and its rubber goods are evidences of a superior
inventive ability. The lines of the export trade of
the United States are so broad and well defined that
nothing within the reach of human possibilities can
destroy their main features.
The imports do not require the special study that
exports seem to demand. The latter are a fair gauge
of the productive capacity of the country, for it is
only the surplus product which can be exported —
that which is beyond domestic consumption. Im-
ports measure the purchasing ability of the people
and constitute a rough measure of the industrial
advancement and of the degree of taste and well-
being attained. The development of the import
trade has been a process of selection, rejecting one
class or article and taking others, as the domestic
supply is sufficient or wanting. In the last century
all manufactures of a grade above the crudest were
brought in from abroad. There were few "indus-
tries " outside of the household industries, and con-
sequently little or no demand for raw material of
manufacture. A little cotton was imported; some
lead from England ; and hemp, cordage, and cables
from Russia gave material for ship building; but
these few articles comprise all the imports which
can be directly identified with " industry." In 1795
a little unwrought steel came from the United Neth-
erlands; somewhat later Swedish bar-iron took its
place ; but manufactured iron and steel have come
from the United Kingdom.
Compared with such a situation, the imports of
1895 offer a striking contrast. That there are a
large number of commodities of almost necessary
consumption which cannot be grown or prepared
in the United States needs no proof. Tea, coffee,
sugar, spices, and such tropical products can be ob-
tained in the required quantities by exchange more
easily and cheaply than by growing them. Articles
of food will, therefore, always constitute a large item
of imports, and in 1895 constituted one third of the
total. Imports of the crude materials of manufac-
tures— wool, cotton, flax, and hemp, coal and iron,
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS
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24
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
and silk — constitute a measure of industrial growth
and conditions. By the establishment of domestic
industries, and by the refining of demand through
the accumulation of wealth and the education of
taste, better products are demanded of both foreign
and domestic manufacture. In 1895 the imports of
IMPORTS AND EXPORTS IN 1895 BY GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS,
thirds of the entire imports are received through
New York, and more than one half of the exports
are sent out through that port. The main geo-
graphical features of the foreign commerce of the
United States are shown by the accompanying
figures :
Europe
North America ....
South America. . . .
Asia
Oceanica
Africa
All other countries
Total
Atlantic ports
Gulf ports
Pacific ports
Northern border and lake ports
Interior ports
Total $731,969,965
Imports.
$383,645,813
133.915.682
112,167,120
77,626,364
17,450,926
5.709.169
1454,891
$731,969,965
$613,737,342
18,865,503
40,568,501
51,016,783
7,781,836
Per Cent.
52.4
18.3
153
10.6
2.4
83.8
2.6
5-5
7.0
I.I
Exports.
$627,927,692
108,575.594
33.525.935
17.325.057
13.109,231
6,377,842
696,814
$807,538,165
$590,392,743
130,275,045
36,879,310
49,991,067
$807,538,165
Per Cent.
77-7
13-4
4.2
2.2
1.6
73-1
16. 1
4.6
6.2
Per Cent, of Im-
ports AND Exports.
65.72
15-74
9.46
6.17
1.98
•79
.14
78.21
9.69
503
6.56
•51
materials in a crude condition for use in domestic
industries comprised more than one fourth of the
total imports. What remained were articles manufac-
tured which could not be obtained in this country
to meet the tastes of the consumer or to gratify the
whims of fashion. The crude materials are, as a
rule, obtained from agricultural countries of recent
settlement, or from older countries sparsely popu-
lated, with a semi-civihzed people. Australia is the
great source of wool-supply ; Cuba of sugar, Brazil of
coffee, Asia of silk, Egypt of raw cotton, and South
American countries of hides, skins, and india-rubber.
Manufacured articles are of European origin.
A word may be added on the geographical dis-
tribution of imports and exports in 1895. The
United Kingdom received forty-eight per cent, of
the exports and contributed twenty-two per cent,
of the imports. No other country approaches this
percentage in American trade. The natural advan-
tages of the harbor of New York long since pointed
it out as a great commercial center ; while the enter-
prise and liberality of State and citizens in making
internal improvements have enabled it to maintain
a dominant position in the face of intense and ap-
parently almost destnictive competition. Canals
and railways and banking institutions having foreign
connections have made the city what it is. Two
Foreign commerce must grow with the increase
of population and wealth. From time to time fears
have been expressed that the United States is not
holding its own in foreign markets ; that its products
are being undersold by similar products of other
nations. Russian and Indian wheat, Indian and
Egyptian cotton, Russian petroleum, and, last, the
grain products of the Argentine Republic, have ex-
cited apprehensions the full extent of which have
never been realized. That competition from the
outside must produce some effect need not be ques-
tioned ; but that this effect could ever end fatally to
the productive interests of the United States is be-
yond belief. If the agricultural products of our
country no longer meet with favor in foreign mar-
kets, there will always be room for our manufactures,
the export of which has shown in recent years a
marked increase. In 1875 the value of exported
manufactures was $92,678,814, constituting 16.57
per cent, of the total exports. In 1895 the value of
manufactures was $183,595,743, constituting more
than twenty-three per cent, of the total. It is in
this direction that the greatest development of
American exports must lie ; and the field is so vast
that it will more than compensate for any reduction
in demand for food products or for materials in a
raw condition.
■f
CHAPTER IV
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
THE colonies, under the lead of Massachu-
setts, early attempted to provide roads ; yet
for more than two hundred years nothing ex-
isted in this country that by any stretch of the ima-
gination could be called a postal service. The only
carriers of commerce for nearly two hundred years
after the first settlers sought these shores were the
simple saihng vessels, that crossed the ocean only at
the greatest hazard. Courageous attempts to navi-
gate the ocean waters and the almost unknown rivers
and lakes were numerous before 1800, and canals,
even, were attempted. It can hardly be said, how-
ever, that anything deserving the name of interstate
commerce existed in this country at the beginning of
the present century, since at that time the total effects
of the government were transported from Philadelphia
to Washington in a frail sloop, and President John
Adams and his wife lost their way, as tradition has
it, in the woods beyond Baltimore, as they proceeded
in their carriage toward the new capital. The AUe-
ghanies constituted an almost impassable barrier be-
tween the East and the West, and such necessary
products as the colonists could not obtain in their
immediate neighborhoods were mostly brought from
over seas.
There was another difficulty in the way of trade.
The high price of labor rendered it impossible to
manufacture linen, cotton, or woolen cloth, except
at a cost twenty to fifty per cent, greater than the
same stuffs could be turned out for in England. The
trade of New Hampshire was principally in lumber
and fish, which were exported. In Massachusetts a
little wool and flax were worked into a coarse cloth,
and a few hats were made, but it was cheaper to
import them. In the province of New York the ex-
port of furs, whalebone, oil, pitch, tar, and provisions
included everything. So it was in New Jersey.
Virginia produced nothing for intercolonial trade.
Tobacco was a permanent staple, but it became
chiefly an export. The early colonists were inevi-
tably sailors. Therefore a considerable coasting trade
grew up, but there were no means of internal trans-
portation except by wagons and the rude craft plying
the natural waterways. In spite of this the Consti-
tution, which went into operation March 4, 1789,
embraced the right to regulate domestic commerce,
— a right not conferred by the previous Articles of
Confederation, — and from that year one may find
exhibits of the tonnage employed in the coastwise
trade. In 1789 this tonnage was 78,607; in 1812
it was 477,971.
The Americans of those early times had only a
vague knowledge of the country west of the moun-
tains ; yet the hardy settlers along the coast soon beat
out for themselves paths to this unknown region. The
act to provide for the Cumberland road was passed
in 1806, and the first stage-coach driven from Cum-
berland to Wheeling in 181 8. The length of the line
first opened was 130 miles, and its cost $1,700,000.
In those years, too, were tried the first experiments
with steam-craft. Livingston and Fulton built the
Clermont in 1807, and Fulton claimed under his pat-
ent a monopoly of transportation on the Hudson and
other rivers. His claim was carried to the courts
and defeated, so that after 181 5 the rivers of the
country were free to steam-vessels. In 1812 steam-
boats made their appearance on the Western rivers.
The first craft, the New Orlea/is, built at Pittsburg
by Fulton at a cost of $40,000, a stern-wheeler of
between 300 and 400 tons, put out for New Orleans.
Others followed, but none proved able to ascend the
river, until 1 8 1 5, when the Enterprise, a stern-wheeler
of 70 tons, made the trip from New Orleans to Cin-
cinnati in twenty-eight days. It was later than this,
again, that steamships came gradually to ply up and
down the coast.
25
26
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The first charter for canal building was granted to
the James River Company by the legislature of Vir-
ginia in 1 785. Another of these projects was the Dis-
mal Swamp Canal, begun in 1 787, under a joint char-
ter from Virginia and North Carolina, and opened
in 1794. The owners of its stock included George
Washington and Patrick Henry, and it was origi-
nally designed to facilitate the movement of lumber
out of the Dismal Swamp. The Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal, the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal,
and the Union Canal, of Pennsylvania, intended to
connect the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, were
only forerunners of the Erie Canal, 363 miles long,
completed in 1825 A canal from Lake Champlain
to the Hudson River was completed in 1823. On
the opening of the Erie Canal the cost of freight
fell, according to its class, all the way in amount
from $15 to $25 per ton, and the time of transit
from twenty to eight days. Wheat was worth $^3
per ton in western New York, and it did not pay
to send it to market, down the Susquehanna to Bal-
timore. The canal changed all that. Indeed, it
has been said that the Erie Canal added $100,000,-
000 in value to the farms of New York State. It
made New York City the commercial metropolis.
Freight which had gone overland from Ohio to
Pittsburg and Philadelphia, at a cost of $120 per
ton, now went to New York by way of the lakes,
the great canal, and the Hudson. The opening of
the Erie Canal excited also a fever of enterprise in
canal building in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
Maryland, and Virginia.
The first voyagers on the Great Lakes, La Salle
and Hennepin, set sail in 1678 in a schooner of ten
tons, which they had launched near the present city
of Kingston, Ontario. From the mouth of the
Niagara River they continued their journey by land,
and in the following May launched the Griffin, the
first sailing vessel to navigate the upper lakes. In
September they reached their destination at Green
Bay. From 1700 until 1756 the construction and
navigation of sailing vessels on the lakes was
largely confined to Lake Ontario. Then the Eng-
lish began to build and sail vessels upon Lake Erie
and Lake Ontario, and the commerce of Lake
Ontario increased so fast, that in 1800 it exceeded
that of all the other lakes together. The first Ameri-
can vessel to sail Lake Erie was launched at Erie in
1798. The first steam-vessel that navigated the
Lakes was built at Sackett's Harbor in 181 7, and
measured 240 tons. The next year the first steam-
boat above Niagara Falls was launched at Black
Rock, and made voyages between that place and
Detroit. The schooner Illinois, 100 tons, was the
first vessel to arrive at Chicago from the lower lakes.
"This event," writes one, "occurred July 12, 1834,
when all the male inhabitants of the village, amount-
ing to nearly 1 00, assisted in dragging the craft across
the bar."
Gibson and Linn, according to Ringwalt, in 1776,
descended the Ohio and the Mississippi from Pitts-
burg to New Orleans, and brought back a cargo of
136 kegs of gunpowder for the use of the continental
army. When they reached the falls of the Ohio River
they were obliged to unload their boats and carrj'
the cargo around the falls ; but the success of their
trip gave an impetus to the flatboat trade which has
continued in one form or another up to the present
time. The first regular packet line between Pittsburg
and Cincinnati was estabhshed in 1794, and con-
sisted of four keel-boats of twenty tons each. They
were much like the modem canal-boats, and could be
either propelled by sails, pushed by poles, or towed
by horses. Freight charges were high, the following
rates for steamboats on the Mississippi having been
established by the legislature of Louisiana in 181 2 :
From New Orleans to Louisville, four and one half
cents per pound for heavy goods, and six cents for
light, averaging five cents per pound, or per ton
$112; from New Orleans to Natchez, three quarters
of a cent per pound, or $1.50 per barrel; and the
same rate for all intermediate landings from New
Orleans to Louisville. Passage, $125 for the full
trip, and $30 to Natchez. Half-rates were allowed
for tonnage going down the river.
Hon. Levi Woodbury, who made a trip down the
Mississippi in 1833, says : " At every village we find
from ten to twenty flat-bottom boats, which, besides
com on the ear, pork, bacon, flour, whisky, cattle
and fowls, have a great assortment of notions from
Cincinnati and elsewhere. Among these are com
brooms, cabinet furniture, cider, apples, plows, cord-
age, etc. They remain in one place until all is sold
out, if the demand be brisk ; if not, they move farther
down. After all is sold out they dispose of their
boat, and return with their crews by the steamers to
their homes."
By 1856, however, the steam-tonnage of the Mis-
sissippi and its tributaries equaled the steam-tonnage
of the whole of Great Britain. Until 1850 the boats
measured from 200 to 400 tons ; but the builders en-
larged their vessels from year to year, until, in 1878,
they attained the size of the transatlantic liners. The
steam-tonnage of the inland and coast lines of the
United States increased from 24,879 tons in 1823
to 1,172,372 tons in 1876, as follows:
INTERSTATE COMMERCE 27
INLAND AND COASTWISE FLEETS, 1876. est railway in the world. It was also the first rail-
NtMBER OF Tonnage, ^ay to Carry the United States mails. In 1834 the
vksshls.
Atlantic and Gulf coasts 2,081 665,879 opening of the Philadelphia and Columbia Rail-
Pacific coast 270 78,439 road, as part of the system of internal improve-
Northern lakes 921 201,742 r -r> 1 • 1 ^
Western rivers 1,048 226,312 rnents of Pennsylvania, gave that State a contmu-
ous line of railways and canals from Philadelphia to
^'^'° 1.172,372 Pittsburg. In 1835 the Washington branch of the
In 1 89 1 there were on the Great Lakes 3700 Baltimore and Ohio road was opened. The com-
steam- and sail- vessels, with a net registered tonnage pletion of the Boston and Albany road in 184 1, and
of 1,250,000 tons. In that year they carried 63,- a connecting-link composing the line from Albany
250,000 tons of freight, while in 1890 the ton-mile- to Buffalo in 1842, marked the opening of the first
age carried by this fleet was 18,849,348 ton-miles, or great railway line. The real beginning of interstate
24.7 per cent, of the ton mileage of all the railroads commerce in this country may be said to date from
pf the United States. The tonnage of the lake this time.
marine more than doubled during the five years The total railway mileage of the United States has
from 1887 to 1892. On the 16,000 miles of the now reached 178,000 miles, or nearly one half the
navigable waters of the Mississippi River and its railway mileage of the world. The total mileage
tributaries there were afloat, in 1890, 7445 crafts of all tracks reaches 235,000 miles, representing a
of all kinds, with a registered tonnage of 3,400,000 capital of nearly $1 1,000,000,000 — an amount equal
tons. During the year this fleet carried 30,000,000 to one sixth of the entire wealth of the countrv, and
tons of freight and 11,000,000 passengers. The five times greater than the entire circulating currency
Hudson River had, in the same year, a traffic of of the United States. The annual earning capacity
5,000,000 passengers and 15,000,000 tons of freight, of this capital is $1,200,000,000 — an amount more
exclusive of 3,500,000 tons that passed through the than three times the entire annual revenues of the
canals of New York by way of the Hudson River government ; and it operates lines having an annual
to tide-water. The total for these four divisions of traffic of over 600,000,000 passengers and 745,000,-
waterways alone was 111,750,000 tons. The Mis- 000 tons of freight. An idea of the magnitude of
sissippi Valley rivers furnish transportation facilities this single branch, concerned with the transporta-
for twenty-four States, embracing an area of 1,240,- tion of freight, may be conveyed when it is stated
000 square miles. that 745,000,000 tons means that a train of cars
The average freight rate on wheat from Chicago long enough to reach more than six times around the
to New York in 1890 was 5.85 cents per bushel by earth would be required to transport it all at a single
lake and canal, and 14.31 cents per bushel by rail, load. The average distance over which this freight
the water cost being $1.94 per ton, and the rail cost was hauled by the railroads was about 125 miles.
$4.77 per ton. The Erie Canal is only a little over Set a single team to the task, and it would take it
300 miles long, yet Mr. Albert Fink says that it regu- something like 1,020,547 years to move the same
lates the freight rates of all the railroads east of the amount twenty-five miles.
Mississippi River, not only on those whose tracks run The total number of tons of freight carried by the
parallel with the canal, but upon those which run in steamers and sailing vessels of the rivers, lakes, and
the opposite direction. coastwise transportation routes of the United States
The development of the railway system of the in 1890 was 182,448,402; the tonnage moved by
United States has been without a parallel. Time the railways in the same year was more than three
and distance have been overcome, and the products times greater. Suppose that there had been no in-
of the farmers, the lumbermen, the miners, and the crease since 1890 in the water traffic, and add to this
artisans now reach in successful competition the amount the freight traffic of the railways during the
markets of the world. The railway had its incep- year 1893, namely, 745,119,482 tons; this would
tion less than seventy years ago in the little four-mile make the total average tonnage of the railways and
tramway constructed in the town of Quincy, Mass., waterways of the United States 927,967,884. It is
and operated by horses. The first really important diificult to believe that the railways of the country
railway was the Baltimore and Ohio, fourteen miles moved in 1893 more than eleven tons of freight for
of which were opened in 1830. In the same year every man, woman, and child within the boundaries
the South Carolina Railway was begun ; in 1833 it of the United States,
was completed for 136 miles, and was then the long- As late as 1850 there seems to have been little
28 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
conception of the influence which the railways were operating over 400 miles of line, and it appears
to wield in the development of the interstate traffic that 90 corporations operate 72.90 per cent, of our
of this great country, and of the country itself. It total railway mileage. In 1837 the superintendent
was thought that they could not successfully compete of motive power of the Columbia and Philadelphia
with waterways and canals, except where a speedy Railroad reported that the following charges were
carriage was essential. The solution of the problem imposed on the railroads named :
of cheap transportation from Pittsburg, for example,
^ ,^, ... ., , ' , , ' FREIGHT RATES ON RAILROADS IN 1837.
was not reached until the railroads threatened to ""
take away all traffic from the traders ; so that Pitts- Railroad. per Ton^;h^r milk.
burg coal can now be delivered in New Orleans for Baltimore and Ohio 4)4
° _ Baltimore and Washmgton 4
about $2.60 per ton, although New Orleans is 2000 Winchester and Potomac 7
miles away by river. Cow Island, on the upper Portsmouth and Roanoke 8
^ ■' ^ ^ . Boston and Providence 10
Missouri, is 4300 miles from Pittsburg ; yet coal is Boston and Lowell 7
carried to market there, a distance as great as from Mohawk and Hudson 8
° Petersburg lo
New York to the Baltic Sea. Not less than 20,000
miles of inland navigable waters are accessible to These rates seem preposterous when compared
these Pennsylvania coal traders. The aggregate with the .878 of one cent per ton per mile, which
number of vessels engaged in this business is more was the average charge on all the railroads of the
than 4000, and of the 13,000,000 tons of coal that United States diuing the year 1893.
were mined in 1893 in the counties near Pittsburg The growth of lake commerce in this country is
about 4,500,000 tons were carried to market by something marvelous. The increase of freight ship-
water. Yet let me illustrate further the growth of ments through the St. Mary's Canal, both east and
domestic trade in a part of our country which was west bound, was from 1,410,347 tons in 1881 to
only lately as remote and undeveloped as the west- 8,888,759 tons in 1891, or an advance of over 530
ernmost provinces of Brazil. This growth, due to per cent. There was an increase in the valuation
the transition from the pony express to the trans- of this tonnage from $28,965,612.92 to $128,178,-
continental steam-car, quickened the activities of 208.51, or an increase of over 340 per cent. During
California and of the whole Pacific slope like the the season of 225 days in 1891 in which this canal
inspiration of a new hfe. The assessed value of all was open there passed through it 7339 steamers
property within California rose from $260,563,886 and 2405 sail-vessels — a total of 10,191 vessels,
in 1869 to $584,578,036 in 1879. ^^ 1889 ship- or an average of over 45 per day during the entire
ments were made over the lines of the Southern season. The total registered tonnage for the season
Pacific system of 1,140,596,010 pounds from San was 8,400,680. The freight which passed through
Francisco, and of 1,571,347,605 to San Francisco, the canal was carried an average distance of about
The probable duration of an overland journey from 800 miles, at a cost per mile per ton of 1.35 mills,
the Missouri River to California before the conti- The size of the vessels passing through the canal con-
nental railways were constructed was about no days, tinues to increase. The average registered tonnage
It took Lewis and Clarke two years and a half to per vessel in 1867 was 626.3 tons, while in 1891 it
travel from the Mississippi to the mouth of the Co- was 962.1 tons. This freight-tonnage during the
lumbia and back. season of 1889 amounted to 19,717,860 tons. The
It is claimed that the practically unobstructed tonnage passing through the same canal during the
competition which has prevailed among railways has season of 1890, including the foreign and coastwise
been a main cause of many consolidations of rail- traffic, amounted to 21,888,472 tons, while the ton-
way interests. On the other hand, in defense of con- nage of all vessels of the Atlantic coast engaged in
solidation and combination, it is asserted that these foreign trade during 1890 was but little more — 22,-
result in better and swifter service and lower rates. 497,817 tons. All the vessel-tonnage engaged in the
Whatever the cause or causes, rates generally are foreign trade, entering and clearing at London, Eng-
much lower than they were ten years ago. On land, during the same year was 13,480,767 tons, and
June 30, 1894, 44 railways, each with an operated at Liverpool the same year it was 10,941,800 tons;
mileage of over 1000 miles, out of a total of 1039 so that the vessel-tonnage passing through the De-
operating corporations, controlled and operated 56.30 troit River in 1890 was more than 8,000,000 more
per cent, of the total railway mileage in the United than that of London, about double that of Liver-
States. Extend the classification to include all roads pool, and nearly equal to that of the two combined.
Edward A. Moseley.
INTERSTATE COMMERCE 29
Another comparison : The tonnage passing through ments of the huge cargoes of coal that are sent from
the Sues Canal in 1 890 was 6,890,094 tons—less than ports on Lake Erie to the harbors of the upper lakes,
one third of that passing through the Detroit River. In 1887 the average rate per ton for lake transpor-
It should be recalled, too, that the Detroit River was tation of coal from Buffalo to Chicago was $1.05 ;
open for navigation during the season of 1890 only in 189 1 the average rate was fifty cents per ton ; and
228 days, while the Suez Canal was open during the from November 10, 189 1, to the close of navigation,
entire year. Take one more comparison : The total coal was carried from Buffalo to Duluth, a distance
tonnage, entrances and clearances, of the foreign and of 1 000 miles, for ten cents per ton. Using the
coastwise trade of Chicago and Buffalo for the sea- common unit (cost per ton per mile) for compari-
son of 1 890, as compared with that of the four great son, and taking the official report of the movement
British ports, was as follows : of freight through the St. Mary's Falls Canal, the
'^°'*®- ton-mileage rate has decreased as follows: 1887,
Chicago 10,288,868 .„ ° 000 -11 00 •„ o
Buffalo 9,560,590 2.3 mills; 1888, 1.5 mills; 1889, 1.5 mills; 1890,
London 20,962,534 1.3 mills. The average revenue per ton of freight
Glasgow .......... ...... '. 51977)860 P^^ ™^^^ °" ^^^ ^^^ railroads of the United States was
Hull 5,061,882 given at 9.4 mills in 1890, or more than seven times
as much as the cost of freight carriage through the
Carrying the comparison still further, the volume gt. Mary's Falls Canal
of this inland trade is again shown in the figures ^he regulation of inierstate commerce before the
givmg the foreign trade of the following great com- Declaration of Independence was by Parliament,
mercial ports : ^^^^ Under the Articles of Confederation trade was con-
New York 12,646,555 trolled, where it was controlled at all, by the legisla-
^^"'^"'■S 10,417,096 tuj.gs Qf thirteen distinct sovereignties. It soon be-
Antwerp 8,203,999 .
Marseilles 7» 392, 556 came evident that the several States would not unite
gj.^^gj^ '^'H^'^l^ in any general or fixed rule to govern commerce.
Boston 2,676,387 Discriminations naturally followed, which resulted
San Frlnd^co i'^86'^8^ ^" confusion and discord among the different parts
of the confederacy. Accordingly one of the reforms
It will be seen that the commerce of the two in- demanded under the old confederacy, and intro-
land cities, Chicago and Buffalo, consisting almost duced in the Constitutional Convention, was that
wholly of a coastwise trade within the confines of " Congress shall have power ... to regulate com-
the Great Lakes, compares most favorably with the merce . . . among the several States." The dis-
tonnage movement of the great maritime cities of satisfaction among the States in respect to the inter-
the world. change of trade, and the urgent demand for a uniform
In 1859 the average freight rate by lake on a and general principle controlling their commerce,
bushel of corn from Chicago to Buffalo was 15^ were clearly shown in the debates of the Constitu-
cents; in 187 1 the rate was 7^ cents per bushel, tional Convention. The following contemporane-
In 1857 the average rate by lake and canal on a ous opinions are of interest:
bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York was " The want of authority in Congress, under the
25.29 cents; in 1870 the rate for the same service confederation, to regulate commerce had produced
was 17. 1 cents per bushel; in 1880 it was 12.27 in foreign nations, particularly Great Britain, a mo-
cents per bushel ; and in 1890, 5.85 cents per bushel, nopolizing policy injurious to the trade of the United
In 1870 the average rate of freight by rail on a States. . . . The same want of a general power over
bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York was commerce led to an exercise of the power, sepa-
33.3 cents ; in 1880 the rate was 19.9 cents ; and in rately, by the States, which not only proved abortive,
1890, 14.31 cents. In 1867 the average rate for but engendered rival, conflicting, and angry regula-
carrying iron ore from Escanaba to Lake Erie was tions." (Madison Papers, vol. v., p. 119.)
$4.25 per ton; in 1870 the average rate was $2.50 "The oppression of the uncommercial States was
per ton; in 1891 the average rate was 82 cents per guarded against by the power to regulate trade be-
ton ; and at one time in that year it was as low as tweeri the States." (Mr. Sherman, Deb. on Fed.
55 cents per ton. Cons., Mad. Pap., vol. v., p. 434, 1787.)
The benefit of these great reductions in lake trans- " Mr. Carroll and Mr. L. Martin expressed their
portation rates appears very forcibly in the move- apprehensions, and the probable apprehensions of
30
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
their constituents, that, under the power of regulat-
ing trade, the general legislature might favor the
ports of particulai States, by requiring vessels des-
tined to or from other States to enter thereat."
{Ibid., p. 455.)
To cover this defect, Art. I., Sec. 9, CI. 6, of the
Constitution was enacted, to wit : " No preference
shall be given by any regulation of commerce or rev-
enue to the ports of one State over those of another,
nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be
obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another."
General Washington, in a letter to a friend on the
weakness of the confederation, and pleading for a
stronger government, wrote: "We have abundant
reason to be convinced that the spirit of trade
which pervades these States is not to be repressed.
It behooves us, then, to establish just principles, and
this cannot, any more than other matters of national
concern, be done by thirteen heads differently con-
structed and organized. The necessity, therefore,
of a controlling power is obvious, and why it should
be withheld is beyond my comprehension."
Alexander Hamilton, in the " Federalist," Letter
VII., wrote : " The competition of commerce would
be another fniitful source of contention. The States
less favorably circumstanced would be desirous of
escaping from the disadvantages of local situation,
and of sharing in the advantages of their more for-
tunate neighbors. Each State or separate confed-
eracy would pursue a system of commercial probity
peculiar to itself. This would occasion distinctions,
preferences, and exclusions which would beget dis-
content. The habits of intercourse on the basis of
equal privileges, to which we have been accustomed
from the earliest settlement of the country, would
give a keener edge to those causes of discontent
than they would naturally have, independent of the
circumstances." Also, in Letter XXII. : " The inter-
fering and unneighborly regulations of some States,
contrary to the true spirit of the Union, have, in
different instances, given just cause of umbrage and
complaint to others ; and it is to be feared that ex-
amples of this nature, if not restrained by a national
control, would be multiplied and extended till they
became not less serious sources of animosity and dis-
cord than injurious impediments to the intercourse
between the different parts of the confederacy."
In the debates of the Constitutional Convention
the clause regulating commerce, etc., was agreed to
netn. con., not even a yea-and-nay vote being taken.
When the grant of this power to regulate commerce
among the States was made by the Constitution,
the traffic which might be controlled under it was
quite insignificant. On the land there was nothing
that could approach the dignity of interstate com-
merce, and its regulation, as also of that which was
exclusively State traffic, was for the most part left to
the rules of the common law. The exceptional regu-
lations, if any seemed to be called for, were made
by the State laws. For the regulation of commerce
on the ocean and other navigable waters. Congress
very promptly passed the necessary laws; but its
jurisdiction within the Umits of the States was not
very clearly understood, and it was not until the cele-
brated case of Gibbons vs. Ogden, decided in 1824,
that it was authoritatively and finally determined
that the waters of a State, when they constituted a
highway for foreign and interstate commerce, are, so
far as concerns such commerce, as much within the
reach of Federal legislation as are the high seas, and
consequently that exclusive right for their navigation
cannot be granted by States whose hmits embrace
them. But while providing from time to time for
the regulation of commerce by water. Congress still
abstained from undertaking the regulation of com-
merce by land. The reasons were the same. The
land commerce was insignificant, and the rules of the
common law were in general found adequate for the
settlement of any questions. When Congress pro-
vided for the construction of the Cumberland road,
it was thought undesirable to regulate its use by
national law, or to take national supervision of the
commerce upon it ; and it was left to the supervision
and care of the States through or into which the
road was built. With the application of steam as a
motive power for propelling vessels, conditions were
immediately changed. But even then the circiun-
stances were favorable to a prolongation of State con-
trol. The first improved highways were turnpikes,
the next in grade canals ; but the highways by water,
as well as the highways by land, were provided for
by the States. It was not unnatural that they should
be left in charge of the regulation of trade upon
them, especially as no complaint was made that
their regulations were unjust, or that they discrimi-
nated unfairly as against the citizens or the business
of other States. When, in 1830, steam-power began
to be applied to the propulsion of vehicles upon land,
the same conditions continued to prevail. The power
of the Federal government in the regulation of com-
merce between the States was put forth negatively
rather than affirmatively ; that is to say, it was put
forth in restraint of excessive State power, instead
of by way of affirmative national regulation.
1 See First Annual Report of the Interstate Commerce
Commission.
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
31
The subject of the management of railways in re-
spect to interstate commerce had been more or less
discussed in Congress, when in March, 1885, a reso-
lution was adopted by the United States Senate
empowering a select committee, known subsequently
as the CuUom Committee, to investigate it. On
January 18, i886, this committee submitted a re-
port based upon testimony contained in more than
1450 printed pages. On page 40 the committee
says : " Unjust discrimination is the chief cause of
complaint against the management of railroads in the
conduct of business, and gives rise to much of the
pressure upon Congress for regulating legislation."
In summing up the testimony, on pages 180-182
the committee says: "The complaints against the
railroad systems of the United States expressed to
the committee are based upon the following charges :
(i) That local rates are unreasonably high, com-
pared with through rates. (2) That both local and
through rates are unreasonably high at non-compet-
ing points, either from absence of competition or in
consequence of pooling agreements that restrict its
operation. (3) That rates are established without
apparent regard to the actual cost of the service per-
formed, and are based largely upon what the traffic
will bear, (4) That unjustifiable discriminations are
constantly made between individuals in the rates
charged for like service under similar circumstances.
(5) That improper discriminations are made between
articles of freight and branches of business of a like
character, and between different quantities of the
same class of freight. (6) That unreasonable dis-
criminations are made between localities similarly
situated. (7) That the effect of the prevailing pol-
icy of railroad management is, by an elaborate sys-
tem of secret special rates, rebates, drawbacks, and
concessions, to foster monopoly, to enrich favored
shippers, and to prevent free competition in many
lines of trade in which the item of transportation is
an important factor. (8) That such favoritism and
secrecy introduce an element of uncertainty into
legitimate business that greatly retards the develop-
ment of our industries and commerce. (9) That the
secret cutting of rates, and the sudden fluctuations
that constantly take place, are demoralizing to all
business except that of a purely speculative charac-
ter, and frequently occasion great injustice and heavy
losses. (10) That in the absence of national and
uniform legislation the railroads are able, by vari-
ous devices, to avoid their responsibility as carriers,
especially on shipments over more than one road,
or from one State to another, and that shippers find
great difficulty in recovering damages for the loss of
property or for injury thereto. (11) That railroads
refuse to be bound by their own contracts, and arbi-
trarily collect large sums in the shape of overcharges,
in addition to the rates agreed upon at the time of
shipment. (12) That railroads often refuse to recog-
nize or be responsible for the acts of dishonest agents
acting under their authority. (13) That the common
law fails to afford a remedy for such grievances, and
that in case of dispute the shipper is compelled to
submit to the decision of the railroad manager or
pool commissioner, or run the risk of incurring fur-
ther losses by greater discriminations. (14) That
the differences in the classifications in use in vari-
ous parts of the country, and sometimes for ship-
ment over the same road in different directions, are
a fruitful source of misunderstandings, and are often
made a means of extortion. (15) That a privileged
class is created by the granting of passes, and that
the cost of the passenger service is largely increased
by the extent of this abuse. (16) That the capitali-
zation and bonded indebtedness of the roads largely
exceed the actual cost of their construction or their
present value, and that unreasonable rates are charged
in the efforts to pay dividends on watered stock and
interest on bonds improperly issued. (17) That rail-
road corporations have improperly engaged in lines
of business entirely distinct from that of transporta-
tion, and that undue advantages have been afforded
to business enterprises in which railroad officials are
interested. (18) That the management of the rail-
road business is extravagant and wasteful, and that a
needless tax is imposed upon the shipping and trav-
eling public by the unnecessary expenditvire of large
sums in the maintenance of a costly force of agents
engaged in a reckless strife for competitive business."
The report of Senator CuUom's Committee formed
the basis of the law commonly known as the Inter-
state Commerce Act, which became effective April
3, 1887. The Supreme Court in the case of the
Union Pacific Railway Company against Goodridge,
October term, 1892, in speaking of a similar act of
the State of Colorado, said : " This act was intended
to apply to interstate traffic the same wholesome rules
and regulations which Congress two years thereafter
applied to commerce between the States, and to cut
up by the roots the entire system of rebates and dis-
criminations in favor of particular localities, special
enterprises, or favored corporations, and to put all
shippers on an absolute equality."
The statute recognizes the fact that it is no proper
business for a common carrier to foster particular
enterprises or to build up new industries ; but, deriv-
ing its franchise from the legislature, and depending
32
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
upon the will of the people for its very existence, it
is bound to deal fairly with the public, to extend rea-
sonable facilities for the transportation of persons and
property, and to put all its patrons upon an absolute
equality. The laws making the giving of transpor-
tation privileges a criminal offense are at present
difficult of enforcement. Public opinion has not
yet been roused to the energetic condemnation
which is necessary to make these special favors as
completely unknown as they are at the post-office
window, where the value of every stamp must be
paid.
At the head of all the vast machinery employed
in moving interstate commerce are men of integrity,
and of abihty rarely developed in other walks of life,
broad-gauged men, to whom the public is indebted
for the efficiency with which they carry on their stu-
pendous enterprises. Under the railway presidents
are the traffic managers, the passenger and freight
agents. The feeling of these men that they must
serve solely the corporations which employ them
has grown to be a second nature with them. Their
duty to the government and to the public, therefore,
is sometimes obscured, and it is hard for them to
realize that many practices which they have come
to regard as ordinary business methods are wrong.
So also the shipper and the merchant find it hard to
realize that the push and barter and dicker that have
made them successful must be abandoned when they
ship their merchandise; that it is no longer to be
bargained for, and cannot be carried except at a
rate open to every competitor.
On February 4, 1887, the Act of Congress creat-
ing the Interstate Commerce Commission, and in-
vesting it with authority to regulate certain matters
with respect to commerce which were detrimental
to the public interest, and with authority to require
annual reports from all carriers engaged in carrying
interstate commerce, was passed. This act, being
in the nature of experimental legislation, has not
accomplished all that its framers hoped or intended,
but that great good has been accomplished cannot be
denied. Various defects in its practical application
have from time to time been brought to the atten-
tion of Congress, and amendments to remedy some
of them have been adopted. The statistics compiled
from the reports required under the provisions of this
act have marked a new era in railway statistics in this
country. Being compiled from sworn reports made
up on a uniform plan and for a uniform period, in
compliance with a requirement of law, and published
as official documents of the government, they are
accepted as authority, and eagerly sought after by
the public and by railway officers.
I may observe in closing that within the past two
or three years the courts have taken advanced ground
in asserting the power of the Federal government over
interstate commerce. It was held by the Supreme
Court in the case of Debs that " the government of
the United States is one having jurisdiction over
every foot of soil within its territory, and acting
directly upon each citizen ; that while it is a govern-
ment of enumerated powers, it has within the limits
of those powers all the attributes of sovereignty ; that
to it is committed power over interstate commerce
and the transmission of the mail; that the powers
thus conferred upon the national government are not
dormant, but have been assumed and put into prac-
tical exercise by the legal action of Congress ; that in
the exercise of those powers it is competent for the
nation to remove all obstructions upon highways,
natural or artificial, to the passage of interstate com-
merce or the carrying of the mail ; that while it
may be competent for the government (through the
executive branch, and in the use of the entire execu-
tive power of the nation) to forcibly remove all such
obstructions, it is equally within its competency to
appeal to the civil courts for an inquiry and deter-
mination as to the existence and character of any
alleged obstructions, and if such are found to exist,
or threaten to occur, to invoke the powers of those
courts to remove or restrain such obstructions." In
this case the extent and nature of the power of the
Federal government over interstate commerce, and
the methods by which that power can be applied,
were discussed. It was decided that the United
States Circuit Court, sitting as a court of equity,
has power to enjoin, at the instance of the Attorney-
General of the United States, acts of obstruction to
interstate commerce, notwithstanding that the acts
enjoined, or some of them, might amount to offenses
against the criminal law of the United States.
While it is clearly the fact that, under our form
of government, the national authority has no excuse
for interfering with the relations existing between
employer and employee in ordinary business transac-
tions, it is maintained by many that as the govern-
ment has control of the agencies engaged in interstate
commerce, those who are employed by such agencies
are also engaged in the public service, and for that
reason an obUgation exists on the part of Congress to
enact such legislation as will tend to settle differences
which may arise between railroads and their em-
ployees without causing inconvenience to the pubHc.
CHAPTER V
THE POSTAL SERVICE IN COMMERCE
IT is something more than a mere figure of
speech to call the post-office the right hand
of commerce. The rapid transmission of
news, domestic and public, has been of enormous
benefit to individuals and the general community,
but to the merchant it has been paramountly one of
the most important factors in successfully carrying
on his commercial enterprises. We can scarcely
conceive how a business of any consequence could
ever have been prosecuted without the aid of this
most important and, I am happy to say, best appre-
ciated branch of the government service. To tell
the story of the post-office in commerce, therefore,
would be to recite the history of the service itself,
from the time in England, in 1533, when the few
posts that were established were for the exclusive
use of the sovereign, down to the present day, when
the letter of the poorest and most despised person
in the British dominions or in the United States is
treated as sacredly and handled with as much care
as though it were written by the Queen of England
or the President of our country. Even with the
generous space allotted to me I can only hope to
allude briefly to the most important episodes in the
service, whose history is a part of the annals of
commercial progress throughout the world.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century there
were only four established posts in the British do-
minions— one to Ireland, one to Scotland, one to
Plymouth, and one to Dover, the last-named being
the most important and most used, because it passed
through the county of Kent, the highroad to the
Continent. There were no commercial relations
between one town and another, but the foreign trade
was considerable. Many foreigners, on account of
being persecuted in their native countries, had been
driven to London. It was the era of the Flemish
merchant, who introduced the manufacture of
woolen cloth, and so successfully that the exports
from England to the Netherlands in the time of
Philip II. amounted to 5,000,000 crowns annually.
These Flemish merchants were exceptionally intel-
ligent, and nearly all the peasants they employed
were able to read and write. A nice little quarrel
arose between the crown and the foreign merchants
in London. The latter claimed the right to send
their letters by their own agents ; the crown insisted
that all communications should be sent through the
regular channel. This feud had existed for many
years. A proclamation issued in 1591 gave the
state a monopoly of carrying letters through the
county of Kent, a law which was applied to all the
postal routes eighteen years later. In 1603 another
proclamation gave to those who furnished horses for
the post carriers the exclusive right of letting horses
to travelers ; but the foreign merchants, against
whom these proclamations were directed, still per-
sisted in sending their letters by their own special
messengers, procuring horses from other quarters.
Another proclamation, in which magistrates were
urged to see that horses were procured at the post-
houses alone, had no effect. Under Lord Stanhope,
the master of the posts (what we should call the
postmaster-general) at that time, there was a for-
eigner of the name of De Quester, who was superin-
tendent of the foreign post, and who had discharged
his duties so faithfully, sending the government des-
patches with such promptness, that the king, in
16 19, made him "Postmaster of England for For-
eign Parts out of the King's Dominions." Doubt-
less this appointment was partly intended to induce
the foreign merchants to give up their special mes-
sengers ; but it not only failed to produce that effect,
but gave dire offense to Lord Stanhope, who had
letters patent to his office which declared that he
had charge of the internal parts of the kingdom and
those "beyond the seas within the king's domin-
ions." In this way, through the practice of the
foreign merchants in employing special messengers,
a serious quarrel was brought about between Lord
34
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Stanhope, De Quester, and the king, which was
referred to the Privy Council for settlement. The
Council finally agreed that the foreign merchants
(who, by the way, were called " merchant adventur-
ers ") were " to have a post of their owne choice "
to the city of Hamburg and town of Delft, " where
the staples of cloth are now fetched, or to have such
other place or places whither the same shall happen
to be removed." This action superseded De Ques-
ter's appointment, though some few restrictions were
imposed upon the merchants. Stanhope gained a
lawsuit he had instituted to defend his rights, and
Billingsley, a broker who had been carrying the for-
eign merchants' letters, was sent to prison, but after-
ward, on petition to the king, released.
From the earliest days of the English post-office
the merchants had been favored ; their bills of ex-
change, invoices, and bills of lading, when written
on a single sheet of paper, were exempt from post-
age. The postmaster-general contended that the
exemption applied only to foreign letters ; the mer-
chants claimed that inland letters were included ;
otherwise, they shrewdly observed, "letters might
go cheaper to Constantinople than to Bristol." The
result of the controversy was that the merchants
procured an act to be passed declaring their inter-
pretation of the law to be correct.
When Sir Rowland Hill, the father of penny
postage, was making his brave fight for postal reform,
he was glad to have the aid of a committee of
London merchants to collect evidence in favor of
his plans. The chairman of this committee was
Mr. Bates, of the house of Baring Brothers ; and
other members equally prominent were obtained
without difficulty. When the act in favor of penny
postage had passed the House of Commons the
measure had to come before the House of Lords.
The ultraconservative element were in the habit of
saying in those days, " Thank God, there 's a House
of Lords! " One of the members of the Mercantile
Committee, with an enterprise that would be com-
mendable in a nineteenth-century journalist, sought
to " interview " the Duke of Marlborough, who was
a member of the Upper House, thinking, very
properly, that if some expression from him in favor
of the measure could be obtained before it came up
for consideration in the House of Lords, it would
be of immense advantage to the postal reformers.
But " interviewing " was not in vogue in that day,
and the noble lords were unapproachable, especially
to persons who had " views " about reforming any
branch of the English government. The merchant,
representing the committee, wrote to the duke that
they would like to see him and present their reasons
for demanding reform in postal matters, and a re-
duction of the rate to a penny. The duke's reply,
through his secretary, was that "he is not in the
habit of discussing pubhc affairs in private, and he
dechnes to receive the visits of deputations or indi-
viduals for the purpose of such discussions." Row-
land Hill then wrote a letter to his Grace, giving his
reasons for the establishment of a uniform penny
postage. The duke never answered the letter, but
when the debate came up in the House of Lords he
supported the measure. The merchant of to-day
will smile, as I suppose the merchants of that day
were amused, at the objection of one noble lord to
Rowland Hill's scheme. He argued that, under the
low rate of postage, the amount of correspondence
would be so greatly increased that " the whole area
on which the post-office stands would not be large
enough to receive the clerks and the letters." The
mind of many an English official or statesman be-
comes peculiarly dense when he comes face to face
with some reformatory measure that is going to
make things easier and more convenient for his gov-
ernment or the English people. Rowland Hill mildly
observed that his lordship should have no hesitation
in deciding " whether, in this great and commercial
country, the size of the post-office is to be regulated
by the amount of correspondence, or the amount
of correspondence by the size of the post-office."
In the early history of the post-office in America
it is singular that our colonies were considered sec-
ond in importance to one of the West Indian Islands.
By an order of the Enghsh government in 1688,
after prescribing the rates of postage to be charged
between the mother country and Jamaica, the order
reads: "And his Majesty is also pleased to order
that letter-offices be settled in such other of his
Majesty's plantations in America as shall be found
convenient for the service and the ease and benefit
of his subjects." Four years later, in 1692, Thomas
Neale obtained a grant from the crown authorizing
him to " set up posts in North America." Neale
never left England, but appointed Andrew Hamilton
his representative in this country. By 1698 a
weekly post, running over 700 miles of road, had
been established between New York and Boston,
and from New York to New Castle in Pennsylvania.
The postage on a letter between New York and
Boston was a shilling. ;!^2o a year was paid " to
Mr. Sharpus, that keeps the letter-office at New
York," who earned ^^170 in addition for carrying
the mail half-way to Boston, and the mail from
New York to Philadelphia. A salary of ^10 was
THE POSTAL SERVICE IN COMMERCE
35
" allowed to him that keeps the letter-office at Phil-
adelphia," and an allowance of ;^ioo to the deputy-
postmaster of Virginia and Maryland.
The receipts from the service increased each year.
In 1693 the receipts of the New York office were
^61; in 1695, £d>2; in 1696, £g2,; in 1697,
^122. The "Boston, Road Island, Connecticut,
and Piscataway posts " produced from £1^^ the
first two years tO;i^298 in the fourth. The post to
Philadelphia kept improving, but the Virginia and
Maryland routes never yielded anything ; in fact,
were run at a loss of ^600, the correspondence not
exceeding 100 letters a year. The whole system did
not pay expenses, and in 1697 Neale was ;^236o
out of pocket. The great question was then, as it
has been even in later years, " How can the postal
service be made self-supporting? " Hamilton pro-
posed that the rates should be raised, that the post
carriers should go "ferry free," and that ship-cap-
tains (after a regular postal rate had been settled
between England and America) on both sides of the
Atlantic should be required to take the mail they
had, at once, to the post-office of the port at which
they first touched. Under the new rate, the charge,
where the distance was not more than eighty miles
from New York, was sixpence ; to and from Boston,
twelvepence ; to and from Boston and Annapolis,
Md., thirty-six pence ; " to and from New York and
James Towne, 380 miles, and many broad and
dangerous bays and rivers to be ferryed over," thirty
pence. The Enghsh government, according to its
own home officials, had not supported the postal
service in the colonies as it should have done, the
extent of its interest showing itself in an annual
appropriation of ^50, in consideration of which the
government letters were to be carried free. Its
own postmasters-general, about this period, admitted
that the posts in private hands could not prosper for
want of due encouragement, and they recommended
that the service should be carried on by the govern-
ment. Neale's offer to sell his patent for ;^5ooo,
or ^1000 a year for life, or for the imexpired term
of the grant (about sixteen years), was not accepted
by the government. He died in debt, his interest
in the posts having been transferred to Hamilton,
who died in 1703, when his widow took charge of
the business for three or four years, and in 1707 the
posts became vested in the crown. In 1722 the
posts began to be self-supporting. In August of
that year the postmaster-general wrote : " We have
now put the post-office in North America and the
West Indies upon such a foot that for the future, if
it produce no profit to the revenue, it will no longer
be a charge to it ; but we have good reason to hope
there will be some return rather from thence."
In these early days, when there was a monthly
service between Boston and New York, the post-
office in the metropolis was a locked box that stood
in the office of the secretary of the colony. It took
four weeks, in those times, to accumulate a post-
rider's mail, even with the "small portable goods"
that were allowed to be carried in that way. Later
on, in 1775, after the time of Benjamin Franklin,
the first postal reformer, who established the penny
post, made newspapers pay, quickened the pace of
the riders, advertised letters, etc., the New York
post-office was located in a printing-house in Water
Street, Ebenezer Hazard, a bookseller, was the
postmaster, and William Goddard, an enterprising
journalist and printer of New York (born in New
London, Conn.), had charge of the route to Phila-
delphia, Mr. Hazard managing the route to Boston,
This latter route will be remembered for notable
exploits in the way of post riding, including the ride
of Paul Revere, who in 1773 rode from Boston to
New York, and thence to Philadelphia, with the
news of the " Boston tea-party " ; that of Ebenezer
Hurd, who was in the service forty-eight years,
traveling over as much space as twelve and one half
times around the world, or as far as the moon and
half-way back ; and the most famous ride of Paul
Revere in 1775, when he proclaimed the intended
movement of the British army to Lexington and
aroused the people to arms.
The development of the ocean postal service
presents interesting phases. In the days of New
Amsterdam the whole colony looked upon the
arrival of a ship as the most important event of the
day. It was of special interest to the merchants,
whose correspondence was first delivered to them,
after which the letters for the general public were
distributed, the crowd always being down at the
dock waiting to receive their mail. The masters of
ships saiHng to and from America in those days un-
consciously instituted what the well-known reformer,
Mr. J. Henniker Heaton, of England, is striving to
bring about in the present day — ocean penny post-
age ; that is to say, correspondents would drop let-
ters in a coffee-bag hung up in one of the coffee-
houses that were so common then on both sides of
the water, and the masters of the vessels would call
for the mail just before sailing, and deliver the let-
ters at the port of destination, charging one penny
for a single letter and twopence for a double one.
When Thomas Neale (already mentioned in this
article) failed to make the inland post pay in the
36
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
colonies, he proposed to establish sea rates of post-
age. Letters would then be in charge of the post-
office, and the shipmaster, as its agent, would hand
them over to a postal official on arriving in port.
Correspondence, it was argued, that was being
delivered by private hand, under the new system
would have to pass through the posts and pay regu-
lar rates, which should be sixpence for a single let-
ter, one shilling for a double letter, and one shilling
sixpence for a packet. The English postal author-
ities of that day were wiser than those of the time
of Rowland Hill, for they answered that the way to
increase the revenue of the post-office was to " make
the intercoiu-se of letters easy to people." Rowland
Hill, one hundred and fifty-nine years later, had to
struggle long and hard to convince the post-office
department of the truth of this proposition, while
the postmasters-general in the time of Neale wrote :
" The easy and cheap corresponding doth encourage
people to write letters," and declared that the postal
revenue had been increased when the rate, before this
time, had been reduced from sixpence to threepence.
The system of the coffee-house delivery of letters
was used by the residents of " Breucklyn, Pavonia,
and Hackensack," who left their mail at some well-
known tavern previously agreed upon. This custom
was followed until after the English took possession
of New York. The best-known coffee-houses in New
York were the Exchange Coffee- House, located at
the foot of Broad Street, and the Merchants', located
on the southeast corner of Wall and Water streets.
After the War of 1 8 1 2 the mails were carried by
the packet service, which had been rapidly devel-
oped, owing to the increased trade between America
and Europe. Frequent trips were made, and the
facilities for foreign correspondence were much bet-
ter than they had been. Then, from 1840 to 1855,
came the era of the clipper-ships, which were built
with special reference to speed, and whose services
were quickly utilized by the American newspapers,
the best representatives of our national spirit of
enterprise. One of these clipper-ships, in 1846 (the
Toronto, of the Morgan Line), beat the Cunard
steamer from Liverpool, bringing a copy of the
London " Times," containing European intelligence,
forty-two days later than the last paper received.
The New York " Herald " secured this prize, and
published an " extra " about it the same afternoon.
In 1845 Congress authorized the postmaster-
general to make contracts for the transportation of
the foreign mails, which had now become an impor-
tant feature of the postal service. After the ocean
mail service had become fairly started it was im-
proved rapidly. Various suggestions have been
made from time to time as to granting subsidies for
this service. My own opinion is that the ships
should receive proper compensation for carrying the
mails, on the same plan that we pay the railroads,
or should do the work under contract for specified
distances. The amount of foreign mail carried has
increased enormously. In 1840, when the Great
Western brought it over, the British mail amounted
to two sacks ; at the present time it amounts to five
or six truck-loads. Over 100,000 letters are now
despatched from New York every sailing-day, and
nearly the same number are received. The next
great step in perfecting this branch of the service
will be universal international penny postage. To
bring about this change, Mr. J. Henniker Heaton,
M.P. from Canterbury, has been and is working
with the same intelligence and persistency that
characterized Rowland Hill ; and eventually, I hope
and believe, he will meet with the same success.
The growth of the railway mail service is another
most important feature in the history of the postal
service. The railroad was first used as a post-office
in England in 1837, between Liverpool and Bir-
mingham. On the completion of the railroad line
the following year what was called the " flying mail "
train was started from the British metropolis to
Birmingham. In 1834 the mails were being con-
veyed in the United States over seventy-eight miles
of railroad, being carried in closed bags. In i860
Postmaster-General Holt arranged to run a mail-
train between New York and Boston, via Hartford
and Springfield, with the idea of forwarding East
the Southern mail more promptly, instead of allow-
ing it, as the practice had been, to remain over a
day in New York. The following year a railroad
mail was established between New York and Wash-
ington. In 1863 it was suggested that "post-office
cars " could be placed on the principal railroad
lines, and that clerks could sort the mail for the
terminal points and intervening stations while the
cars were in transit. A test of this system was
made in 1864, under the direction of the postmaster-
general, by Colonel George B. Armstrong, at that
time assistant postmaster at Chicago. The test was
made between Chicago and Clinton, la., August
28, 1864. There were then no pigeonhole cases for
letters, nor such conveniences for handling the mails
as now exist. Under the system then in vogue they
were not necessary ; for postmasters were required
to post-bill all letters, paid and unpaid, wrap them
in paper, those for each post-office in the State being
done up separately, and write the name of the post-
Thomas L. James.
THE POSTAL SERVICE IN COMMERCE
87
office of destination on the package. Those for
other States were massed together, wrapped up, and
addressed to the nearest distributing post-office.
In 1864 a successful experiment of the same kind
was made on the route between New York and
Washington, expert clerks from the principal East-
ern cities being selected for the work, which, it may
be said, has been always exceptionally well done.
Even as far back as 1863 a convention of special
agents reported of the employees : " The amount of
labor they perform and the degree of intelhgence
exhibited can hardly be estimated outside the
department."
In 1865, in quick succession, postal cars were
placed on the lines between Chicago and Daven-
port, la., Chicago and Dunleith, 111. ; and the
Chicago- Burlington and Galesbmrg-Quincy lines
were established. The first railway postal service
was put on the Philadelphia- Pittsburg route, on all
the principal railroad lines leading out of Chicago,
and on the Hudson River and New York Central
railroads, between New York, Albany, and Buffalo.
The new system made more rapid progress in the
West than in the East, the New York and Washing-
ton and the New York and Albany-Buffalo being for
a long time the only postal-car routes. But the suc-
cess of the service in the West led to its extension
not only in the Eastern States, but over the whole
country, so that by 1872 there were railway post-
offices on fifty-seven lines of road.
Another improvement that marks the progress of
the postal service was the change in the rate of post-
age in 185 1. Before that year the rate was five
cents per half-ounce for a distance not exceeding 300
miles, and ten cents exceeding that distance. In the
year mentioned the rate was changed to three cents
per half-ounce for a distance not exceeding 3000
miles, and ten cents exceeding that distance. The
use of adhesive stamps was authorized in 1847 and
made compulsory in 1856. In 1863 the distance
limit for carrying a letter was removed. In the
same year the free-delivery or carrier system was
established in 49 cities. In 1895 the carrier service
is in use in 610 cities. There are about 12,000
carriers employed, at an annual cost of about $11,-
323,000. There are twice the number of carriers
now employed in Chicago than were in the service
throughout the entire country in 1864.
In 1854 the registry system was established, which
is certainly one of the greatest conveniences the
commercial world possesses. It took five years to
3*
improve it and bring it into general use. The
safety of the system is illustrated by the fact that
the losses by fire, accident, and theft amount to but
one in every 16,306 pieces. About 15,000,000
pieces of all classes of matter are registered in a
year. In 1864 the money-order system was estab-
lished. Within the first six months 4 1 9 offices were
made money-order offices ; now there are nearly
20,000 such offices.
Business men, more especially publishers, will re-
call the law of 1875 which enabled them to mail
newspapers and periodicals at the rate of two cents
per pound. Ten years later this law was amended
so as to make the rate one cent per pound. In
making this change the government showed that it
recognized the newspaper and the periodical as
educators. Although this wise provision has been
abused to such an extent as to make it largely
responsible for the postal deficiency, it is safe to say
that the law can be so amended in the future as to
stop the abuses complained of, and at the same time
preserve the undoubted advantages which, by its
operation, are conferred upon the people.
In the extent of its work and the manner in which
the service is performed it is safe to say that the
postal department in this country cannot be excelled
by any other in the world. A late Enghsh writer
(Mr. Herbert Joyce, of the London post-office) has
this to say : " American progress has long been the
wonder of the world, and in nothing, perhaps, has
it displayed itself more remarkably than in the mat-
ter of the posts. The figures which the United
States post-office presents to us year after year — fig-
ures as compared with which even those of the post-
office of Great Britain fall into insignificance — make
it difficult to believe that only two hundred years
ago an enterprising Englishman [Thomas Neale]
was struggling to erect a post between New York
and Boston."
The United States spends more money on its
postal service than any other nation, the expendi-
tures in 1874 amounting to $84,000,000, while
Germany, the next in postal rank, expended less
than $64,000,000, and Great Britain less than $37,-
000,000. The United States is ahead of the other
countries in annual transportation on railroads and
other roads, the miles of service in 1894 being 264,-
717,595; and in Germany, next in rank, 112,480,-
758. Our postal service gives employment to
about 180,000 persons ; that of Germany to 155,000 ;
and that of Great Britain to 131,000.
CHAPTER VI
OUR MERCHANT MARINE
EASTWARD for 3000 miles of the group of
fifteen States along the fringe of the sea
from Massachusetts to Georgia, which Jay's
treaty gave a recognized place among the mari-
time and commercial powers of the world, stretched
the barren Atlantic; for 3000 miles to the west
stretched forest, plain, prairie, mountain, and lake,
storing a wealth the extent of which no man of
that time, even in the most extravagant burst of en-
thusiastic prophecy, was to conjecture, and the de-
velopment of which has been the marvel of man's
industrial progress. If our merchant marine has
lagged far behind our other national industries; if,
for the time, it has been outstripped by competitors,
while American manufacture and agriculture have
pushed themselves into the front rank, it must be
borne in mind that illimitable natural resources,
roughly to be gauged by the creation into new States
of over 2,000,000 square miles of territory, and by
an increase of upward of 60,000,000 in population
during the century, have stood behind the latter.
The American merchant marine, on the other hand,
in the unrestricted rivalry of nations, — which, from
the nature of the element, must obtain upon the high
seas, — for forty years has been hampered by the re-
tarded use of modern materials of construction, and
by restrictions forbidding it to enter that rivalry on
even terms with competing nations, which have
sought out and applied every device to promote
their own navigation.
The record of the American merchant marine
from 1795 to the present day may be divided into
two periods. The first, covering two thirds of the
century after the promulgation of Jay's treaty, was
a period of growth, culminating in the possession of
the largest tonnage which up to that time had ever
borne the flag of any nation but one, and in the
attainment by the United States of a rank on the
ocean second only to that of Great Britain and all
her colonies combined, with the promise that before
38
many years our sea power would be unsurpassed.
At the end of the second period the total tonnage
of our great rival surpasses ours three to one, and
on the ocean nine to one. We hold by uncertain
tenure third rank as a mercantile power on the sea ;
and of the hundreds of steamships under every flag
crossing the Atlantic and the Pacific from our shores
to the Old World, only fifteen fly the Stars and Stripes.
The dividing-line in time between these strongly
contrasting periods was vaguely within the decade
from 1855 to 1865. The forces which during this
interval turned our maritime progress into retrogres-
sion, in the order of their ultimate importance, were
the substitution of iron for wood as the chief mate-
rial of marine construction, the diversion of the
nation's energies from the sea to internal develop-
ment, and the losses inflicted upon our mercantile
marine by the Civil War. Even these causes would
not have sufficed to produce such destructive results
had not the inadequacy of our laws, compared with
the laws of rival nations, intensified their operations.
Wherein lies that inadequacy and how it may be
remedied are questions which unfortunately are mat-
ters of partizan dispute. They cannot, accordingly,
be discussed within the limitations necessarily placed
upon this volume.
On December 31, 1789, the merchant fleet of the
United States amounted to 201,562 tons, of which
123,893 tons were registered for the foreign trade,
68,607 to"s enrolled for the coasting trade, and the
remainder engaged in the fisheries. In May, 1789,
James Madison, in the House of Representatives,
stated that the tonnage entered in Massachusetts,
New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, South
Carolina, and Georgia amounted to 437,641 tons
(including repeated voyages), of which only 160,907
tons were foreign. " This circumstance," said Mr.
Madison, "annexed to our capacity of increasing
the quantity of our tonnage, gives us a favorable
presage of our future independence." By 1795 the
OUR MERCHANT MARINE
39
tonnage of our merchant fleet had increased to 747,-
965 tons, and in 1820, in spite of the oppressive
influence of the Embargo acts, to 1,280,167 tons,
583,657 tons of which were in foreign trade, com-
pared with a tonnage for the entire British empire
of 2,648,593 tons. Three years later the American
tonnage (counting repeated voyages) entering the
United States from foreign ports amounted to 8 1 o,-
761 tons, compared with 119,487 foreign, of which
89,553 tons were British.
At the outset the efforts of the United States to
engage in the carrying trade were met by discrimi-
nating duties imposed by our older rivals on Ameri-
can vessels. Sharp retaliation, begun by the first
Congress and consistently followed up, forced nation
after nation to withdraw from this mode of warfare
upon our commercial life, and led to a series of
treaties of friendship, navigation, and commerce,
which are the basis of our trade relations with the
world. By these treaties, associated with illustrious
presidents, and negotiated, as secretaries of state and
ministers, by Albert Gallatin, John Quincy Adams,
Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, Daniel Webster,
James Buchanan, Hamilton Fish, Thomas F. Bay-
ard, and others, the United States obtained for their
vessels in the ports of nearly every civilized nation
equal treatment with that accorded to the vessels of
the nation itself, and in return granted to foreign
vessels in our ports the same treatment which we
accord to American vessels. The negotiation of
these treaties is doubtless the most splendid achieve-
ment of American diplomacy ; it is surely one of the
greatest boons ever conferred upon the mercantile
marine of the world. The destructive effects of
discriminating and retaliatory taxation of shipping
upon all who resort to it had been forced home
upon our early statesmen by the experience of the
colonies and of the Confederation ; and in freeing
for all time American shipping, and with it the ship-
ping of the world, from such warfare, they gave to
navigation and to the international trade by which it
lives an impetus equal in its way to that given by
the substitution of steam for sail.
Enlisting a people predisposed to the sea, within
easy reach of boundless forests permitting the build-
ing of vessels more economically than was possible
in England, which was already compelled to import
much of its ship -timber, and freed by diplomacy
from foreign restrictions, the American merchant
marine in i860 had reached the impressive total of
5,353,868 tons, of which 2,379,396 tons were regis-
tered for foreign trade. The total tonnage of the
United Kingdom was but 4,586,742 tons, and of
the entire British empire, 5,710,968 tons, while the
combined tonnage of France, the component parts
of the present German empire, and Norway was less
than the tonnage we were employing in foreign trade
alone. The tonnage (including repeated voyages)
of American vessels entering the United States from
foreign ports during that year was 5,921,285, and of
foreign vessels, 2,353,911 tons. The tonnage of
American vessels entering and clearing at the ports
of Great Britain and Ireland was 2,981,697 tons,
against 3,227,591 tons German and French com-
bined.
In 1850 the new tonnage built by the United
States amounted to 272,218 tons, while that built
by Great Britain amounted to only 133,695 tons.
In i860 our new tonnage was 214,798, and that of
our foremost rival, 301,535 tons. Our relative
positions had changed during the decade before the
war. In 1855, the year of our greatest construction,
the United States built 2027 vessels, of an aggregate
tonnage of 583,450, of which 381 were full-rigged
ships. By a steady and rapid decline, without equal
in our marine history, the product of oru" yards in
four years fell to 875 vessels, of 156,602 tons, in
1859, of which but 89 were full-rigged ships, ris-
ing in i860, but only to 214,798 tons. The decline
is not to be attributed to the substitution of steam
for sail, for, as the home of Robert Fulton, this
country in the early years of steam-navigation easily
took and held the first rank. In i860 our steam
fleet aggregated 867,937 tons, of which 97,296 tons
were registered, against a total steam tonnage of
only 500,144 for the entire British empire. But
the change from wood — the material of marine con-
struction in which our new country abounded — to
iron, in the cheap production of which Great Britain
excelled, completely altered the conditions of ship-
building, and thus changed the conditions of our
own and competing merchant marines. The reasons
for this change of material, as well as the changes in
models which it necessitated, may be more appro-
priately considered under American Ship Building.
Only the fact and its relation to our merchant marine
are within the scope of this article. The fact be-
came important because our laws restricted the
American merchant marine to home-built ships.
We stood by the principle that the privileges of the
flag and of national register should be bestowed
only on home-built ships. Great Britain and other
nations had already abandoned that principle, or
soon after gave it up. Her foreign and colonial
relations, too, had impressed upon England the im-
portance of established lines of steam-communica-
40
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
tion by sea, and forced upon her the policy of liberal
assistance in the establishment and maintenance of
such Unes. Without insular or remote dependencies,
and freed from foreign complications, the United
States lacked the motive which made popular in
Great Britain the policy of steamship subsidies ; and
we took it up and abandoned it intermittently, thus
estabhshing an uncertainty in legislation which in
business affairs is often industrially more harmful
even than a wrong policy consistently ptu"sued.
The policies of admitting foreign-built vessels to
the national register, — or " free ships," as it is popu-
larly designated, — and of subsidies to shipping, may
not be considered, under the restrictions placed
on this article; but without transgressing proper
bounds, it may be said that the two are not con-
flicting nor alternative policies, but independent
methods of dealing with different subjects. The
former aims to encourage navigation under the
national flag; the latter to promote domestic ship
building. All other nations have adopted one or
both of these policies. Our own country has adopted
and consistently followed neither. Our merchant
marine, in consequence, has naturally yielded place
on the seas to rival nations which hastened to adopt,
and have steadily supported, legislation adjusted to
the changed conditions of construction wrought by
the substitution of steel for wood as the chief mate-
rial of ship building.
Eastward for 3000 miles from our shores stretched
the Atlantic, barren, but famihar in its dangers and
rewards, and as naturally the home of the ambitious
American as of the ambitious English boy, as natu-
rally the place for the investment of American as of
British capital. For more than half a century it had
been the scene of many of our enterprises. The
discovery of gold in California in 1 849 ; the begin-
ning of our railroad system, which doubled in the
decade from 1855 to 1865 ; the discovery of petro-
leum, carrying confusion to our whaling-fleets, — to
name but a few of many causes, — at this time turned
westward from the sea our enterprise and capital.
The certainty of reward for labor and capital, and
the amount to be hoped for, were greater there than
the Atlantic or China trade could offer ; and from a
maritime power, pressing close upon Great Britain,
the United States became a railroad power of the
first magnitude. Other articles of this centennial
volume, testifying to our wonderful inland growth,
bear silent witness to one cause of the decHne of
which this article is required to speak.
From 1 86 1 to 1865, the period of the Civil War,
the American tonnage registered for the foreign
trade fell from 2,540,020 tons to 1,504,575 tons;
and within the four years immediately following the
blockade of Southern ports by the Union fleets and
the fitting out of Confederate privateers to destroy
Northern merchantmen, 874,652 tons of American
shipping were transferred to foreign flags. In Sep-
tember and October, 1862, the Alabama burned
eighteen American merchantmen ; and the damage
then done to American vessels and cargoes by pri-
vateers fitted out in British ports was later com-
promised by the payment of $15,000,000 to us by
Great Britain. In 1865 the tonnage (including re-
peated voyages) of American vessels entering the
United States from foreign ports had decreased to
2,943,661 tons, while the foreign tonnage had in-
creased to 3,216,967 tons. The war thus tremen-
dously accelerated a decline of American shipping
which from other causes was already inevitable.
The carrying power of the world's sea-going mer-
chant marine in 1875 was 28,407,946 tons; in 1895
it is 49,526,847 tons. The relative rank of the five
principal sea powers at the beginning and end of
this period follows :
MARITIME POWERS, 1875 to 1895.
1895. 1875.
British
German
27,885,806
4,065,282
3,261,982
2,343»i73
2,121,550
9,849,054
13.347,583
1,604,773
American
Norwegian
French ...
All others
4,196,463
M95,958
1,558,290
6,204,879
Total
49,526,847 28407,946
During the last twenty years the United States
and Germany have changed their relative ranks,
and this year only seven per cent, of the world's
sea-going tonnage is under the American flag, as
compared with fifteen per cent, twenty years ago.
The United States and Italy alone of the ten prin-
cipal maritime nations show a decline in over-sea
carrying power since 1875.
During the fiscal year 1 894 the tonnage of Ameri-
can vessels (counting repeated voyages) entering the
United States from foreign ports was 4,654,679 tons,
while the foreign tonnage was 15,334,984 tons.
The American tonnage entering from Europe was
341,876 tons; the foreign, 9,326,235 tons. Trans-
atlantic voyages from the United States to Europe
and Africa numbered 187 under the American flag,
compared with 5626 under foreign flags; of trans-
pacific voyages to Asia, AustraHa, and Oceanica, 311
were under the American and 351 under foreign
Eugene T. Chamberlain.
OUR MERCHANT MARINE
41
flags. Our shipping in foreign trade is now almost
wholly engaged in voyages on the Lakes and north-
ern borders to the British possessions, and to Central
America, the Caribbean coast of South America,
and the West Indies. The statistics given, and con-
clusions to be drawn from them, should be modified
by one consideration, which, though not a matter
of official record, is a well-understood business fact.
Within the last fifteen years American capital has
purchased abroad a considerable number of steam-
ships, and American enterprise is operating them in
transatlantic trade. Though barred by the law from
the use of the flag, these vessels are the evidence of
an awakened maritime spirit, promising the attain-
ment of higher maritime rank by the nation. This
awakened spirit has already secured the admission
of the Paris and New York and the construction of
the St. Louis and St. Paid, giving to the country a
line of four steamships unsurpassed in the world.
The United States, in consequence, for the first time
in many years, have entered into competition for
the express, passenger, and mail traffic of the north
Atlantic. In one instance we have thus adopted
the policy — free ships and liberal compensation to
home-built ships for public services — by which our
rivals on the sea have made themselves formidable.
If that instance is sporadic, its full results are already
in sight. But if it is the beginning of a new policy,
approved by the experience of nations, we are enter-
ing our second mercantile century with the promise
of a restored merchant marine.
More than fifty years must pass fcefore the history
of the first century of our merchant marine on the
Pacific coast can be written. Beginning in 1849 at
San Francisco with 722 tons sail, our Pacific fleet
doubled its tonnage during the war period, and now
numbers 1520 vessels, of 456,359 tons. San Fran-
cisco stands alone among our chief seaports as enter-
ing and clearing in foreign trade a larger tonnage of
American than of foreign vessels ; and with the open-
ing of new Asiatic markets and the need of steadily
increasing tonnage our geographical position des-
tines us to be the sea power of the Pacific. The
century's record of American shipping on the At-
lantic coast has been a story of national pride, tem-
pered with national regret and mortification ; the
record of our shipping on the Pacific is one of brief
achievement and good promise. Splendid perform-
ance and bright augury, not only for the particular
section itself, but for our national future as a mari-
time power, fill every year of the record of our mer-
chant fleets on the Great Lakes. Two years after
Jay's treaty the first small merchant vessel was built
on the lakes west of Niagara, and when the first
half-century was ended the tonnage of our lake
ports was only 89,000 tons. On June 30, 1895, our
lake fleets comprised 3342 vessels, of 1,241,459 tons,
half in numbers and two thirds in tonnage being
steam-vessels. This fleet in carrying power may be
estimated at 2,666,261 tons. These figures mean
that we have created on our inland seas a mercan-
tile naval power excelled only by the strength of
Great Britain or Germany on the high seas, greater
than France or Norway, or than any other two
maritime powers combined. Natural bonds, easily
broken, fetter from free employment on the ocean
our reserve powers as a ship-building and ship-own-
ing nation, now confined to the Great Lakes. So
eager to pass these barriers have these powers been
that the lake interests have built steamships for the
Pacific trade, cut them in two in order to pass the
locks and canals which separated them from the
Atlantic, and then put them together for the voyage
round the Horn. Of our 669 steamships of over
1000 tons, 359 are shut within the lakes. Our
production of iron and steel draws close upon, and
in several years has surpassed, that of Great Brit-
ain. Freed by a ship-canal to the Atlantic, our
lake ship-building interests — having close at their
doors the center of production of sixty per cent, of
our iron output — can compete on the high seas,
and who could then doubt that interests which in
confinement have outstripped the nations of the
world, except two, will help to restore to the United
States again the rank it held as close second to the
entire British empire only thirty-five years ago ?
Join the union of the Great Lakes to the Atlantic
with a removal of the narrow Central American
barrier which separates the Atlantic and Pacific,
and, as steel in time becomes cheaper here than
anywhere in the world, may we not look even to
surpass in the first half of our second century the
rank we attained in the first half of our first century,
and take to ourselves the rule of the wave?
Eastward of the forty-four States of the Union for
3000 miles, westward for 5000, stretch the oceans
as we begin our second century of commercial in-
dependence, a nation richer in performance and
promise than any other the world knows. Geog-
raphy, natural resources, and our benign poHcy of
neutrality point to an ultimate destiny for this country
as the world's great ocean carrier of the future.
/ ♦
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/(/C£yL. '\£2-ulax^L<,^C<^aAJ^~-'
CHAPTER VII
OUR COMMERCIAL WEALTH AND VOLUME OF BUSINESS
NOT since the history of the world began has
there been such a marvelous advancement
of all factors creating wealth and developing
trade and commerce as during the past century ; nor
in any other section has the result been so phenomenal
as that attained in the United States. In 1795 this
country had acquired but a fraction of its present
geographical limits ; to the West it reached only
to the Mississippi River, and not until 1803, by
the purchase of Louisiana, did its territory extend
north and west to the Pacific and south to the
Gulf of Mexico. In addition to the thirteen
original States, Vermont and Kentucky had been
admitted to the Union; but the populated area of
the country was only 366,000 square miles, against
3,580,000 square miles to-day; and the total popu-
lation was approximately 4,500,000, scattered along
the Atlantic coast, the center being about the city
of Baltimore ; while to-day the population is about
70,000,000, or more than fifteen times as great, the
center of population having moved almost directly
west nearly 500 miles.
It is hardly necessary to explain that the com-
merce of the country in 1795 gave httle promise of
what it has since become. The only efficient means
of transportation were, of course, by water, travel by
land being a tedious process, in wagons or on horse-
back, over rough and unsatisfactory roads. It is
self-evident that domestic trade at that time was of
a primitive character, and any attempt to fully char-
acterize it must fail except in so far as indicated by
a comparison of imports and exports.
Leading domestic industries one hundred years
ago included the manufacture of household and
other (chiefly wool and hemp) textile products and
rag carpets, pig and bar iron in a small way, wheel-
wrighting and smithing, lumber, carpentry, furniture,
wagons, harness, hats, shoes, ships, and meat pro-
ducts, the whole probably not aggregating very
many million dollars in value annually, A review
of the total value of the annual products of these or
like domestic industries in the census year 1890
presents a picture of unparalleled expansion, the
value of the products in the nineteen lines indicated
amounting five years ago to the enormous total of
more than $4,107,000,000, in addition to which our
metallic and mineral products in 1890 were valued
at fully $587,000,000. It would be impracticable
to indicate fully the thousand and one kindred in-
dustries to which some of those identified with the
earlier history of our country have given rise. And
no reader of these pages need be reminded of the
enormous stimulus to the production of wealth
resulting from the railroad, which is only about sixty
years old, from the discovery of petroleum or min-
eral oil, the manufacture of illuminating gas, and
the production and development of electrical motors
and appliances.
The total value of foreign shipments from the
United States in 1 795 was about $47,989,000, which,
while small when viewed from the standpoint of to-
day, meant a great deal at the time, in that it repre-
sented an increase of 1 50 per cent, over the total four
years previous. The exports were mainly to France
and her possessions, the free cities of Hamburg and
Bremen, Great Britain and her dependencies, Spain
and her possessions, the United Netherlands, the
Danish West Indies, Italy, China, and the East
Indies. Traffic with Russia was of some impor-
tance, but with the other countries of northern
Europe it was inconsiderable.
A fair estimate of the character of our export
trade at that time may be gained from a report of
the Secretary of the Treasury in 1793, covering the
year 1792, which enumerates, among the leading
articles of foreign shipment, breadstufi^s, tobacco,
rice, wood, salted fish, pot and pearl ash, salted
meats, indigo, horses, mules, whale-oil, flaxseed, tar,
pitch, and turpentine, breadstuffs constituting more
than one third of the whole. South Carolina and
42
OUR COMMERCIAL WEALTH AND VOLUME OF BUSINESS
43
Georgia were prominent as producers and shippers
of indigo, but that was before cotton had become a
noteworthy product. It had been grown and ex-
ported as early as 1791, but only in small quantities ;
the cotton-gin, invented by Eli Whitney, did not
appear until two years later. In his celebrated re-
port on Manufactures, Secretary Hamilton, though
expressing the hope of a future of usefulness for the
cotton industry, yet said that, " not being, like hemp,
an universal production of the country, it afforded
less assurance of an adequate internal supply ;" and
he devoted some space to the advocacy of the re-
peal of the duty on imported cotton, as well as of
granting a bounty on cotton produced in the United
States, when wrought at a home manufactory. In
a comparatively few years, however, all this had
changed, and American cotton had become a factor
of the first importance in the commerce of the world.
At the period under consideration the import ex-
ceeded the export trade in value. Imports for the
year 1795 were valued at $69,756,258. Of this
total, $30,972,215 came from Great Britain and
her possessions, England furnishing $21,108,350.
Next in importance was France and her possessions,
of which contributions the French West Indies sup-
plied the greater share. Following these came in
order Spain and her possessions, the United Nether-
lands and their possessions, the Danish West Indies,
Portugal and her possessions, Hamburg and Bremen,
Russia, China, and the East Indies. The importa-
tions from Great Britain comprised manufactures of
wool, cotton, linen, silk, metal, glass, and paper,
together with salt, steel, lead, nails, cheese, beer,
and porter; those from the East Indies included
cotton, sugar, and pepper; from the West Indies,
spirits, sugar, and coffee ; and from other countries,
coffee, sugar, molasses, brandy, gin, wines, and tea.
Although the total value of exports from the
United States one hundred years ago was $47,989,-
472, by 1844 (fifty years later) it had grown to
$105,745,832 — more than doubled. It was during
this period, of course, that highways were con-
structed between some of the larger trading centers,
that the Erie Canal was built, and that the country
reached a high degree of prosperity as a commercial
nation. It was obliged to wait for the development
of its agricultural resources and its shipping interests
on the New England, south Atlantic, and Gulf
coasts. The total value of importations in 1795
was $67,756,258, and fifty years later (in 1844) it
had grown to $102,604,606, an increase of more
than fifty per cent.
While to no nation has been given a preeminent
manufacturing genius, yet we have probably de-
veloped pecuHar skill not only in improving upon
inventions which came to us in the rough, but also
in the more general utilization of them upon a much
grander scale. At the outbreak of our late Civil
War the total value of exports had increased to
$333,576,057, about seven times the value sent
abroad in 1795. The aggregate value of importa-
tions in i860 was $353,616,119, being five times
the corresponding total in 1795.
In 1877, at the beginning of the revival after the
period of depression following the panic of 1873
(which was the outcome of inflation, overtrading,
and speculation succeeding the war), exportations
for the year were valued at $602,475,220, or about
twice the like total in i860, and nearly twelve times
the value of shipments abroad in 1795. Importa-
tions in 1877 were valued at $451,323,126, an in-
crease of forty per cent, over the total in i860, and
nearly seven times the aggregate value in 1795.
From 1877 a rapid expansion in the volume of our
domestic and foreign trade took place, not only in
exportations of cereal and other domestic products,
but owing to the extension of our railroad system
and the diversification and development of our
manufacturing industries. Over-speculation in finan-
cial circles brought on the panic of 1884, which
was followed by a reaction in business, and after that
came a wide expansion of trade in 1890, 1891, and
1892, followed by the panic of two years ago.
In the fiscal year 1894, one hundred years after,
the total value of exports amounted to $1,0 19, 572, -
873, forty per cent, more than in 1877, three times
the value of shipments abroad in i860, and more
than twenty-one times the total value of our exports
in 1795. The aggregate value of importations into
the United States in 1894 was $740,730,822, an in-
crease of sixty per cent, as compared with 1877,
more than double the corresponding total in i860,
and eleven times the total value of importations in
1795-
An indication of the grand total value of the in-
terior and exterior commerce of the United States
must be an approximation only, owing to the dearth
of statistics. One hundred years ago the total
value of imports and exports amounted to only
$117,745,730, but in 1894 like totals aggregated
$1,760,203,695, or fifteen times as much. While
there are not the necessary data to indicate closely
the total volume of our domestic trade at the close of
the last century, there is, of course, much, although
incomplete, information bearing upon the interior
traffic of the United States to-day.
44
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Any general estimate of the wealth of the coun-
try at the close of the last century is, of course, de-
ficient when contrasted with census reports on that
subject during the past forty years. The total,
$620,000,000, is the appraisement of the value of
houses and lands one hundred years ago, and must,
of course, overlook much personal property of value,
particularly in that it does not take account of the
value of slaves. But even if one should presume
that, with all allowances for this and other omitted
items, the grand total was as much as $900,000,000,
the contrast with the total wealth of the country in
1850, after half a centiu-y of growth, was starthng
indeed, showing an increase of nearly eightfold.
By i860 we had more than doubled the material
resources of 1850. The ratio of gain from 1795 to
i860 (when the total was $16,157,000,000), was still
more remarkable, showing more than sixteen times
the total at the close of the last century. From
1 860 onward the increase of national wealth was so
rapid that comparisons with the beginning of the
century become fairly amazing. The increase by
1870 was nearly twenty -seven to one, in 1880 nearly
forty-nine to one, and in 1890, less than a century
having elapsed, the total wealth of the country was
nearly seventy-five times that in 1795, the census
placing it at $65,037,000,000.
When it comes to the development of our trans-
portation interests by land and water, the record of
expansion of our railroad traffic within sixty years is
seen to surpass that of the remainder of the civilized
world, with 178,000 miles of main line of railways,
$5,075,000,000 of capital stock, $5,665,000,000 of
funded indebtedness, $1,080,000,000 of gross an-
nual earnings, and net traffic earnings of $322,000,-
000 per annum, the railways having transported
about 675,000,000 tons of freight alone in 1894.
Our marine transportation interests, notwithstanding
the check since the Civil War, present a total of
25,540 craft registered at United States interior
cities and ports, sailing from the Pacific, Gulf,
and Atlantic coasts, on the Mississippi, Ohio, and
Monongahela rivers, and on the Great Lakes, valued
at $215,000,000. Freight transportation on the
Mississippi, Ohio, and Monongahela rivers in 1894
did not vary much from 22,000,000 tons, or a little
more than half that estimated to have been carried
on the Great Lakes, where the total was about 40,-
000,000 tons. On the Erie and tributary canals the
total tonnage last year probably amounted to about
one tenth that on the Great Lakes, or 4,000,000
tons, which would leave probably not to exceed
125,000,000 tons of freight carried seaward per
annum in vessels registered at the United States
ports. This indicates that the total freight tonnage
transported by water on the Mississippi, Ohio, and
Monongahela rivers, on the Great Lakes and the
Erie Canal, and seaward on vessels registered at
United States ports, is less than one third the weight
of freight transported by the railways of the country
each year.
Another evidence of the rapidity of the growth of
the wealth of the country is conveyed in the fact
that, whereas the government receipts in 1795
amounted to only $9,419,802, last year they aggre-
gated $313,310,166, more than thirty-four times as
much; and while the expenditures of the govern-
ment in 1795 amounted to $10,435,070, last year
they were more than thirty-five times as much —
$356,135,215. On the other side, there was a pub-
lic debt of $80,747,587 one hundred years ago (a
dozen or more years after the close of the Revo-
lutionary War), while on December i, 1895, the net
national debt was not quite fourteen times as large,
amounting to only $1,125,883,997. The signifi-
cance of this exhibit lies in the fact that notwith-
standing the enormous expense involved in four
years of Civil War — three decades ago ; notwith-
standing the consequent check to commercial and
industrial enterprise in those and in succeeding years
of rehabilitation, yet so great were our powers of re-
cuperation, and so remarkable was the abihty of the
nation to liquidate its enormous war debt, that we
find ourselves to-day with a national debt of only
$16 per capita, as contrasted with one of $18 per
capita one hundred years ago — a dozen years after
the close of the War of the Revolution. These
facts in reference to the relative national indebted-
ness, at once interesting as well as instructive, gather
significance when viewed in conjunction with best
obtainable data respecting the wealth of the country
one hundred years ago and to-day. The strength of
our position may be expressed in the statement that
whereas our national debt amounted to $18 per
capita at the close of the last century, and our
national wealth approximately to $200 per capita —
to-day the national debt is only $16 per capita, and
the wealth per individual somewhat more than
$1000. The postal service, of modest propor-
tions in 1795, had already begun to show remark-
able growth, for from the time the Constitution went
into effect the number of post-offices had grown
from 75 to 453. At this time there are more than
70,000 post-oflSces in the country, and the revenue
and expenses have increased in almost as great a
ratio.
I
p
Charles F. Clark.
OUR COMMERCIAL WEALTH AND VOLUME OF BUSINESS
46
Recognizing the many and diverse elements in-
volved in any discussion of the volume of domestic
trade, it remains to be pointed out that the total
amount of gross earnings of railroads in the United
States in 1894 amounted to $1,080,305,000, or $61,-
000,000 more than the total volume of our exports
of produce, coin, and bullion for that year, and
more than twice the volume of gross railway earn-
ings in 1877, seventeen years ago.
The foregoing outline of some of the more im-
portant elements involved in any consideration of
the development of the commerce and the wealth of
the United States during the past century must for-
ever stand out conspicuously, as indicating a rapidity
and withal a conservatism of growth on the part of
a new empire the like of which the world has never
seen.
Perhaps as fair an indication, within limitations,
of our total volume of wholesale business, foreign
and domestic, is that given by totals of transactions
at clearing-house banks — about 1000 in number —
at nearly eighty of the more important cities. Dur-
ing 1894 the grand total of bank clearings aggre-
gated nearly $45,000,000,000, although the corre-
sponding total two years before amounted to nearly
$62,000,000,000, the largest annual aggregate re-
ported since clearing-house totals have been col-
lected. These transactions represent, for the most
part, wholesale dealings at nearly all the larger towns
and cities throughout the country, and, to a smaller
extent, retail transactions in that portion of the busi-
ness of the country which are settled with checks.
It would not be so bold a stroke as it might ap-
pear to estimate the probable approximate grand
total of business transacted annually, not only
through the banks, but across counters, both whole-
sale and retail. The average total of bank clearings
annually during the past five years has been about
$55,000,000,000, or thirty-two times the total value
of our exports and imports, including coin and bul-
lion, in the fiscal year 1894. This indicates in some
degree the enormous preponderance in the value of
our total commercial and industrial transactions, as
compared with that portion carried on with foreign
countries. It would be difficult to conceive of the
total value of all our domestic and foreign commerce
(judged by bank-clearing totals and other available
data) as averaging less than $70,000,000,000 annu-
ally, and probably a larger sum would be required
to gauge it.
Perhaps as striking an indication of the enormous
expansion of wealth and business in the United States
within one hundred years as any other is found in
the statement that whereas the approximate total
banking capital of the country in 1795 was about
$12,000,000, the total capital of national and other
banks two years ago, as reported by the comptroller
of the currency, amounted to $1,067,000,000, in
addition to which there were reported belonging to
the banks $686,000,000 of surpluses and profits.
From this it would appear that whereas the total avail-
able banking capital of the country one hundred
years ago was only about $2.65 per capita, the pro-
portion per capita two years ago was only about six
times as much. Yet the banking capital of the
country two years ago was about eighty-nine times
the amount in 1795. It may strike many as
remarkable that, whereas the population has in-
creased fifteen-fold, the volume of business probably
thirty-three times, and the wealth of the country more
than seventy-five times within the last one hundred
years the total banking capital is, in round num-
bers, only about six times as much per capita to-day
as at the close of the last century. The lesson
taught by this is most timely in this day of ex-
cessive and frequently unnecessary fears that the
volume of the currency of the country will not be
maintained at the maximum. The development of
the clearing-house principle in business, the syste-
matic organization and wide-spread distribution of
credits of merchants and manufacturers, together
with the enormously increased use of checks, drafts,
and bills of exchange, — representatives of credit, —
are practically responsible for the ability of the banks
to do the enormous business of the country on only
six times the banking capital per capita they pos-
sessed one hundred years ago.
With the tenfold increase in populated area of the
country our population is fifteen times as large as it
was at the close of the last century, while the in-
creasing complexity of governmental administration
has increased total receipts from customs and inter-
nal revenue thirty-four times and expenses thirty-
five times what they were in 1795. It may be no
more than a coincidence, but it is certainly note-
worthy that an increase of 1500 per cent, in popula-
tion has brought with it almost the same increase
in the total annual volume of exports and imports.
The fact that total gross railway earnings have
doubled in seventeen years is far less significant than
that they are in excess of the total volume of our
exports of merchandise, produce, coin, and bullion.
But of even greater interest is the fact that the an-
nual volume of bank clearings at about eighty cities
throughout the United States indicates a grand total
of domestic and foreign trade probably forty times
46
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
greater than the total value of exports and of im-
ports. There remains only to be recalled the in-
crease of our interior commerce to thirty-eight
times the volume of our business with foreign
countries, over and above which is the picture
of the total wealth of the country — nearly seventy-
five times what it was at the beginning of the
century.
In thus concluding a hurried and necessarily brief
review of some of the more salient features of the
development of the wealth, trade, and manufactur-
ing industries of the United States, the suggestion
is almost involuntary that there still remains, in spite
of much that has been accompHshed in recording our
material advancement, an opportunity for perfecting
and supplying systems by which records may be
kept of various spheres of activity. It is a matter
of regret that more definite information is not ob-
tainable respecting what should go to make up an
accurate estimate of the total volume of the trade of
the country. It is highly probable that estimates
and calculations presented herewith get as close to
the fact as practicable, yet much might be done
were statistics affecting trading, transportation, and
banking compiled and prepared with the system
and comprehensiveness which mark reports of the
Census Department on manufactiu-ing industries of
the country.
CHAPTER VIII
THE CORPORATION IN COMMERCE
THE word "corporation" is comprehensive.
Every nation, every State, every city, town,
and village, is a corporation. Every parish
and every similar church society is a corporation,
and so are most of our colleges and institutions of
learning. The history of such corporations during
the last hundred years, interwoven as it is with our
national development, would fill volumes ; but in this
article the writer must confine himself to some re-
marks upon the corporation with which we are famil-
iar in business — the ordinary joint-stock corporation,
operated for the profit of the shareholders. The part
played by such corporations in the history of the
last century of American commerce is a conspicuous
one, and a concise historical sketch of this impor-
tant form of business organization, giving a brief
glimpse at its remarkable growth, together with
some reflections as to its influence upon the business
community and the country at large, should be of
interest.
In 1795 business corporations in America were
small in number and insignificant as to wealth.
There were, to be sure, several banks, a number of
insurance companies, a few turnpike companies,
some stage-coach companies, and some manufac-
turing corporations. The bulk of the business of
the country was conducted, however, by individual
traders or by partnership concerns. With the
growth of trade and the increase in commercial
activity of all sorts the organization of corporations
was speedily resorted to as offering many advan-
tages over the old-fashioned partnership. Among
those advantages is the opportunity afforded to all
to embark such part of their property as they may
choose in enterprises, whatever they may be, with-
out incurring the liability of general partners ; in
other words, a man can invest such sum as he is
willing to lose in the business, with the certainty
that he cannot be compelled to pay anything beyond
that amount toward the debts of the concern.
Then, again, a shareholder in a corporation has his
affairs managed for him by salaried officers, without
care or responsibility on his part.
At first, in order to organize a corporation, legis-
lative action was required in every case. This in
earlier times answered very well; but this power
was abused, and by and by it was found necessary
to limit the power of the various State legislatures in
this respect. Corporations are, in the eye of the
law, persons, — artificial persons, — and it was found
that a person of this description, having no body to
be imprisoned nor soul to be eternally punished, was
hard to control ; so the legislatvu^es from time to
time passed general laws regulating the formation
and management of corporations, endeavoring in this
way to restrict them as to power, and to force them
to confine themselves each to its own particular
business. Efforts have been made from time to
time by the State legislatures to enact a systematic
code regulating all corporations, with more or less
success ; so now we have in many States a general
law for banking corporations, another for insurance
companies, another for trust companies, another for
railroads, and there are still others. Recently, also,
following the example of the English Parliament,
many of the States have enacted laws under which
corporations may be organized to carry on any
legitimate business, no matter what, not already
provided for by general statutes.
There can be no question that corporate organi-
zation has been of great advantage to the country —
to the poor as well as to the rich. By greater econ-
omy in production, rendered possible by concentra-
tion of capital, the poor have profited in the reduced
price of most of the necessaries and comforts of life.
The reduction in the prices of these articles is a
most interesting subject for study and reflection, and
if space permitted it would be easy to give numer-
ous illustrations. Indeed, it would be hard to find
any considerable number of articles, commonly
47
48
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
called comforts or necessaries, the price of which
has not been reduced by the direct influence of cor-
porate management. The comfort and convenience
of all dwellers in this country have been greatly pro-
moted by corporate control of business. Take, for
instance, our facilities for traveling. Again, the
regularity and cheapness of communication by mail,
telegraph, and telephone have only been made pos-
sible by the cooperation of hundreds of corporations
all working together in intelligent harmony. Again,
what could we now do without banks, and without
insurance companies? We owe it to the corpora-
tions that we can protect our property against loss
by fire, and oiu- families from want in the case of
the death of their breadwinner ; and to the savings-
banks that we can safely keep our surplus earnings,
and receive them back again, safe and intact, with
reasonable interest. And so we may sum it all up
in one word and say that the conditions of modem
life would be impossible were it not for the corpora-
tions. Whether sleeping or waking, engaged in busi-
ness or pleasure, eating, drinking, dressing, or trav-
eling, or whatever we may be about, we must thank
them to a great extent for the means and opportu-
nity of doing so.
The reduction in the price of articles of general
consumption, to which reference has been made, is
due, in the writer's opinion, to two causes which in
their operation would at first glance seem calculated
to produce contrary results, but which, in fact, both
tend to the same end. These two causes are com-
petition and consolidation. It is easy to see how
competition between two or more concerns engaged
in the production of an article would tend to lower
its price until a point should be reached when but a
narrow margin of profit would remain. The con-
solidation, on the other hand, of all the competing
concerns engaged in the same business would seem
to tend to an advance in the price of the commodity
produced. This would doubtless be the case at first.
But experience has shown that there is more money
in selling a large quantity at a small profit than in
selling a small quantity at a large profit, and the
application of this principle results, as has been said
above, in the ultimate reduction of the price. A
most notable instance of this truth is to be found
in the enormous reduction of the price of kerosene-
oil since the consolidation into one company of the
various corporations engaged in its production.
How great have been the advantages to our
commerce and our country's development from cor-
porate organization no one can say. Have these
advantages been to some extent counterbalanced by
certain evils? The concentration of wealth in the
hands of corporations has had the effect of driving
the individual producer out of business. In the
early days of our country's existence many industries
were carried on in the towns and villages by skilled
workmen who were their own masters, and who
were in business for themselves. Tailors, shoe-
makers, weavers, blacksmiths, tinsmiths, saddlers,
and many other manufacturers on a small scale
carried on their business for their own account, and
were a useful, self-reliant, and manly element in our
population. These industries are now to a great
extent monopolized by large corporations, and the
men who were formerly independent in their busi-
ness are now represented by salaried workmen.
The gradual extinction of this class of men of mod-
erate means who carried on their business for their
own account seems to be a distinct loss to the com-
munity.
In the earlier days of the history of this country
om- foreign commerce was entirely, or almost en-
tirely, in the hands of individual traders and private
partnerships. The vessels by means of which the
trade was carried on were owned by individuals,
the ownership of a vessel being divided sometimes
among a number of persons, the captain in many
cases being a part owner. The cargo of the vessel,
on its arrival at its port of destination, was disposed
of by the captain or by a supercargo for the benefit
of the owners, and the proceeds invested at his dis-
cretion in the return cargo. This method of doing
business afforded a good field for the exercise of
individual skill, and the profits made by those en-
gaged in it were far in excess of anything that can
be realized by traders of the present day. The sub-
marine cables going to all parts of the world, owned
by corporations, have entirely revolutionized our
foreign trade. Our individual ship owners have
nearly all retired from the business, and the carrying
trade of the country is done by steam-vessels owned
by corporations, and, sad to say, nearly all of them
are owned by foreign capitahsts and manned by
foreign sailors. No doubt the greatest good of the
greatest number is promoted by the operation of
great industries in corporate hands. The cost of
living is reduced ; but the disappearance from the
ocean of American ships commanded by American
skippers and manned by American sailors is a dis-
tinct misfortune. Whether this disappearance can
fairly be traced, altogether or in part, to the influence
of corporate organizations is a question which can
never be answered. It is perhaps partly due to this
cause and partly to other causes, just as the concen-
William Jay.
THE CORPORATION IN COMMERCE
49
tration of business above referred to in the hands of
large corporations and wealthy people is partly due
to corporate organizations and partly to the improve-
ments in methods and machinery introduced by the
inventive genius of modern times.
Another evil growing out of the great develop-
ment of corporate control of business is a lower-
ing of the standard of business honor and business
morality. The administration of the affairs of cor-
porations of our country by their directors has in
many instances been unfair to the stockholders, and
to a corresponding extent advantageous to the
directors. It cannot be denied that many large
fortunes have been made by men who availed
themselves of the knowledge acquired by them as
directors of the affairs of corporations to buy and
sell the shares for their own profit. Many a director
in a corporation would consider it preposterous to
be told that he had no right to trade in the stock
of his corporation, and yet the director is to all in-
tents and purposes a trustee for the stockholders,
and ought not, any more than any other trustee, to
trade in the trust estate. More than this, it has not
been at all uncommon for directors to engage in
transactions with their own company, the result of
which has been greatly to their own advantage.
How many railroad companies have been wrecked
by being saddled with worthless lines with which
they have been consolidated ? Many other instances
might be cited where directors, under form of law,
have bled the corporations for which they were act-
ing. The directorate, for instance, of some great
corporate interest, rightfully active within a certain
field, leases in the form of privileges certain of its
functions to outside corporations, in the success of
which its members are concerned. Valuable con-
cessions, involving thousands of annual revenue, are
granted for the most nominal considerations, and
the tributary companies wax rich and pay large
dividends, while the great corporation whose reve-
nues are thus diverted from its stockholders pays
none at all, and its only beneficiaries are found
among the directors, who have thus misused their
power for their own ends.
Vast sums of money, American and foreign cap-
ital, have been invested in enterprises in this coun-
try under corporate control. A great deal of this
4
money has been lost to the investor forever. Some
of it has gone because the project in its inception
was ill considered, and the blame must rest upon
the poor judgment of the investor ; but too many
schemes have been floated by corporations con-
ceived in fraud, through which confiding investors
have been fleeced. A common form of swindle is
an issue of bonds secured upon nothing but a fran-
chise that has cost the corporation nothing. A
fraction of the proceeds may be used in construc-
tion ; the balance may be, and often has been, dis-
tributed among the promoters. An allusion to this
form of corporate dishonesty is all that space admits
of ; were it not so, it would be instructive to refer
here at some length to the common device of
dishonest directors who contract with so-called con-
struction companies in which they are themselves
the shareholders, thereby reaping a dishonest profit.
The power of corporate organization has been
invoked to work great hardship and wrong in many
cases to the towns and cities throughout the coun-
try. Franchises of enormous value — especially the
right to use the streets for elevated and surface
roads — have been obtained for a most inadequate
consideration. This abuse of power by corporations
has been demoralizing in its tendency and mischiev-
ous in its results. It is impossible to compare our
great cities with those of Europe without feeling
that ours have been vulgarized, degraded, and ren-
dered hideous by the appropriation of their princi-
pal streets by private corporations for private greed.
It is idle to say that public convenience requires
that hideous structures like the elevated railroad
should exist, or that cable-cars should be run on the
surface of our principal thoroughfares. It is not so.
It is not so in any other civilized country on earth,
and would not be tolerated in any other civilized
country. Perhaps we are not sc highly civilized as
we think we are.
The corporation is a tremendous power with us,
both for good and evil. It is probable that as time
goes on its powers will increase rather than diminish.
By its means cheaper living, more comfort, and
greater luxury will be brought within the reach of
us all. Let us hope that a higher plane of business
honor may be reached in the management of our
corporations.
^Uiv
CHAPTER IX
COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
IN the early part of the present century the
commercial organizations then existing which
had any material influence upon the home and
foreign commerce of the nations of the earth were
exceedingly limited in number. Indeed it is doubt-
ful if at that period there were more than fourteen,
viz., three in Great Britain, seven in France, and
four in the United States. All of these, save two
notable exceptions,— the Board of Trade of England
and the Council General of Commerce of Paris, —
were largely synonymous in their vocations and
operations.
In France Chambers of Commerce had been in-
stituted at a very early date — notably at Marseilles,
at the close of the fourteenth or the beginning of
the fifteenth century; at Dunkirk, in 1700; at
Paris, in the same year; at Lyons, in 1702; at
Rouen and Toulouse, in 1703; at MontpeUier, in
1704; and at Bordeaux, in 1705. While England
had her Board of Trade as early as 1660, it was not
until 1786 that the present department was estab-
lished in Council, being a permanent committee of
the Privy Council for the consideration of all mat-
ters relating to trade and the colonies, with functions
partly ministerial and partly judicial. Of Chambers
of Commerce, Great Britain then had but two : that
of Glasgow, instituted in 1783, and of Edinburgh,
founded in 1785, and incorporated by royal charter
in 1786.
In the United States the oldest existing Chamber
of Commerce is that of New York, organized in
1768, and incorporated by royal charter in 1770.
Shortly afterward a second was established at New
Haven, Conn. ; another at Charleston, S. C, about
1775 ; and that in Philadelphia in 1802. It is true
that New York about this time had also a Board of
Brokers, organized about 1792 or 1793, and had
erected the Tontine CofTee-House, where merchants
and others met and discussed mercantile and semi-
commercial questions.
The Chamber of Commerce of New York is in
some respects not only the forerunner but the type
of many like institutions which have been organized
in our leading cities, representing, both locally and
otherwise, our multiplying and diversified industrial
interests. In some instances, however, it essentially
differs from other kindred institutions, since, while
caring for local welfare, it is also broadly national
in its sympathies and work. In this connection it
may be interesting to trace back this time-honored
organization to the names of the old and respected
merchants who founded it. They were : John
Cruger, Elias Desbrosses, James Jauncey, Jacob
Walton, Robert Murray, Hugh Wallace, George
Folliot, WiUiam Walton, Samuel Verplanck, Theo-
phylact Bache, Thomas White, Miles Sherbrook,
Walter Franklin, Robert Ross Waddell, Acheson
Thompson, Lawrence Kortwright, Thomas Randal,
William McAdam, Isaac Low, Anthony Van Dam,
John Alsop, Philip Livingston, Henry White, and
James McEvers. It also may not be out of place
to reproduce the original terms used in its formal
organization, reciting its usefulness as follows:
" Whereas, Mercantile societies have been found
very useful in trading cities for promoting and en-
couraging commerce, supporting industry, adjusting
disputes relative to trade and navigation, and pro-
curing such laws and regulations as may be found
necessary for the benefit of trades in general. . . ."
Of the history and character of the persons who
are here recorded as the original founders of this
Chamber the memories of the present generation
will not be wholly obHvious. The first public place
of meeting of the original Chamber was at the house,
now standing, on the corner of Pearl and Broad
streets. This building had been originally erected
as a town residence, and had undergone many alter-
ations in size and form. During the period of
Washington's first residence in this city it was chiefly
remarkable as being a public tavern, where in later
50
COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
51
days Washington was entertained and took his fare-
well of the officers of the army on his departure for
his home in Virginia at the close of the Revolution-
ary War. The subsequent meetings of the Chamber
were held, first, in 1769, in the "great room of the
building commonly called the ' Exchange,' at the
lower end of the street called Broad " ; afterward, in
1779, at the Merchants' Coffee-House, on the south-
east corner of Wall and Water streets; in 18 17 at
the Tontine Coffee-House, on the northwest corner
of Wall and Water streets; in 1827 in the original
Merchants' Exchange (in a room specially set apart
for the purpose), until that building was destroyed
by fire in 1835; then for a time in the directors'
room of the Merchants' Bank on Wall Street ; then
in premises on the corner of William and Cedar
streets, where the Chamber remained for many
years prior to its final removal to its present com-
modious quarters on Nassau Street.
At the close of the Revolution the legislature of
New York passed an act (on the 13th of April,
1784) "to remove doubts concerning the corpora-
tion of the Chamber of Commerce, and to confirm
the rights and privileges thereof." Under this act
the title was changed from the " Chamber of Com-
merce " to the " Chamber of Commerce of the State
of New York." From the earlier days down to the
present period the membership has been principally
confined to citizens engaged in finance and com-
merce, although at different times our records show
that public officers of the highest rank, including
presidents, governors, Senators, Congressmen, for-
eign ministers, and members of the State legislature,
have been either honorary or regular members of
the Chamber of Commerce. In the earlier steps
taken, almost a century ago, to form a code of
commercial laws and regulations, the most prominent
merchants of that era determined and bound them-
selves reciprocally to prevent " the scandalous prac-
tice of smuggling." Within two years after the
evacuation of the city of New York by the British
a strong effort was made in the new State legisla-
ture to adopt a plan for issuing paper money, to be
made by law a legal tender in the transaction of
business. A memorial was adopted by the Cham-
ber, setting forth in the most forcible terms the evils
and immorality of such an issue, and through its in-
fluence the proposed measure was defeated. It may
be safely alleged that to the good sense and active
management of the Chamber may be attributed the
policy which the general government adopted at
this period of peril, whereby the credit of the nation
was maintained. At an early period in the active
movements of the Chamber, in January, 1786, a
resolution was considered asking the assistance of
the legislature of New York for the creation of a
fund to connect the city of New York by artificial
navigation with the lakes. This action clearly con-
nects the sentiments of the Chamber of that early
day with the great purpose of Governor Clinton for
the construction of the Erie Canal. A few years
later we find the Chamber entertaining the project
for the construction of a ship-canal around Niagara
Falls, and a railroad from Lake Erie to the Hudson
River.
The question of tribunals of commerce was also
considered at several periods of its history ; but the
legislature was not friendly to this new departure in
commercial jurisprudence until 1874, when an act
was passed establishing a court of arbitration, to be
presided over by a judge appointed by the gover-
nor ; and this court continues to this day. Another
highly important subject had from time to time
occupied the attention of the Chamber, that of
the pilot laws of New York and New Jersey, result-
ing in the present excellent system. At the annual
meeting in 1 848 the Chamber took formal measures
to assist in organizing a savings bank for the benefit
of " merchants' clerks and others " ; and a charter
was granted by the legislature as the result of this
thoughtful action, and since then this institution has
grown to be one of the most successful of similar
organizations in the country. In 1849 the Chamber
was interested in Whitney's project for the construc-
tion of a Pacific railroad across the continent, and
a report favoring its construction was unanimously
adopted and forwarded to Congress. It was also
instrumental in getting the United States govern-
ment to remove the sunken rocks from the channel
of the East River and to widen the passage through
Hell Gate. In 1852 the Chamber took active mea-
sures in regard to the reciprocity agreement with
the North American provinces for the free inter-
change of the natural productions of the respective
countries, embracing also a full and joint participa-
tion in the fisheries and the free navigation of the
river St. Lawrence. It also repeatedly declared its
sentiments on the subject of privateering, and has
at all times maintained its inviolable determination
to adhere rigidly to the principles avowed by the
government of the United States.
The treaty negotiated with Japan by Commodore
Perry, in behalf of the United States, opened up a
new pathway to commerce with an almost unknown
nation, and the Chamber took a prominent part in
giving signal testimony of its appreciation of that
52
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
officer's conduct in a graceful gift of a silver service
of plate. At a special meeting of the Chamber, held
the 2ist of August, 1858, the successful result of the
united efforts of the English and American nations
to lay the first Atlantic telegraph-cable to connect
the continent of the Old World with the New was
announced, and the sum of $10,000 was appropri-
ated and applied to the presentation of gold medals
to the prominent officers engaged in carrying out
the enterprise. At the meeting of the Chamber,
September 6, i860, the following resolution was
adopted: ''Resolved, That in the Judgment of this
Chamber an urgent necessity exists for the establish-
ment, at an early day, of mail facilities between the
cities of San Francisco in California and Shanghai
in China, with connections at such intermediate
ports as the interests of commerce may indicate."
It seems hardly necessary to add that the above is
the germ from which has sprung the magnificent
hne of American steamships which traverses the
Pacific Ocean to-day.
A remarkable epoch in the affairs of this country,
and one especially affecting all its business interests,
occurred shortly after this period. The Southern
States of the Union had united in revolt against the
government, and the President had issued his proc-
lamation calling for military aid. The Chamber
responded to this appeal by holding a large and
enthusiastic meeting on April 19, 1861, at which
an ample sum of money was raised to forward at
once for the defense of the national capital two
regiments of the State National Guard, and also to
organize several additional regiments of volunteers,
who left shortly afterward for the seat of war. At
this meeting attention was called to the fact that
a part of the advertised loan of the government
remained untaken. A special committee was ap-
pointed, and the balance, amounting to $8,000,000,
was at once subscribed, and the Treasury Depart-
ment notified that the same could be drawn for at
once. The great mass-meeting at Union Square —
now a matter of history — and the Union Defense
Committee were the outcome of the action of the
Chamber. The valuable aid rendered to the gov-
ernment by this committee, composed, as it was,
mainly of merchants and bankers of New York, was
frequently acknowledged by the highest military
authorities, and sixty-six regiments were equipped
and fitted for service and forwarded in the early
stages of the war, as standing evidences of its loyalty
and efficiency.
At a special meeting of the Chamber held on
May 15, 1872, "to give expression to the views of
the Chamber on the Treaty of Washington (result-
ing in the Geneva award arbitration), and to urge
the ratification by the Senate of an additional article
thereto, as proposed by Minister Schenck," the fol-
lowing preamble and resolutions were adopted :
" Whereas, The Treaty of Washington, referring
the differences between this country and Great
Britain to arbitration, has justly been regarded as a
measure of great importance to the interests of civ-
ilization and peace, and the honor of proposing it
belongs to this country ; and
" Whereas, Differences of opinion have arisen
between the governments of the two countries re-
specting the proper construction of the treaty in
regard to the claims for indirect damages, and a
supplemental article for settlement of those differ-
ences has been proposed by the government of
Great Britain, and by the President laid before the
Senate for its advice, which article appears to this
Chamber to be sound in principle, binding the two
governments to the adoption of a beneficent rule for
the future, and especially beneficial to the United
States and its commerce ; and
" Whereas, The failiue of the treaty would be a
great public calamity ; therefore
"Resolved, That this Chamber, without meaning
thereby to imply that our government has at all
erred in its construction of the treaty, and believing
that the supplemental article is more than an equiv-
alent for the claims of our government as originally
presented, and feeling the importance of removing
all obstacles in the way of the execution of the
treaty, earnestly recommends the adoption of the
supplemental article, and prays the Senate to ratify
it."
As the Senate was " hanging fire " in regard to
the ratification of this treaty, and war between the
two countries was apparently imminent, the action
of the Chamber in this matter was not only timely
and praiseworthy, but also wise, patriotic, and in-
fluential, as the sequel showed.
Thus it will be seen that to outline the history
and operations of the New York Chamber of Com-
merce is largely to portray the political, commer-
cial, industrial, and financial development of the
country ; for really no great politico-economic ques-
tion has arisen in the United States from the War
of 181 2-1 5 to the present time in which it has not
been vitally and patriotically interested. The fore-
going are, however, but few of the services which it
has so signally performed. It has been concerned
in nearly everything which related to the commer-
cial welfare and prosperity not only of the city and
Alexander E. Orr.
COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
S8
State of New York, but also of the country at large,
of which it is in a measure the commercial guardian.
The class of people who possessed the most
means and experience before and immediately after
the Revolution were the merchants and ship owners,
and they were the first to perceive the advantages
and value of mercantile or commercial organizations,
which, as already outlined, they perfected in New
York, New Haven, Charleston, and Philadelphia.
These commercial bodies were the initial organiza-
tions of the kind in America. Their foundations
were broad and deep, and each in its way and time
performed substantial service for the public good,
both local and general. The Chamber of Com-
merce of Baltimore, instituted in the early decades
of the century, but subsequently reorganized as the
Board of Trade, still continues its usefulness. The
Merchants' Exchanges of New York and Philadel-
phia, which were founded at an earlier date, have
passed away, probably from having been too heavily
handicapped at first with expensive buildings and in-
adequate revenues.
Succeeding the War of 1812-15, and later, other
Chambers of Commerce, Exchanges, and Boards
of Trade were organized in various cities of the
Union, which also have done much toward develop-
ing the industries, trade, and traffic of their locali-
ties, as well as taking more or less active part in
promoting the general commercial welfare of the
country. But the commercial associations which
are the most numerous, and withal the strongest, are
those founded by people who deal in like things in
towns or cities which are to some extent centers of
particular callings, such as cotton in New Orleans,
leather or wool in Boston, iron in Philadelphia,
crockery in Trenton, paper in Holyoke, or print
cloths in Fall River or Providence. Among the
earliest of the general Boards of Trade which still
retain their vitality, and form an important element
in the town or city in which they are located, is the
Chicago Board of Trade, which came into existence
on March 13, 1848, but did not begin business until
May 2, 1850. From the beginning it has been an im-
portant center for grain, animal-food products, and
lumber. Similar boards were established in Detroit,
Milwaukee, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Toledo, Minne-
apolis, and other Western cities. That in St. Louis
is also an important center for the cotton trade.
Smaller organizations exist in towns numbering less
than 10,000 inhabitants, and have proved valuable
adjuncts by the infusion of greater local pride and
energy among their citizens.
Next to the New York Chamber of Commerce is
4*
the Associated Board of Trade of Boston. This is
probably the best representative body among strictly
business associations in this country. Founded on
a new idea or plan, it has so demonstrated, during
the few years of its existence, its great practicability
and usefulness as to become the exemplar of the
newer Boards of Trade throughout the country.
The Boston Associated Board of Trade is not a
promiscuous grouping of business men coming to-
gether as individuals, but is made up of delegates
from the various regularly organized trade associa-
tions of that city, these representatives being duly
elected by their own organizations, and attending
the Associated Board of Trade meetings, to speak
and act not only for themselves, but as voicing the
wishes of the associations which send them. Thus,
when the members of the Associated Board of
Trade make a decision, their action is at once of
importance (because of its comprehensiveness) in
forming commercial and legislative opinion.
As New York is the commercial metropolis of the
United States, her merchants, of necessity, must be
equally comprehensive in their dealings not only in
home products, but also in those of all other coun-
tries with whom they hold commercial relations.
To facilitate the operation of this great concentra-
tion of business it was found expedient to organize
separate Exchanges and Boards of Trade, which as
time passed have grown into large proportions. It is
impossible in this short article to describe them all,
— some seventy in number, — but a few of the more
prominent may be mentioned. The New York
Produce Exchange, with its 3000 members, specially
deals in grain, flour, provisions, lard, tallow, etc.
It possesses the finest exchange building in the
United States, and its business and influence are
proportionally great in the Hne of its specialties.
The Stock Exchange confines its deahngs to stocks
and bonds and other similar securities of this and
other countries, and has given great impetus to the
development of transportation in this country. The
Cotton Exchange, which deals almost exclusively in
that staple, buys and sells more cotton for future
delivery than any other Cotton Exchange either at
home or abroad. The Petroleum — now the Con-
solidated— Exchange first dealt in petroleum and
mineral oils, but of late years it has turned its atten-
tion to stock securities, and is to some extent a
competitor of the Stock Exchange. The Coffee
Exchange has lately grown into very great promi-
nence, and now surpasses in the volume of its busi-
ness that of Havre, France, which is beheved to be
the largest in Europe. The Mercantile Exchange
54
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
confines its operations to farm products, such as
butter, cheese, eggs, poultry, and the like, and now
aggregates an enormous business. The Wool Ex-
change and the Metal Exchange are other important
associations, which, with the foregoing, own their
buildings ; but besides these there are the Maritime
ber of such organizations throughout the whole coun-
try will probably reach 2000.
The national and trade associations probably
aggregate in number over one hundred. Following
is a list of prominent national organizations, and
their leading officers at the present time:
NATIONAL COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATIONS.
Name.
Location.
President.
Secretary.
American Association of Flint and Lime Glass Manu- )
facturers 5
American Boiler Manufacturers' Association of the (
United States and Canada >
American Iron and Steel Association
Association of Iron and Steel Sheet Manufacturers
Carriage Builders' National Association
Heavy Hardware Jobbers' National Union
Manufacturers' National Association _
Merchant Tailors' National Exchange of the United )
States 5
Millers' National Association of the United States
National Association of Builders
National Association of Furniture Manufacturers
National Association of Galvanized Sheet-Iron Manu- )
facturers 5
National Association of Stove Manufacturers
National Association of Wool Manufacturers
National Board of Trade
National Board of Trade of Cycle Manufacturers
National Brick Manufacturers' Association of the ?
United States 3
National Cigar Manufacturers' Association
National Confectioners' Association
National Dairy Union
National Hardware Association
National Iron Roofing Association
National Live Stock Exchange
National Paint, Oil, and Varnish Association .
National Retail Grocers' Association.
National Retail Hardware Dealers' Association
National Retail Jewelers' Association of the United )
States 5
National Transportation Association.
National Wholesale Druggists' Association
Tinned Plate Manufacturers' Association of the }
United States >
United States Brewers' Association
Vapor Stove Manufacturers' Association
Vessel Owners' and Captains' National Association . .
Pittsburg, Pa
St. Louis, Mo
Philadelphia, Pa. . .
Pittsburg, Pa
Philadelphia, Pa. . .
Chicago, 111
Cincinnati, O
New York
Milwaukee, Wis. . .
Boston, Mass
Indianapolis, Ind. .
Pittsburg, Pa
Chicago, 111
Boston, Mass
Boston, Mass
Hartford, Conn. . . .
Indianapolis, Ind..
New York, N. Y. .
St. Louis, Mo
Elgin, 111
Philadelphia, Pa. . ,
Cincinnati, O
Chicago, 111 ,
Chicago, 111
Chicago, 111
Boston, Mass
St. Louis, Mo
Chicago, 111
Minneapolis, Minn
Pittsburg, Pa
New York, N. Y. ,
Cleveland, O
Boston, Mass
George W. Blair, Pittsburg, Pa.
H. S. Robinson, Boston, Mass.
B. F. Jones, Pittsburg, Pa.
J. G. Battelle, Piqua, O.
Channing M. Britton, New York.
S. D. Kimbart, Chicago.
Thomas Dolan, Philadelphia.
Emile Twyeffort, New York.
C. A. Pillsbury, Minneapolis, Minn.
Charles A. Rupp, Buffalo, N. Y.
Otto Strechhlan, Indianapolis, Ind.
N. S. Whitaker, Wheeling, W. Va.
Lazard Kahn, Hamilton, O.
William H. Haile, Springfield,_Mass,
Frederick Fraley, Philadelphia, Pa.
A. G. Spalding, New York.
F. H. Eggers, Cleveland, O.
Moses Krohn, Cincinnati, O.
John S. Gray, Detroit, Mich.
W. D. Hoard, Fort Atkinson, Wis,
5 William W. Supplee, 503 Market
i St., Philadelphia, Pa.
James Beichele, Canton, O.
W. H. Thompson, Jr., Chicago, 111.
! Howard B. French, Philadelphia,
Pa.
George A. Shurer, Peoria, IlL
S. S. Bryan, Titusville, Pa.
Herman Mauch, St. Louis, Mo.
Frank Barry, Milwaukee, Wis.
J. C. Eliel, Minneapolis, Minn.
W. T. Graham, Bridgeport, O.
Leo Ebert, Ironton, O.
C Hon. D. Dangler, Dangler Stove
\ Mfg. Co., Cleveland, O.
J. S. Winslow, Portland, Me.
George F. Easton, Pittsburg, Pa.
C E. D. Meier, 421 Olive St., St
\ Louis, Mo.
C James M. Swank, Gen. Man.,
\ Philadelphia, Pa.
John Jarrett, Pittsburg, Pa.
Henry C. McLear, Wilmington, Del.
( W.C. Brown, 4s La Salle St., Chi-
\ cago, 111.
E. P. Wilson, Cincinnati, O.
James S. Burbank, New York.
Frank Barry, Milwaukee, Wis.
William H. Sayward, Boston, Mass.
T. B. Laycock, Indianapolis, Ind.
John Jarrett, Pittsburg, Pa.
T. J. Hogan, Chicago, 111.
S. N. D. North, Boston, Mass.
W. R. Tucker, Philadelphia, Pa.
A. Kennedy Child, Hartford, Conn,
f Theo. A. Randall, 5 Monimient
( Place, Indianapolis, Ind.
Morris S. Wise, New York.
C F. D. Seward, 525 North Main
) St., St. Louis, Mo.
D. W. WilLson, Elgin, 111.
T. James Femley, 505 Commerce
St., Philadelphia, Pa.
( Genrge M. Verity, care American
) Roofing Co., Cincinnati, O.
Charles W. Baker, Chicago, 111.
|. D. Van Ness Person, Chicago, 111.
W. M. Crawford, Chicago, III.
Hiram G. Janvrin, 9 Dock Square,
Boston, Mass.
illiam F. Kemper, St. Louis, Mo.
George F. Stone, Chicago, 111.
A. B. Merriam, Minneapolis, Minn.
John Jarrett, Pittsburg, Pa.
Richard Katzenmayer, New York.
F. L. Alcott, Standard Lighting Co.,
Cleveland, Ohio.
C R. R. Freeman, 95 Commercial
} St., Boston, Mass.
r
Wi
Exchange, the Board of Trade and Transportation,
the Coal Exchange, the Mechanics' Exchange, and
many more with names indicative of their trade spe-
cialties, which have organized from time to time as
the city developed.
The approximate numbers of the various commer-
cial associations located in the principal cities, not
previously enumerated, are as follows : Philadelphia,
20; Boston, 48; Pittsburg, ii ; Baltimore, 21 ; San
Francisco, 1 5 ; IndianapoHs, 8 ; Louisville, 9 ; New
Orleans, 1 1 ; Minneapolis, 1 2 ; Kansas City, 9 ; St.
Louis, 26; Omaha, 9 ; Buffalo, 16; Cincinnati, 17;
Cleveland, 9; Milwaukee, 10; and the entire num-
Thus it will be seen that, starting with but four
commercial organizations, of the character and scope
outlined, at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
their number at its close will have increased five
hundred fold. What they have accomplished for
the people of this country is simply incalculable.
The record is found in our extensive manufactiuing
industries ; in the products of the soil, forests, and
mines ; in our enormous interstate commerce ; in
our foreign trade ; in our circulating medium and
monetary in.stitutions ; and, finally, in the unprece-
dented increase in national wealth, prosperity, and
development.
4^^W4W^W^WW^^
CHAPTER X
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NEW YORK COMMERCE
INEVITABLE from the first as was the suprem-
acy of New York in the commerce of the Western
world, her preeminence to-day has largely been
attained along the lines of her own endeavor. Com-
peting in the open fields of enterprise and trade, she
fairly won the wealth that has rendered possible the
ever-increasing magnitude of her operations. Her
later progress is linked to that of the nation by the
double and indissoluble bond of cause and effect.
To the geographical location of New York have
been attributed, and to a certain extent justly, the
great advantages she enjoys over every other city
on the Atlantic seaboard. Her harbor is one of the
largest and safest in the world. It is never closed
by ice, and is always easy of access. Situated at
the mouth of that great inland waterway, the Hud-
son, the island of Manhattan affords a shore front
capable of docking the navies of the world, while
Long Island Sound, a miniature Mediterranean,
stretches far away to the east. Great trunk-lines,
tapping the vast resources of every part of the coun-
try, bring here the products which are later distrib-
uted over the whole habitable globe. This is the
condition of affairs to-day ; but there was an era,
prior to the railroads, when small vessels of far hghter
draft demanded spacious harbors, and when, the
manufacturing interests of the country being unde-
veloped, natural products alone sought the markets
of the world.
This was the time, a century ago, when New York
won her spurs. With a population of about 50,000,
she held her claim to commercial and metropolitan
honors only by contention. Philadelphia, Baltimore,
New Orleans, and even Charleston represented in-
terests as important as those which centered upon
Manhattan Island. Cotton was then an infant
monarch of little power, but the plantation interests
of the South, which were striding daily into promi-
nence, centered at Baltimore and Charleston ; the
great highway of the Mississippi was already begin-
ning to take the products of the West to New Or-
leans ; while Philadelphia, with her great banking in-
terests, and New England, with her flourishing West
Indian trade, were further challenging New York.
Of the total commerce of the country. New York
had only about one fourth credited to her. Singu-
larly enough, it differed but little in its import fea-
tures from that of to-day. The causes of this are
not hard to discover. The mercantile interests of
the city were already developed. Her social life
differed only in degree from that of the European
capitals, and wealth and luxury were found every-
where. The old aristocratic flavor of the colonial
days still remained, and in politics alone was found
the dominant democracy of the time. Gentlemen's
cellars still nursed in dusty bins the choicest wines
of sunny France, of Portugal, and of Madeira, which
made the invoice of many an arriving merchantman.
Olives, oil, dried fruits, and hundreds of other luxu-
ries came from the Mediterranean ports, while coffee,
sugar, spices, indigo, dyestuffs, and other tropical
products arrived from the West Indies and from
the Orient. Cloth and manufactured articles of
all kinds for the use of New York were brought
from England and France, and with the other
imports were traded for the wheat, flour, corn,
beef, fish, provisions, furs, lumber, and tobacco which
our own country sent here for a market. Very little
money, generally speaking, changed hands. Com-
merce resembled more an extended application of
the barter system of the early trading-post than an
international business relation.
To this brief resume of the situation as it pre-
sented itself to the bewigged old gentlemen who
gathered daily at the so-called Merchants' Exchange
in the Tontine Coffee-House during the early days
of the year 1795, only one thing remains to be
added. This was the extreme insecurity of our
commercial relations, which dashed the otherwise
legitimate undertakings of our merchants with a
55
56
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
speculative savor found to-day only in the stock
market. England in 1783 was unable longer to
withhold political liberty, but a dozen years later
she still endeavored to hold on to many of the ma-
terial advantages of colonial days.
The first step toward removing the obstructions
which embarrassed our commerce was the Jay
treaty. The successful negotiation of this first of
our commercial treaties, imperfect though it was,
well deserves centennial celebration. It marks our
admission as a nation into the world's fraternity of
commerce.
Many a famous fortune of to-day, and many a
great business house since known all over the civ-
ilized world, were founded in the next decade. At
this time New York was scarcely half as large as
Philadelphia. Its merchants, who to-day would be
called importers, and its retail storekeepers, trans-
acted the business of the town. There were no
manufacturing interests, and even in 1800 this
branch of industry had only reached an annual out-
put of about $250,000, a large part of which was
accredited to brewing and distilling. When it is
considered that to-day New York's factories turn out
annually over $600,000,000 worth of goods, the sig-
nificance of the change from the condition in which
they started will be better appreciated.
The city of New York during this period extended
only about to Reade Street or Duane Street, and
above Canal Street was still the open country. The
docks were in the southeastern part of the island,
beginning at Whitehall Street and running around
to Peck Slip. Above these, all along the shore,
were the shipyards, which were the first to feel the
impetus of the good times that were inaugurated in
1795. Those were the days when a few hundred
dollars built a stanch little vessel. Her hull was
easily mortgaged for so much as would supply her
with sails and rigging, and the profits of her first
voyage to the West Indies were such that she would
tie up to the home dock completely paid for.
Through the activity of trade the ship-builder and
the merchant prince reached a prominence never
before gained by any class in the community. With
the exception of the farmers, they were almost the
only employers of labor. It was an age which, with
all its simpHcity, affected a lavishness of hving ex-
penditure, and these nabobs spent their money as
freely as they made it. Their argosies came back
to them laden with all the latest products of Euro-
pean industry and skill. Their warehouses, filled
to overflowing, poured into the empty holds of these
vessels great cargoes of grain, breadstuffs, fish, and
provisions, which were carried to Europe, laid waste
by Napoleon and his French legions, and which
brought fabulous prices. Return cargoes, sold at
enormous profit here, still further added to the lu-
crative nature of this early trade, and the merchants
of New York improved their time to accumulate
wealth without interruption until the Embargo of
President Jefferson in 1807.
In the mean time, however, many things were
happening which were later to produce their effect
upon the trade of New York. These causes had
already begun to shape themselves in 1800. The
population of the city was then 60,489, and it was
distinctly commercial and maritime in its nature.
The offices of the largest merchants, the three banks,
the three insurance companies, and all the business
energy of the city had centered about Wall Street,
excepting the shops and smaller retail establishments,
which lined Pearl Street, making it a main thorough-
fare then and for thirty-five years thereafter. The
coastwise and inland trade had brought to the docks
sloops and quaint old craft in shoals from New Jer-
sey, up the Hudson, and along the Sound, which
brought firewood, brick, farm produce, and other
articles, and took away general supplies. Further
than this, a large fishing-fleet made this port its
headquarters, and its season's catch, dried and
salted, continued for many years to be an important
part of our exports.
Of manufactured articles, except the very coarsest
grades, we produced almost none at that time ; but
under the fostering of the Embargo and the war
blockade there came a great manufacturing move-
ment, which continued for a period of three years.
In 1800 attempts were made for industrial indepen-
dence in many branches. The iron-working indus-
try, always prohibited by England to the colonies,
was begun in a minor way in New York by such
men as Robert McQueen, James P. Allaire, and
others. Pianos, soon to become an essential in the
drawing-rooms of all cultivated people, were among
the earliest of American manufactures. Dodds &
Claus, the first firm engaged in this business, were
making them as early as 1792 at 66 Queen Street,
now a part of Pearl. Besides this most important
branch. New York's other industries were two or
three hat factories, which employed a few hands at
cheap wages, and several breweries, distilleries, and
tanneries. The trade in furs, too, was extensive at
this time, and John Jacob Astor soon after organ-
ized a single company, with a capital, enormous for
those days, of $1,000,000, the greater part of which
was furnished by him. He further increased his
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NEW YORK COMMERCE
67
operations a few years later by absorbing two other
companies, and establishing a Western depot on the
Columbia River. With the exception of this latter
enterprise, which soon failed, his business was in
New York.
Europe during all this period was torn by the
struggles of those national giants, France and Eng-
land. Each of the combatants had proclaimed a
blockade against all European ports except those
under its own control, and any merchantman flying
the United States flag was liable to confiscation, if
caught by a patroling cruiser or privateer of either
nation near the blockaded coast. Many ships were
lost in this way ; but the enormous profits gained
when a vessel managed to slip a cargo through were
so tempting that New York merchants continued to
embark in such ventures. It was at this time that,
protest having proved unavailing. President Jefferson
believed himself to have found a way to force the
belligerent powers to respect the neutrality rights of
America. To this end he issued in 1807 his Em-
bargo, prohibiting all American merchantmen from
leaving port, and forbidding the shipment of Ameri-
can cargoes in foreign bottoms. It was his belief
that Europe's need of the provisions this country
supplied would drive her to conciliation. In this
idea he proved mistaken, and the Embargo was
necessarily repealed in 1809. It had, however,
accomplished great mischief to New York's com-
merce, as well as to that of the country at large.
The great fleets of the merchant princes lay rotting
at their anchorages. The warehouses were deserted,
and grass grew upon the unused docks. Many
clerks were discharged, and their poverty, together
with that of hundreds of sailors thrown out of em-
ployment, made the suffering among the laboring
class severely felt.
The most important event of this time, however,
and one that far outranks the Embargo in its con-
tinuing importance, was the building by Robert
Fulton of the Clermont, the first steamboat, though
it was little more than a toy. He was aided with
means by Chancellor Livingston. At a speed of
between four and five miles an hour the little vessel
made the trip to Albany and return, thus inaugurat-
ing the present era of steam-navigation. She was
speedily followed by others. Steamboats were run-
ning on Long Island Sound in 1818, and the fol-
lowing year John C. Stevens, of Hoboken, built
the steamer Savannah, of 380 tons, which was the
first steam-vessel to cross the Atlantic. Ten years
later there were fifty steam-packets running into
New York harbor, and in 1840 the first regular
transatlantic steamers were started by the Cunard
Line.
The repeal of the Embargo in 1809 had scarcely
time to bring about any great results before the War
of 181 2 ; and an immediate blockade by a British
fleet of the port of New York again locked up the
city within the narrowest limits, even her coastwise
trade being stopped. Much distress resulted in the
winter from the lack of firewood ordinarily brought
by the Jersey sloops. The blockade, too, had an
added severity over the Embargo, in the fact that,
being a community dependent upon England for
goods, we were suddenly cut off from our supply,
and found ourselves without means at home to rem-
edy the deficiency. Then it was that the attention
of New York was for the first time turned seriously
toward manufacturing. Homespun, although worn
in the country at large, would scarcely do for the
fashionable people in New York ; and all the hundred
and one conveniences demanded by dwellers in
city and country must be supplied. In response to
this demand factories sprang up as if by magic.
Especially wonderful was the sudden growth when
it is considered that there was not a shop in the
country then capable of turning out anything but
the simplest machinery. Despite all adverse condi-
tions, industries multiplied and prospered. Ameri-
can wool, which had hitherto been supposed only
fit for the coarsest kinds of cloth, was successfully
used for the manufacture of finer fabrics. The first
woolen-mills, owing their origin to the pressure at
this epoch, were started in 1809, and during the war
turned out satinet which sold at $4 per yard, and
broadcloth which brought from $10 to $12 per yard.
In this, as in the majority of other lines, prices were
abnormally high, and the manufacturers made much
money. Cotton-mills were also started. Many em-
barked in the new ventures, and nearly every kind
of manufacturing was represented. When the war
ended prosperity departed as suddenly as it had
come. England, in her desire to regain her former
market, poured in her goods at prices far below
those at which the New York manufacturer could
afford to sell his products, and forced him to shut
his doors. Tens of thousands of dollars of lost capi-
tal, and hundreds of operatives out of work, made
up the result of New York's first effort to enter the
ranks of the world's producers. It was not alto-
gether a dead loss, though, for a spirit had been
roused which continually manifested itself during
the next twenty years, and which eventually placed
this city high in the list of manufacturing centers.
With the return of peace, Messrs. Adams, Galla-
58
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
tin, and Clay went to England, where on July 3,
181 5, a commercial convention was negotiated,
copied substantially from Jay's treaty, but with an
added proviso for absolute reciprocity in direct trade
by the abolition on both sides of all discrimination.
This convention was ratified December 2 2d. Con-
fidence was seriously checked by the financial and
industrial depression which followed the war, but
New York was among the earliest cities to rally and
continue her enterprises. By far the most impor-
tant of these was the proposed Erie Canal. It con-
templated the connection of the Hudson River and
the Great Lakes, thereby bringing to New York the
wealth of products of the great inland basin thus
reached. Ground was broken in the work of dig-
ging the great canal by James Richardson, on July
3, 181 7, near Rome, N. Y. Eight years were re-
quired for the completion of the task. On Novem-
ber 4, 1 82 5, the first fleet of canal-boats came through
from Buffalo to New York City, Governor De Witt
Clinton, who in the face of almost insurmountable
obstacles had carried the work through, being in the
first boat. The event was celebrated in New York
with the greatest enthusiasm, and marked the com-
mencement of the system of communication since
established both by rail and water with the interior
of the country.
As Governor CHnton and the few far-sighted men
who had supported him in his giant undertaking
had foreseen, the new canal began at once to revo-
lutionize the internal trade of America. By it New
York was able to reach, cheaply and quickly, dis-
tricts which had hitherto been accessible only by a
long and circuitous route around Florida, through
the Gulf, and up the Mississippi River. The Erie
Canal afforded to New York what she then most
needed — an opportunity to extend her domestic dis-
tribution and collection. It was the first move made
for the protection of this city against the prosperous
factors of New Orleans, to whose doors the great
Mississippi was bearing in daily increasing numbers
the huge flat-bottomed river-boats laden with the
products of the West. Many States, like Ohio, In-
diana, and Illinois, were in the habit of sending their
products to New Orleans for export, although ob-
taining their supphes and imports from New York.
The canal put all these localities in closer touch
with the great seaboard city, and paved the way as
nothing else could have done for railroad transpor-
tation facilities, when their turn came, a few years
later.
Meantime the commerce of New York continued
to flourish. Packet lines with regular weekly sail-
ings were established, the first being the Blackball
Line, founded in 18 16 by Isaac Wright & Son, Fran-
cis Thompson, Benjamin Marshall, and Jeremiah
Thompson. It was followed by the Red Star Line,
organized by Trimble & Company, in 1821; the
Havre packets of Depau, in 1822; Grinnell, Min-
turn & Company's London Line, in 1823 ; and the
China and California packets of Low, Griswold &
Aspinwall, still later. The first of these lines, with
its regular sailing-days, began the systematizing of
transatlantic trade ; and the imports to New York
during the ten years following 1820 increased nearly
$8,000,000, while the export trade made a corre-
sponding gain, the total imports and exports of the
country in 1830 amounting to $144,776,428. Two
years later the $10,000,000 which New York had
put into the great ditch of the Erie Canal was show-
ing its fullest results. With a registered and enrolled
tonnage of 286,438, — greater than Liverpool or
any city in the world except London, — the harbor of
New York was daily thronged with vessels. Either
discharging at the docks — which had by this time
stretched themselves around to the North River
front — or at anchor in the stream, over 500 vessels
could be counted any day in the year. From for-
eign ports nearly 2000 vessels arrived annually, while
twice and a half that number, engaged in the coast-
wise trade, ran in and out in the same time. From
the invoices of all these craft could be read the story
of a volume of trade of dimensions hitherto unprec-
edented. The amount New York paid as valuation
of her imports in 1832 was $53,214,402, while the
total for the rest of the country reached only $47,-
815,864. By these figures it will be seen that New
York's percentage in duties would easily make her
the chief contributor to the revenues of the govern-
ment, as she was and always has been. Of the im-
ports of that time, manufactured articles, fully fifty
per cent, of which were dry-goods, made the great
bulk. Besides the silks, woolens, cotton goods, and
linen, hardware, cutlery, earthenware, and workings
of brass and copper, together with the wines and
spirits which England and France supplied, there
was a large and flourishing trade with Brazil and
the West Indies in sugar, molasses, and coffee, and
with the Orient in tea, spices, indigo, dyestuffs, and
other tropical products.
The exports from New York during this same
year reached the amount of $26,000,945, or between
one fourth and one third of the total exports of the
country. The prominence of New Orleans as a
port of the West explains the discrepancy between
in and out volume of trade of New York, which dis-
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NEW YORK COMMERCE
59
crepancy, in fact, existed more or less markedly up
to the time of the railroads. The exports most im-
portant at that time were wheat, flour, corn, rice,
beef, pork, buttej, dried fish, general provisions, furs,
tobacco, and lumber, together with some of the
coarser grades of manufactured goods. In this list
the manufacturing progress of the city since the dis-
astrous setback that followed the War of 1812 is
plainly shown. Soap, boots and shoes, furniture,
carriages, trunks and leatherwork, hats, cordage,
earthen and stone ware, drugs, and rough ironwork
were all being turned out, and in quantity sufficient
to warrant exportation in many of the lines enumer-
ated. There were also paper-mills, type-foundries,
printing-press manufacturers, and large flouring and
tanning interests centered here.
The prosperity of this time, commercial and finan-
cial, was rudely broken in upon three years later by
the great fire which occurred on the night of Decem-
ber 16, 1835, in Merchant Street, and which, after
raging three days, was finally extinguished only by
blowing up a number of houses with gunpowder,
thus leaving a vacant space that the flames could
not pass. It had destroyed, however, nearly the
whole of the business section. In and around Han-
over Square, Pearl and Wall streets, 648 houses and
stores were burned, together with contents valued
at $18,000,000. The blow was a terrible one, and
the insurance companies of the city succumbed at
once. Scarcely one survived. Business of every sort
had been affected, and in the severe winter weather
that prevailed, building had to be delayed and many
interests found themselves homeless. To the de-
pression of this great conflagration can be traced
many of the active causes of the financial panic
which broke over the city and country in 1837, and
for a time darkened the whole commercial horizon.
As in the past, however. New York was one of the
first to feel better times. The country was growing
fast and demanded hundreds of articles for which
New York was the distributing point. Ohio, Indi-
ana, and Illinois had undertaken canals connecting
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers with the Great Lakes
at Cleveland, Toledo, and Chicago ; but with all these
increased activities elsewhere New York had main-
tained its position as the great port of entry. Bal-
timore's attempt to accomplish a connection with
the West by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in
1828 did not prove immediately valuable when com-
pleted, and Philadelphia, with the other seaboard
cities, still found the lofty walls of the AUeghanies
an insurmountable obstacle. Railroads were in op-
eration, but only in unconnected lengths, and trunk-
lines were still in the future. The telegraph, des-
tined in its later applications to revolutionize the
commercial methods of the world, was discovered
by Professor Morse in New York, and a line— the
first — was built between this city and Philadelphia
in 1845. A setback caused by another great fire
in this same year (1845), which destroyed nearly
$8,000,000 of property, was speedily passed over.
The railroads were surely, if slowly, increasing and
improving. The trade in the China seas and with
India was extending, and despite its great risks
many houses were growing rich and powerful in its
pursuit. Manufacturing had increased to a point
where the permanency of its institution could no
longer be doubted. The boundless resources of the
great Western granaries were poiu-ing in yellow
streams to Europe. The Collins Line of steamers,
with five magnificent ships subsidized by the United
States government, were put upon the Atlantic
Ocean ; but the loss of the Pacific and Arctic, fol-
lowed by the withdrawal of the subsidy, ended the
operations of the line in 1858.
The event of this period, so far as New York's
commercial greatness is concerned, however, was
the opening of the first trunk-Hne, the Erie, to Dun-
kirk, in 1 85 1. It demonstrated the usefulness of the
railroad, doubted even at that day by many, and
was speedily followed by other great systems stretch-
ing out in all directions. Long before this first road
was finished New York's position as the metropolis
of the United States was assured ; but its connection
with railroads of sufficient length was as important
to it as the opening of the Erie Canal had been
twenty-five years before. The commercial interests,
which had originated, developed, and supported the
city's greatness, began still further to expand. The
financial troubles of 1857 found New York the least
susceptible to their attack. It .speedily recovered,
and the next year saw the commerce of the country
reach a total valuation of over $500,000,000, of
which only about two fifths was accredited to New
York, despite the fact that nearly two thirds of the
imports, amounting to $180,953,843, had passed
through her custom-house. The preeminence of
New Orleans in the cotton export trade still con-
tinued to keep that city on terms of formidable riv-
alry with New York, while Galveston, also deriving
its importance from the same staple, was coming to
the front with Baltimore, Savannah, and Charleston.
This year of 1858 was destined to see one of the
most marvelous of the century's achievements — the
laying of the first transatlantic cable, which was ac-
complished through the enterprise of several of New
60
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
York's public-spirited citizens. Though it operated
successfully for only a few days, its practicability
was demonstrated, and 1865 and 1866 saw others
laid and the present great oceanic system of tele-
graphs begun.
The brief operation of the cable of 1858 furnished
one striking incident of the utmost commercial im-
portance. Over it was announced the collision be-
tween the steamers Europa and Arabia, the recep-
tion of this news saving the business world at least
$250,000, which would otherwise have been spent
in additional insurances on the vessels and their
cargoes.
In 1859 the country at large owned a total ton-
nage of 3,485,266, — greater than that of any or all
nations on earth except the United Kingdom, — while
New York herself alone had a tonnage greater than
any of the other countries, with the exception of
Great Britain. This great fleet, carrying the chief
part of all America's commerce under her own flag,
was also strong in her competition for the carrying
trade of the world, the lion's share of which she had
already won. In the coastwise trade an enrolled
and licensed tonnage of 1,377,424 plied to and from
New York harbor.
The period comprised by the next few years is
one which lends itself to be told by figures more
readily than in any other way. The growing net-
work of the railroads had been slowly diverting the
cotton from the smaller seaports in its movement to
the markets, and New York was now getting a fair
share. Her total imports for the year 1861, preced-
ing the Civil War, amounted to $188,790,086, out
of $287,250,542 credited to the country as a whole.
Of the exports, of the value of $204,899,606, New
York had more than doubled the figures of three
years earlier, and claimed $118,267,177. The ton-
nage of the country had swelled to the vast total
of 5,299,175, and merchantmen carrying the Stars
and Stripes and hailing from New York could be
seen in every port of the civilized world. It was
the golden age of American shipping ; and although
New York is a far greater city to-day than she was
then, it is still a matter of regret that she cannot
carry on her vast transactions with an American
marine, rather than beneath the flags of other coun-
tries whose vessels traverse the seas. The golden
age was brief, however. It grew up in the years be-
tween 1820 and i860, and it was cut down almost
in a year — one year of war. The close of 1862
found the United States' merchant fleet smaller by
many thousands of tons than it had been the pre-
ceding year, while Great Britain, ever on the watch
to secure an advantage, had increased her fleet cor-
respondingly and was rapidly becoming the carrier
of the world's freights.
The imports at New York showed still further the
effects of the war. A falling off of over $50,000,000
was the record, but even this was far better than
that which happened to the remainder of the coun-
try, which added up its total import trade to only
$189,356,677. The export trade of the country at
large was affected least by the troubles of this time
and only decreased slightly, while New York's ex-
ports actually increased, amounting to $1 27,651,778,
or about $9,000,000 more than during the preced-
ing year. The cause of this was shown later in the
year following the war, when between the exports of
New York for 1864 and those for 1866 there was a
falling off in the latter year of nearly $33,000,000,
due mainly to the resumption of the Southern ports.
The effect of the Civil War upon New York's
commerce fortunately lasted only a short time.
Had it not been for the disturbance it caused to
general business it is doubtful whether the war, in
its effect commercially, would not have been con-
sidered to a high degree beneficial. The figures,
when studied, show this to have been so relatively,
at least. New York was undoubtedly more promi-
nent and a larger factor in the trade of the country
between i86i and 1864 than she is now, but it was
a much smaller trade. Her own particular pros-
perity increased with the end of the war, and in
1870 her imports and exports had increased to over
$100,000,000 greater than they were in 1862, while
the total trade of the United States aggregated nearly
$900,000,000.
The foregoing figures show that the commerce of
New York recovered very quickly from the shock of
war. The shipping interests of the city were not so
fortunate. Out of a total lost tonnage of 1,104,435
due to the war, New York had suffered about one
fifth of the whole. This loss has been recovered
but slowly, and even to-day the figures have not re-
turned to the point from which they fell. Instead
of two thirds of the commerce of the port being
done in American bottoms, as it was prior to i860,
there is scarcely a quarter of it that does not go to
foreign carriers. England has nearly 8,000,000 of
tonnage more to-day than we, and much of New
York's trade is carried on under her flag. Ship-build-
ing has accordingly ceased to be a great New York
industry, which it was earlier in the century.
Since the war all attempt to particularize in sketch-
ing the history of such a gigantic emporium as New
York is hopeless. The causes which have already
Horace Porter.
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NEW YORK COMMERCE
61
been laid down as operating to bring about her
greatness are equally strong to maintain it. The
natural center of the enormous wealth of the East-
ern seaboard States, she is also in direct contact by
her railroads and waterways with the most remote
centers of production, and to her as the only real
distributer must the imports come. Despite the
fact that storage and wharfage charges are higher
than in almost any other port, one third of the entire
wheat crop of the country is exported from this city.
The war and the railway systems together have so
militated against the Southern cotton ports that a
large share of that trade passes through New York.
Petroleum and the valuable products of the won-
derful oil regions, dressed beef and pork from the
enormous packing-houses of Chicago and other
Western cities, live cattle from Texas and the
Western plains, and breadstuffs and provisions of
all kinds, make up much of the great volume of
exports. Of the staples of import, among the most
important are sugar, coffee, tea, and tobacco. Of
these, one half the sugar and three fourths each of
the coffee and tea imported for the whole country
pay duty at this port.
To show more clearly the magnitude of the busi-
ness transactions involved in the commercial state-
ments of to-day, a few figures taken from the best
available sources will be useful. The year 1885
gave a total volume of commerce for the United
States of $1,304,210,275. New York's returns for
the same period showed imports amounting to $380,-
077,748 and exports $334,718,227, making a total
of $714,795,975. In 1893, in the face of the finan-
cial and commercial troubles of the year, the coun-
try's total foreign trade showed an increase of nearly
$350,000,000, making a total of $1,652,354,534.
New York's share in the nation's increased trade
was about $170,000,000, her total figures for the
year being $886,487,641.
To meet the demands of the enormous traffic in-
dicated by these figures. New York has expanded
in every way. It now has 'a population of about
2,000,000, and manufacturing interests with an an-
nual productivity of $600,000,000 and employing
500,000 hands. It is a center for the greatest
railways of the country, and a sailing port for half
a hundred great ocean steamship lines. It has a
water-front of twenty-five miles, thirteen of them
being along the North River, and the dock facilities
are increasing every day. The recently completed
Harlem Canal between the Harlem and Hudson
rivers has been put into operation, and with its facil-
ities the great coastwise trade in bricks, ice, and
lumber between New England and the Sound ports
and the Hudson River towns has been materially
increased, and a saving of many miles accomplished
for a number of vessels coming in on one side of
Manhattan Island and having to discharge on the
other side.
The harbor of New York to-day is thronged with
vessels the year round. Lofty-masted sailing fleets
are docked along South Street ; coastwise vessels
and freight and passenger transatlantic steamships
stretch for miles along West Street, interspersed with
slips for market-boats and fishing craft ; while count-
less ferries furnish a connection with neighboring
cities. 5,000,000 annual tonnage is computed to be
the extent of the city's shipping traffic, and 928,000
of this is in the foreign trade, the coastwise trade
with its colliers, and the fleet of New England schoon-
ers, making a large percentage of the remainder.
A total of about 6000 vessels, steam and sail,
arrive here annually from foreign ports, while nearly
16,000 enter in the coastwise trade, of which fully
14,000 are sailing craft. In addition to the Euro-
pean lines there are regular steamships to Brazil,
Venezuela, the Central American and Mexican ports,
and the West Indian Islands.
The precautions taken to guard the city from
contagion from any of the increasing number of
merchantmen have resulted in the establishment of
an effective quarantine. Originally instituted in
1746 on Staten Island, moved to Bedloe's Island
in 1784 by the State legislature, and to Governor's
Island in 1794, it returned finally to Staten Island
in 1 80 1, where its usefulness has steadily increased.
The immigration in this country centers almost en-
tirely in New York, over four fifths of the total tide
coming to Ellis Island.
The mercantile interests of the city have likewise
increased with the general expansion, until to-day
there is scarcely a great interest in the country which
has not agents in New York. Foreign houses also
have established branches here, and the old mer-
chant of one hundred years ago has become the
great importer of to-day, while his jealously guarded
designation of "merchant" has fallen upon the
modern business man, jobber, wholesale dealer, and
manufacturing agent.
Diversified as the commercial lines have become,
the growth to separate importance of the various
branches with their ramifications has compelled the
introduction of new methods. The Chamber of
Commerce and the Board of Trade and Transpor-
tation constitute bodies as great and productive of
good as ever, but around them have grown up many
62
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
subdivisions of the various interests. A single trade
to-day transacts a greater business than the com-
bined interests of the whole city did one hundred years
ago, and some facilitation of this enormous business
became necessary. This has resulted in the estab-
lishment of many exchanges, such as the Produce,
Cotton, Coffee, Coal, Metal, Consolidated, Fruit,
Real Estate, and others, all of which concentrate
the interests they represent at some commercial
point. The shipping interests are represented at the
Maritime Exchange, and the facilities of the cus-
tom-house, public stores, and bonded warehouses are
such as have been found to be of the greatest prac-
tical benefit. There are 1700 employees in the cus-
toms service in New York; and $150,000,000, col-
lected at the modest cost of about two per cent., is
the annual revenue this port contributes to the Fed-
eral government.
Summing up the whole situation, New York to-
day as a commercial metropolis outranks any city
in the world, with the single exception of London ;
and it requires no especially boastful spirit to say
that her prosperity is founded upon a securer basis
than that of even the great English capital. Stand-
ing at the national gateway to the great West, the
wealth that pours each way must pass through her
portals. Combining the enterprise that attempts
with the wealth that makes of the attempt a sus-
tained effort, she has only begun her career of great-
ness. She has won success in the first and hardest
stage of her journey, and the way is now clear be-
fore her. Her future is secure, for as surely as the
nation shall wax greater, richer, and more powerful,
so surely shall the metropohs of New York continue
her onward progress.
CHAPTER XI
OUR FOREIGN TRADE FROM A TRADER'S STANDPOINT
DIFFERENT conditions of soil, climate, and
population exist throughout the world, so that
a large portion of the wants of one section is
supplied from the products of another. This inter-
change is the most important agency for bringing
the peoples of the world into harmonious relations.
By its means the interests of different regions have
become so interwoven that to-day no nation can go
to war without seriously prejudicing the interests of
neutral countries as well as those of many of its own
citizens. With improved methods of production, and
the increased facilities for interchange of commodi-
ties, the wants of mankind have rapidly grown. The
luxuries of one generation have become the necessi-
ties of the next, so that to-day the masses are living
under more favored conditions than the nobility of
medieval times, and international trade has increased
fortyfold since the beginning of the eighteenth
century.
The most important developments of this " indus-
trial age " are the railroad, the steamship, and the
telegraph. They have made possible the transporta-
tion of merchandise of great bulk under conditions
generally beneficial to both producers and con-
sumers. Foreign trade has become to-day of so
much importance that the leading men of all nations
are alive to the necessity of mastering the complex
conditions governing international commerce, and
he takes the highest place in this age of industrial
wars who is most prominent in creating conditions
favorable to the industrial development of the people
he represents.
In looking at these rapidly changing conditions
from a trader's standpoint, one fact stands out, that
while the volume of foreign trade has increased,
the margin of profit has proportionately decreased.
The barter of tinsel trinkets, firearms, and spirits for
ivory, pearls, and gold-dust showed such an enor-
mous percentage of profit as to illustrate the igno-
rance which existed under primitive means of com-
munication. As facilities for communication and
transportation improved, rates of freight declined,
widening the circle of trade. During the first three
quarters of this century the margins of profit in
foreign commerce were so large that merchants with
only moderate capital entered the field successfully,
and there grew up in the maritime cities and towns
of this country a well-distributed business in foreign
trade and in the building and freighting of sailing
vessels until we possessed the finest fleet of clipper-
ships in the world.
During the past twenty-five years, however, the
margins of profit in foreign trade and transportation
have been reduced at least seventy-five per cent.
New methods have been adopted in order to suc-
cessfully meet these new conditions. Most of the
houses that were leaders in our foreign trade one
quarter of a century ago did not adapt themselves
to the changed environment of commerce, and were
forced out of business. To-day quick communica-
tion and improved banking facilities enable the
foreign merchant to transact safely a much larger
business in proportion to his capital than was pos-
sible half a century ago ; but these very facilities
have created a competition so intense that to-day
there is little or no profit in transferring the great
staples from producer to consumer, so that the trader
is forced into the position of a speculator unless he
has special facilities for distribution. While in for-
eign trade the middleman is more useful than in
domestic commerce, the tendency of the times is, by
bringing together producer and consumer, to elimi-
nate him. The trader is forced to enlarge the field
of his transactions. This he cannot safely do except
by the use of expert abilities and scientific organiza-
tion. All this makes necessary large aggregations
of capital ; and the tendency to consolidation, which
is the striking feature of industrial enterprise, is find-
ing its way into international commerce.
Yet the trader has a great advantage over the
63
64
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
farmer and the manufacturer, for his capital is mobile,
and not locked up in land or in machinery that in most
factories must be thrown away within a decade by
reason of new inventions. The Bessemer-steel rail and
the triple-expansion engine have practically placed
the wheat-fields of India, the Argentine Republic,
and the western United States alongside the farms of
western Europe. The cheap land and cheap labor of
India, the natural advantages of the Argentine, and
the great machine-reaped prairies of the West have
destroyed the profit of the European tiller of the
soil, and practically extinguished the margin for the
landed proprietor. The great discontent in Europe
to-day is largely due to the unfavorable condition
of the agrarian classes; and the demand made by
them for something to better their condition has
forced to the surface the agitation of false theories
for improving trade through silver legislation.
The statistician Mulhall has made it possible to
know what the trade of the world has been, and to
trace year by year its enormous growth. The fol-
lowing table shows approximately the aggregate
value of imports and exports of each country in
millions sterling :
great force of the nation has been directed toward
the development of our internal resources ; to inter-
state commerce rather than to the extension of for-
eign trade. The largest commerce of the world,
conducted under the conditions of absolute free
trade, is carried on between the States of the United
States. Untrammeled by customs-duties, the people
of the United States, covering a territory of 3,000,-
000 square miles, have created the most efficient
systems for exchange of commodities. They have
built 185,000 miles of railways — as many miles as
exist in all the rest of the world. They have created
the most complete systems of navigation by lake,
river, and canal, and a banking system by which a uni-
form and stable currency exists throughout the entire
country. They have not only opened up mines and
extended agriculture, but they have developed man-
ufacturing ; and while the rate of wages has been
higher in this than in any other country, the people
of the United States, forced by necessity to meet the
low-priced labor of other countries, have applied
their high intelligence to the invention of labor-
saving machines, so that to-day, although the popu-
lation of the United States is but 70,000,000, the
FOREIGN TRADE OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES IN MILLIONS STERLING.
Countries.
Great Britain
France
Germany
Russia
Austria
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Scandinavia
Holland and Belgium
Switzerland
Turkey, etc
Europe
United States
Spanish America. . . .
British colonies
India
Various
The world
lyao.
13
7
2
3
10
2
2
4
I
2
62
10
2
9
5
1750.
21
13
15
14
4
5
14
3
3
6
2
3
103
15
3
9
10
140
1780.
23
22
20
17
6
7
18
4
5
8
3
4
1800.
67
31
36
30
8
10
12
4
5
15
5
5
137
3
20
I
10
15
228
17
25
2
10
20
186
302
1820.
74
33
40
22
10
15
10
3
6
24
6
6
1830.
41
46
28
15
20
7
3
8
30
8
7
249
23
30
3
II
25
301
22
35
9
10
30
341
407
1840.
114
66
52
33
22
30
10
4
12
45
10
10
408
41
48
21
20
35
573
X850.
169
95
70
40
29
38
II
5
18
61
20
20
576
62
70
44
30
50
i860.
375
167
130
48
47
52
25
8
27
86
30
29
1,024
136
94
103
52
80
1870.
547
227
212
103
83
66
41
10
48
136
45
55
832
1,489
1,573
165
135
128
85
105
2,191
1880.
698
339
294
131
107
91
50
14
64
237
60
49
2,134
308
160
203
108
120
3.033
1889.
740
311
367
118
92
94
59
18
72
310
60
72
2,313
320
166
298
131
149
3,377
From this general view of international trade let us
turn to the foreign trade of the United States. I am
informed that Mr. Worthington C. Ford in his con-
tribution to this history of American Commerce,
will give in detail the statistics of our imports and
exports. Although the foreign trade of the United
States has increased so that we now do as much in
one week as we did in one year a century ago, the
labor-saving machinery which is run daily in this
country — its fixed steam power being one third of
that of the entire world — has a far greater produc-
tive capacity than the population of the Chinese
empire.
The restless enterprise of America, having con-
quered more than half the continent, it is now turn-
ing toward other fields of activity. In the effort to
Charles R. Flint.
OUR FOREIGN TRADE FROM A TRADER'S STANDPOINT
65
extend our commerce it is natural first to consider
the countries south of us. These countries can buy
of us manufactures and food products. Their prin-
cipal employment is agriculture, and they form one
of the most important groups of those nations which
are known to economists as "neutral markets."
There are many evidences of the strength of the
movement toward enlarging our commercial rela-
tions with these sister republics: the assembhng of
the International American Conference, at which
all the repubhcs of the Americas were represented,
called under an act of our Congress for the piu:-
pose of extending inter- American trade; the com-
pletion by an American company of telegraphic
communication by land and sea to the southern-
most cities of South America ; the appointment of a
commission, with representatives from North, South,
and Central America, to report the most desirable
route for an intercontinental railway ; the establish-
ment of the Bureau of American Republics, for the
purpose of publishing their statistics and other in-
formation of interest to those engaged in American
trade ; the simplification and unification of customs
regulations ; a Monetary Conference to study plans
for facilitating inter- American exchange ; the unani-
mous recommendation by all of the American re-
publics to establish an International American Bank
under an act of the Congress of the United States,
with branches in all the other American republics ;
the celebration of treaties of reciprocity; the pro-
posed establishment of a permanent court to settle
all inter- American disputes by arbitration ; the open-
ing to our southern neighbors of this great consum-
ing market by continuing the free admission into
the United States of hides, rubber, nitrate of soda,
and other products, and the recent removal of the
duties on coffee, sugar, and wool, so that to-day over
ninety-five per cent, of the products imported from
Mexico, the West Indies, South and Central America,
amounting to $235,000,000, are admitted by us free
of duty. Important as these have been, of still more
efficiency is the incessant activity of American mer-
chants and manufacturers who are engaged in press-
ing their wares upon the attention of these most
excellent customers.
The merchant engaged in foreign trade is obliged
to study not only the conditions of the markets which
are the distributing points of products, but he must
also investigate the conditions of production. The
American system of manufacturing great quanti-
ties of articles all precisely alike is favorable to uni-
form quality at the lowest cost. This cost is still
further decreased when manufacture is highly con-
5
centrated. As a result many great industries are
availing themselves of the advantages of centraliza-
tion, and so securing economies. The first important
aggregation in capital and intelligence for the pur-
pose of securing cheap production was the Standard
Oil Company, and they show what may be accom-
plished by economical methods in building up a great
foreign trade. Without assistance from tariff pro-
tection that great combination has reduced the cost
of illuminating oil to a point where it has been able
to furnish a brilliant but low-priced light even to the
countries where the people are the poorest and de-
mand the lowest price, such as China, Japan, and
India. The aggregate of these exports has reached
the enormous sum of $45,000,000 per annum. The
underlying principles which have created this great
success are now being applied to many other in-
dustries. Through these consolidations the capacity
for cheap production is greatly increased, and such
concentration of capital and industry will be a great
lever in enabling the United States to take possession
of foreign markets that heretofore have been domin-
ated by competing nations.
In labor-saving machinery and in intelligence of
the labor employed, the United States to-day is
in advance of the rest of the world. As an evi-
dence of the progress we are making as a manu-
facturing nation our exports of manufactures this
year will amount to about $200,000,000 as against
$40,000,000 in i860. While oiu* merchant marine
has relatively declined, the fleets of other nations
are at our service. But in one respect we are
far behind the manufactiu-ing nations of Europe.
Our banking system was organized originally with
a view to enable the government to borrow great
sums of money from the people during the Civil
War by seUing bonds to be used as a basis for
circulation. It has since been modified, and is
to-day a most excellent instrument of interstate
commerce ; but it is utterly inadequate to deal with
foreign trade. The banking facilities of Great
Britain devoted exclusively to the foreign commerce
of that country represent an investment of hundreds
of millions of pounds sterling, while the foreign
merchants of the United States are forced to not
only be their own traders, but their own bankers.
Yet the advantages of foreign trade are great, and
when the attention of the financiers of the countr)'
shall be directed to the organization of proper institu-
tions devoted to supplying this deficiency, the effect
upon the increase of American exports will be marked.
Such are the conditions of the past and of to-
day from the trader's standpoint ; yet he may look
66
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
toward the future with equanimity. While there is
a tendency to eliminate the middleman, neverthe-
less, if he be one of those fittest that are to survive,
he will greatly increase his capital. He will perfect
his organization so that he is ably represented in
every market where he attempts to do business.
He will freely use the cable to put himself in pos-
session of all the price-making facts. He will
assist in the formation of banking organizations
which will enable him to finance his operations.
While the average profit of transactions is steadily
decreasing, he may so increase their volume and
decrease the expenses of doing business that the net
profits shall be as large as or larger than before.
Then the rapid advance of America into the field of
international trade will almost push him forward
into prosperity, for the skill and knowledge acquired
through long years of business relations with foreign
markets must be availed of by the manufacturers
and producers who wish to sell their goods abroad.
By reason of superior organization he is able to per-
fectly protect himself with reference to the standing
and credit of his customers, and through his large
capital he is enabled to spread his transactions over
so many countries as to greatly divide his risks. By
associating himself with the many movements to-
ward concentration of capital and consolidation of
production he will be able more readily to defeat
his European rivals in the markets of the world.
He will do all that he can to forward such enter-
prises as the Nicaragua Canal and the Interconti-
nental Railroad, which, while in a sense yet dreams,
are dreams in course of realization. By means of
these agencies certain disadvantages of the United
States in the struggle for the world's trade will be
more than counterbalanced, and the trader will be
brought far nearer than before to the many regions
with which he desires to do business.
During the past ten years the foreign trader has
been most seriously prejudiced by the violent fluc-
tuations and uncertainty arising out of the unwise
attempts to create an artificial value for silver.
Through legislation the price of silver was advanced
to $1.20 per ounce, but speedily reacted to less than
sixty cents. While these conditions, because under-
mining confidence, caused the panic of 1893, the
trading in this country, owing to the government
sustaining the stability of its currency, had the ad-
vantage of being conducted upon a fixed basis ; but
the trade of our sister republics and of the other
countries on a silver basis was directly subject to the
rapid fluctuations in the white metal. Importers were
obligated to remit in gold, and then, owing to the de-
preciation of the currency, had to take fifty cents on
the dollar. These conditions doubled the prices of
imports, thus curtailing the volume of importations.
No conditions have ever arisen which have so
obstructed foreign trade. False hopes of relief were
based upon efforts to formulate an international
agreement fixing a uniform ratio between gold and
silver. Fortunately the silver question, after several
campaigns of education, is better understood, and
this vexed problem is in course of solution by natural
laws. Low prices are reducing the production of
silver, while the output of gold is rapidly increasing.
No business has been so seriously affected by the
uncertainty and extreme fluctuations in the price of
silver as international trade, and probably none will
benefit so much by stable monetary conditions. Our
foreign trade is already beginning to feel the effect
of greater financial stability. The power of return-
ing confidence, with the accumulated energy of years
of inactivity, multiplied by the modern facilities for
production and transportation, will create an era of
prosperity in international trade unknown in the
history of the world.
CHAPTER XII
WALL STREET
THE name "Wall Street" is but a symbol
used to signify the American money market.
As the dollar-mark placed before long rows
of figures throws a golden luster on the column, so
the name of the little great thoroughfare that runs
from the high gate of old Trinity down to the East
River lends its own significance to the surrounding
locality. Nassau, Pine, Cedar, Broad, New, Wil-
liam, and Hanover streets are all as truly parts of
the expanded Wall Street of to-day as their bankers,
brokers, and business are a part of the great Ameri-
can money market. Around the Wall Street of a
century ago as a nucleus have gathered the great
moneyed interests of the New World, and it is they,
rather than any particular street, that are designated
to-day by the term " Wall Street." Yet, if the his-
toric old street has broadened somewhat in signifi-
cance and application during the past century, it has
still lost none of its identity. Since the memorable
day in 1789 when George Washington, standing on
the steps of the old Federal House, took the oath
as first President of these United States, the street
he then surveyed has been a center for every great
national enterprise. It has been the one fixed point
around which have revolved the great financial
panics that swept the land, and it has also been the
source whence have sprung many of the greatest of
those undertakings which have rendered our country
and the age alike famous.
Something over two centuries ago green rolling
fields stretched from Broadway to the East River.
Along the ridge of the hill at the head of Broad
Street stood the high palisade of stout timber de-
fending the town against any sudden incursion of
the red warriors who still prowled the neighboring
land. This palisade, which gave its name to Wall
Street, has long been gone. It outlived the red
men, and was finally torn down, the line it made
being laid out and named Wall Street. To-day it
and its significance are forgotten, as are those fair-
haired, red-cheeked Dutch maidens, who, tripping
down the foot-path to the water, bearing the house-
hold linen to the wash, gave their name to Maiden
Lane ; or the jolly old burghers, clad in baggy knee-
breeches and smoking long pipes, who, in the days
of doughty Peter Stuyvesant, played their game of
bowls upon the smooth turf of Bowling Green. It
is only in the few names like these still left that we
find how historic are many old city ways. Among
them all Wall Street stands with the earhest. There,
when the old Town House was demolished in 1699,
was built, upon the site of the present Sub-Treasury,
a new City Hall, the building which was fitted up
six years after the close of the Revolution for the
meeting-place of Congress, and at which President
Washington was inaugurated.
The importance of Wall Street, therefore, may be
dated from 1700, when the affairs of the municipal-
ity centered there. By the middle of the century it
was a " grand street " with handsome private resi-
dences, the seat of the colonial legislature, and the
central point for all the political and social life of
the day. The State legislature, too, met in Wall
Street until the capital was removed from New York
to Albany, and for fully fifty years the official life of
New York converged there. Nevertheless the tide
of affairs was slowly rising in the old thoroughfare,
and the private residences began to give way before
the offices of the great merchants, who were forsak-
ing lower Broadway and the smaller streets down-
town. The shopkeepers and small traders, however,
did not venture upon this ground. It was only the
great merchant princes and moneyed traders who
first planted the standards of business in Wall
Street. To them naturally came others, and the
Bank of New York, of which General Alexander
McDougal was the first president, was in existence
but a few years when it was removed to Wall Street,
67
68
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
where it established itself in 1791 at the corner of
WiUiam Street, being the first bank in New York City
and the first on Wall Street.
Had the wishes of the Bank of New York been
respected there might never have been another one
in the Street ; for its influence was strong in the
legislature, and for years it was impossible for any
other banking charter to be obtained. The estab-
lishment of the second bank in Wall Street, and the
State as well, came about in a most curious manner,
and the credit of its accomplishment belongs to that
shrewd lawyer, Aaron Burr. He introduced in 1 799
into the legislature a bill to charter the Manhattan
Company, a corporation of large capital which pro-
posed constructing a system of water- works. Yellow
fever, then an annual scourge, caused the people to
welcome gladly any improved sanitary regulation,
and pure water was considered of the utmost im-
portance. Viewing the matter thus, even the watch-
ful politicians who were assembled in the legislative
halls saw little to object to in the new company, and
it was chartered accordingly. One brief clause had
been overlooked, however, and in it lay the pith of
the cunning Burr's success. Thit clause, after recit-
ing that the company's capital should be expended
in the construction of a system of water-supply,
provided that if any surplus should remain it could
be used in any business " not unlawful." Under this
head banking most certainly fell, and the Manhattan
Company, finding speedily that they had a surplus,
used it in founding their bank that same year, the lo-
cation chosen being at what was then 23 Wall Street.
One thing, however, must be said, which is that
the Manhattan Company was equally prompt in
providing its water-supply. The water was ob-
tained from an old spring, and the reservoir was
located near the corner of Reade and Center streets,
where it remains to this day, an odd-looking, old-
fashioned cistern enough, but still capable of pro-
viding water as it did nearly a century ago, when it
was considered almost as great an engineering feat
as the present Croton Aqueduct. It is years since
water has been used from it. The pipes by which
the Manhattan Company carried water through the
town were made from solid logs, the centers care-
fully bored out and the lengths jointed together.
Occasionally, even now, some contractor digging in
the lower streets of the city brings to light one of
these old pipe logs, laid so long ago ; and several
sections thus exhumed have been bronzed, and are
carefully kept in the Manhattan Bank as mementos
of the great work in the earlier days.
The choice by these two banks — the only ones in
the city — of Wall Street for their location must be
regarded as the final election of that street as the
home of American finance. The United States
Branch Bank was opened there in 1792 ; the Mer-
chants' was there in 1805, and the Mechanics' Bank
in 18 10. Meanwhile, too, another potent factor
in centering business interests in Wall Street was
introduced by the erection in 1794 of the Tontine
Coffee-House. Here at noon every day gathered
the merchants from their counting-rooms and ware-
houses to discuss the news of the day, compare
notes, chat, and even make trades. At the plain
old bar in the center of the great room the best
liquors, at a time when good liquor was the rule,
were to be had ; and sedate old merchants, with a
piece of the thirst-provoking salt codfish or a dry
cracker in one hand, and a steaming glass of old
Jamaica, oily schnapps, or sound old port in the
other, gravely exchanged the coiirtesies of the day.
" High 'Change " they called this hour, and, entirely
apart from its convivial features, the benefits of this
general intermingling of the business men of the city
were found to be so important that a merchants'
exchange, having the Tontine Coffee-House as its
headquarters, was formed. Thus did the Exchange
first manifest itself in Wall Street, and quotations
now disseminated broadcast by electricity were then
obtained by word of mouth, the Tontine Cofl^ee-
House being large enough to contain all the great in-
terests of the New York business world of 1795.
In this latter year, with which the century under
discussion begins, the banking facilities of New
York, exclusive of the branch office of the Bank of
the United States, aggregated considerably less than
$1,000,000, and business was synonymous with for-
eign trade. The merchants were the men of affairs,
and, except in foreign commerce or domestic traffic,
there were few ways to invest idle funds. The
buying of land — real-estate investment — had not
then become general, and manufactures were almost
unknown, at least as a field for the investment of
large capital. Gradually the very extension of
trade and business requirements began to bring
complexities. Capital increased, and the distinctive
function of the banker began, which, according to
Ricardo, is "using the money of others." Banks
increased, insurance companies sprang up, and the
management of money as apart from its use in the
channels of trade gradually became more and more
distinct. Private bankers, always in existence, gave
up little by little the mercantile branches of their
business, brokers who bought and sold for others on
commission could be found as easily in Wall Street
John P. Townsend.
WALL STREET
as at the present time, and by 1810 all the various
elements found on 'Change to-day could be observed
working themselves into distinctness.
One of the earliest of the great merchants and
bankers who ruled on Wall Street in 1796 was
Nathaniel Prime, better known as " Nat " Prime.
Later on he was the head of the famous banking-
house of Prime, Ward & King, a firm as great in
its day as any whose name rules the Street now.
" Nat " Prime was a hard-headed, picturesque old
figure, who had, rumor said, been a coachman in
Boston in his younger years. A keen fellow, he had
saved and loaned at interest until he gathered a
small sum. He was doing a small brokerage busi-
ness in New York, when, it is related, he met at a din-
ner-party one evening a rich Southern planter. The
conversation turned on money-making, and Prime
remarked that if he had $5000 he would double it
in a year. The planter asked him what security he
could give for such a loan. " The word of an hon-
est man," replied Prime ; and on that collateral the
Southerner advanced him the money. So Nathaniel
Prime got his start. Within the year he had paid
his benefactor back ; but he gave no more than was
strictly due ; and when, some years later, the same
Southerner, being in financial straits, applied to him
for a loan on the security he himself had given, he
refused him. Gratitude was a debt the law did
not recognize nor " Nat " Prime pay, but in his
financial dealings he was always the very soul of
integrity.
From these beginnings to being head of the
greatest banking-house in New York and a king in
Wall Street was a career, however, that showed the
business qualities of Nathaniel Prime ; and in the
dawning importance of that famous street his was
one of the most prominent figures. One of the first
significant events showing the extending influence
of Wall Street as a financial center was the famous
conference of its four great powers, Nathaniel
Prime, John Jacob Astor, John Robins, and John
Hone, when the State of Ohio, in 1825, contemplat-
ing internal development on a large scale, applied
for a heavy loan. Two days and a night did this
session last, and then the first great ultimatum of
Wall Street magnates went forth to the Ohio ambas-
sadors. Enact into statute certain stipulated con-
cessions and the money will be forthcoming, was the
tenor of this decision. Back to Ohio went the dele-
gates. The legislature deliberated, and passed the
required bills, and from Wall Street to Ohio went a
vast loan. This first syndicate was one that might
have been a little more peremptory in stating its
5*
terms than those of to-day, but it was equally
prompt in living up to its agreements.
The development of the business of Wall Street
as a financial power brought in its train a system of
operations based upon the exchange of fimds, the
representation in stocks of intrinsic values, and the
acknowledgment in bonds of indebtedness and lien.
Around these three simple quantities has grown the
multiplex money market of to-day. There were few
stocks, or bonds either, in 1795; nevertheless the
brokers were already on the Street, and Bleecker's
famous old auction-room was the first place where
the early bulls and bears resorted. It was a small
enough stock-list they had to operate with in those
days, and seemingly simple to master. The two or
three banks and insurance companies then existing
were quoted, and the three or four classes of gov-
ernment securities, but these were all. Sudden or
extreme fluctuations, except in time of war, were
almost unknown, and an operator who conned his
list well on Monday was generally posted for the
week. Upon such a field as this did the great New
York Stock Exchange make its first appearance.
Under an old buttonwood-tree standing in front of
60 Wall Street the early brokers of New York met
one day in 1792, and set forth the purposes and
obligations of the association in the following
agreement :
" We, the subscribers, brokers for the purchase and
sale of public stock, do hereby solemnly promise
and pledge ourselves to each other that we will not
buy or sell from this date, for any person whatso-
ever, any kind of public stocks at a less rate than one
quarter of one per cent, commission on the specie
value, and that we will give a preference to each
other in our negotiations. In testimony whereof
we have set our hands, this seventeenth day of
May, at New York, 1792. Lemuel Bleecker, Hugh
Smith, Armstrong & Barnewell, Samuel Marsh,
Bernard Hart, Sutton & Hardy, Benjamin Seixas,
John Henry, John A. Hardenbrook, Samuel Beebee,
Alexander Zuntz, Andrew D. Barclay, Ephraim
Hart, Julian McEvers, G. N. Bleecker, Peter
Anspach, Benjamin Winthrop, John Ferrers, Isaac
M. Gomez, Augustine H. Lawrence, John Bush,
Charles McEvers, Jr., Robinson & Hartshorn,
David Reedy."
This agreement was the only one by which the
members were bound until 1820, when daily meet-
ings and the regular call of stocks began. The
board had its permanent headquarters after 1825 in
the Old Merchants' Exchange; but after that was
destroyed by fire it established itself in one of the
70
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Jauncey buildings, whence it removed in 1842 to
the New Merchants' Exchange, now the Custom-
House. There it remained until 1853. Until that
time the board had been the closest of corporations,
its membership being governed by iron-clad rules.
Financial news agencies were unknown in those
days, and the board kept its proceedings a profound
secret, violation of this secrecy being punished by
expulsion. So intense was the curiosity over the
proceedings of this body that an Open Board, which
had been organized in 1837, took a building adjoin-
ing and dug the bricks out of the wall for the pur-
pose of spying out what was going on.
The board removed from the Merchants* Ex-
change Building in 1853 to a room in the old Corn
Exchange Bank Building at Beaver and William
streets. In 1857, the year of the great panic, the
board changed its headquarters to the Daniel Lord
Building, with entrances on William and Beaver
streets. Here it was that some of the great specu-
lators of the day flourished. Among these were
Daniel Drew, Jacob Little, and Morse, known as
the " lightning calculator," who made and lost a
fortune of millions in a little over a year. The rule
enjoining secrecy still continuing in force, it is a
fact of record that $100 a day was freely offered
for the privilege of listening at the keyhole during
the time of the calls. The board continued to hold
its meetings in the Lord Building until 1865, when
it removed to its present location. During the war
period the Stock Exchange, with a view to assisting
the government, prohibited its members from selling
government bonds "short," and also forbade them all
dealings in gold. The later action led to the forma-
tion of the Gold Exchange, which, although resulting
in a loss of many millions of dollars to its members,
was taken for purely patriotic purposes. A second
Open Board of Brokers was organized in 1863, with
headquarters in a basement in William Street, called
the " Coal- Hole." So rapidly did its business in-
crease that it soon took more spacious accommoda-
tions in Broad Street, adjoining the Stock Exchange.
The competition continued until 1869, when the old
board called a truce. Amicable negotiations led to
a consolidation of the Stock Exchange, the Open
Board, and the United States Government 'Board,
the result being the strongest public financial associ-
ation in the country, and one of the most important
in the world. William H. Neilson was the first
president.
The business of this exchange has become to-day
much greater than that of the combined exchanges
of the kind existing in the rest of the country. It is
the very heart of Wall Street, and its functions are as
vital to the development and prosperity of the coimtry
as to the money market. It affords a constant and
regular market for the securities of the great corpora-
tions, and indexes their value in quotations of actual
bids and sales. Without such facilities as it affords,
the shares of these corporations, aggregating a total
par value well up in the billions, would move so
slowly that great enterprises would often lag from
sheer lack of capital. Again, transactions would be
vague, only known to the public when the interested
parties were wilhng, and the door would be opened
to manipulation and fraud almost unlimited were
the safeguard it affords to be removed. The Stock
Exchange, it is true, cannot control the relation of
values to prices, nor can it direct the management
of corporations by their oflficials; but it can and
does secure a fair, free, and absolutely open market,
where the dealings are matters of record and public
knowledge. It can and does further insist that all
stocks dealt in on its floor shall have certain quali-
fications warranting their genuineness, and its " hst-
ing" committee examines and investigates the
claims of every new security brought before it, be-
fore it is allowed on the list of those in which
members may deal. In admitting a security to its
list the Stock Exchange does not recommend it to
the public ; it simply places it among the honest
possibilities of the market, to stand or fall by its
own merit. In the unlisted securities dealt in by
special privilege of the exchange the action of the
board differs but in degree, and any stock in which
transactions are allowed, however sHght its intrinsic
value may be, is stamped as not bogus.
In the exercise of these functions the Stock Ex-
change has come to stand as the great regulator of
the market for securities, and its transactions, fully
reported, serve as the standard by which values are
established. In the internal economy of the Stock
Exchange every method best adapted to conserve
the ends of straightforward and legitimate business
investment has been adopted. Among the more
important changes of the last thirty-five years have
been the following: the rule requiring the registry
of stocks, in 1869 ; the abandonment of the regular
call of stocks, in 1875; ^^^ ^^^^ authorizing the
buying in, if not delivered when due, of contracts
of active stocks, in 1884; the establishment of the
Department of Unhsted Securities, in 1885 ; and
finally the establishment in 1892 of its own Clearing-
House, where all active stocks dealt in are daily
cleared. The publicity the Stock Exchange thus
allows to all transactions, the centralization it affords
WALL STREET
71
to the great interests of the country, and the regula-
tions it imposes upon all operations are among the
greatest advantages it confers. Its liberal enterprise,
coupled with the strictest integrity, aided by the
advantages mentioned, has most naturally placed
it in the van of organizations of this character in
the whole world.
Leaving now the consideration of the component
parts of Wall Street, and taking the Street in its true
significance as one of the greatest financial centers
in the world, its history becomes so vast, so inter-
woven with the woof of national affairs and pros-
perity, that it will only be possible to review it in its
more important phases. The War of 1812, which,
treading on the heels of the Embargo, brought the
first set-back to the new Republic, found Wall Street
still so identified with the mercantile interests that
its prostration with them at the close of the struggle
was only natural. The heavy war loans floated by
the government, however, had found their largest
takers in Wall Street, and that at a time when men
needed all their faith and patriotism to beheve even
in the eventual solvency of the country. This was
the first time that the men and institutions of Wall
Street came to the nation's assistance. Looking
back and recalling the era of prosperity that followed
the war and the reestablishment of the United States
Bank, — a prosperity that in twenty years paid off the
great war debt and amassed a surplus of nearly
$50,000,000, — we can see that their confidence was
not misplaced. In this same period, too, during
which De Witt Clinton, in the face of the most
violent opposition, achieved the construction of the
great Erie Canal and placed commercial advantage
in the hands of New York, the evolution of Wall
Street was rapid. For twenty years its progress was
unimpeded, and then came the great fire of Decem-
ber, 1835. Millions of intrinsic value went up in
smoke and flame, and millions more followed in lost
time and opportunity before conditions could re-
adjust themselves. Every insurance company in
Wall Street gave up without recourse before the
overwhelming loss, and the banks felt most keenly
the ruin of their best customers, the merchants.
Just at this juncture grim old Andrew Jackson
demolished at a blow the great national bank. It
was the match to the train, although few saw the
mine it would explode. Between $40,000,000 and
$50,000,000 distributed to the State banks through-
out the country gave a momentary prosperity that
found vent in the gigantic bubble of land specula-
tion which the Specie Circular so woefully pricked.
Banks were asked to redeem their notes, but could
not, and then came the panic of 1837. Wall Street
felt the crash, but nevertheless her bankers were the
first to reopen their doors, and her capitalists the
first to regain their confidence. Long and slow was
the process of recuperation in the country at large ;
but through it all, with the banks of the West and
South opening one day only to suspend the next,
Wall Street continued evenly on its course, and the
completion in 185 1 of the Erie Railroad to Dunkirk
shows how well her capitahsts had retained their
faith and their courage.
The long drag of ten years, succeeded by an
equal period of prosperity struggling against bad
banking and ill-regulated finance, culminated in
1857. A branch office of the Ohio Life and Trust
Company was located in Wall Street, and from
there on the memorable 24th of August, 1857, issued
the news of its suspension. Like a house of cards
the great financial structure of the country came
tumbling down. Over-importations, with no com-
prehension of the effects of heavy and continued
gold shipments, joined to over-speculation and high
prices, may be said to have been primarily the cause
of the disaster. It was more severely felt in Wall
Street than its predecessor of a score of years before,
for the reason that it affected wider and more gen-
eral interests. The railroad, initiated in 1830,
accepted by 1835, and being pushed in every direc-
tion by 1857, was an interest with which, as to-day,
Wall Street was identified. By means of the tele-
graph, then lately brought into use, the dimensions
of the panic were thoroughly known in a week.
Failures aggregating $291,750,000 were reported
for the year, and Wall Street set itself to work to
repair the damage. Of what might have been, had
the troubles of i860 never arisen, no one can say;
of what did occur history tells us plainly. The
government, harassed and embarrassed, turned to
Wall Street, and it did not seek in vain. Never did
a threatened power obtain freer or more speedy
relief. Obligations were fast maturing which the
government found no means to meet. Besides this,
vast sums were needed to carry on military opera-
tions. Not only the national credit, but the national
existence, was threatened.
In this emergency, Salmon P. Chase, Secretary
of the Treasury, communicated with John J. Cisco,
the subtreasurer of New York, to use his utmost
endeavors to raise the money necessary to sustain
the nation's credit. Mr. Cisco informed the banks
of the condition of the national finances and of his
instructions from Washington. He pointed out to
the leading operators and financiers that within a
72
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
few days interest on the accruing obligations of the
government would have to be paid or it must neces-
sarily go to protest. This was clearly one of the
most critical moments in the history of the nation,
and the crisis demanded sound judgment and
prompt action. The gravity of the situation was
clear to the bankers. The collapse of the govern-
ment's credit would endanger the perpetuity of our
very institutions. The foundation of all security
was threatened, and the destruction of all values
was imminent.
The outlook throughout the Union at that time
was dark, while all Europe looked on either in
apprehension or in hope that our political fabric
was going to pieces. But Wall Street took prompt
and united action to extricate the government from
its perilous position. The spirit of patriotism was
everywhere, and the great financial institutions of
the country responded with a heartiness that showed
their faith. The old Bowery Savings-Bank, one of
the richest,^ as it was one of the first, of such estab-
lishments in New York, voted in February, 1861, to
loan one half of all its funds to the government, and
this was accordingly done. It is difficult at the pres-
ent time, when foiu- per cent, bonds of the United
States are selling daily in the market at twenty-one
per cent, premium, to estimate the courage that was
necessary at that period to resolve on such a course
as that followed by this bank. Government securi-
ties paying as high as seven and three tenths per
cent, interest were at that time at a substantial dis-
count, and it is matter of history that the issue, a
year later, of legal-tender notes, or " greenbacks,"
fundable in six per cent, bonds, was largely influ-
enced by the fact that except by such seemingly
arbitrary methods the loan could not have been se-
cured with either certainty or rapidity.
In the history of war-time finance, and the mea-
sures adopted under stress of the sternest necessity,
none was more lasting in its effects, nor greater in
the lengths to which it was ultimately carried, than
this authorization of the issue of legal-tender notes
— "greenbacks." When, in the autumn of 1861,
the bankers of the country had paid to the govern-
ment the last instalment of $50,000,000 of the
$150,000,000 in gold loaned, their condition was
one of extreme exhaustion. This money, disbursed
by the treasury to the army and navy, returned to
the banks but slowly, and the result of the drain
that it had produced was seen when, on December
30, 1 86 1, the banks suspended specie payment.
Of this $150,000,000 in gold thus lent the govern-
ment in the time of its direst need during the dark
days following the disaster of Bull Run, Wall Street
may pride itself on the fact that $105,000,000 came
from its associated banks. The suspension of the
banks complicated the financial situation seemingly
beyond extrication. The maintenance of the army
and navy, which was synonymous with maintaining
the Union itself, was dependent upon a vast sum
being raised within three months. Therefore it was
as an expedient dictated solely by necessity and not
choice that the first Legal-Tender Act, providing
for an issue of treasury or government notes to the
value of $150,000,000, redeemable in six per cent,
twenty-year gold bonds, was passed, and signed by
President Lincoln, February 25, 1862. $50,000,000
of this issue, however, was to be in lieu of the trea-
sury demand notes authorized the previous July.
An issue of $500,000,000 in bonds bearing six per
cent, interest, and redeemable in five and payable
in twenty years, was also authorized by this act
for funding purposes. The first legal-tender notes
issued under the act bore the date March 10, 1862,
and none were of smaller denomination than $5.
Their effect in easing the pressure upon the treasury
was immediate. Within a month another and
smaller issue was declared, and on July nth a sec-
ond issue of $150,000,000 in notes of the same kind
was authorized, and bills of smaller denomination
than $5 were authorized. On March 3, 1863, a bill
was passed authorizing the $900,000,000 six per
cent, loan ; but, at the urgent request of Secretary
Chase, a clause was inserted leaving it optional with
the Secretary of the Treasury to permit the right of
holders to fund greenbacks into six per cent, gold
bonds. Under this new power greenbacks were
funded into sixes until January 21, 1864, when, the
original $500,000,000 issue of bonds having been
all taken up, the secretary decided that greenbacks
in future could only be funded in the five per cents.
The effect of this decision was to instantly and
seriously depress the value of the enormous paper
currency, and in it may be found the cause of much
of the manipulation which, using the premium on
gold as a leverage, shook and deranged values in
the money market for so many years.
It is thirty years now since the war closed, and
during that time there has been so much of notable
importance linked with Wall Street that only the
more prominent events need be mentioned. The
speculation in gold, giving the opportunity to un-
scrupulous operators to manipulate the stock market
for their own ends, culminated in "Black Friday,"
September 24, 1869, when many in Wall Street
began business in the morning as rich men and
WALL STREET
73
went home ruined. Many versions of the causes
have been given ; but one thing remains certain :
that had not unnatural financial conditions permitted
the famous Gold Room to exist, the disaster would
never have occurred. It is always a situation of in-
calculable danger, when a nation's paper is at a dis-
count in her own markets. The next few years saw
no abatement of the troubles by which the financial
world was beset, and the rally which followed 1869
was but the comparative calm preceding the storm
which burst four years later. The great banking-
house of Jay Cooke & Co., staggering almost single-
handed under the terrible burden of the Northern
Pacific Railroad, precipitated the trouble in 1873.
Wall Street knew that a catastrophe was imminent,
but how to avert it was a problem.
As a bit of the unwritten history of that time, it
is related that a representative of one of the great
banking-houses in Wall Street, having formulated a
plan to relieve the tension, went to Washington to
lay it before the Secretary of the Treasury, William
A. Richardson. The latter declined to believe in
the gravity of the situation, and the banker gained
an audience with President Grant, to whom he re-
lated his fears of impending trouble and outlined
certain measures for relief. So much was the Pres-
ident impressed by the imminence of peril that he
not only gave the banker a letter to the Secretary,
requesting that official to give him a careful hear-
ing, but the President at once ordered the with-
drawal of his own private funds, a great part of
which, as it happened, was on deposit with the firm of
Jay Cooke & Company. How fortunate this action
of the President's was was shown when the very
next day the failure of the great banking-house was
announced.
The panic which this failure brought on was
sharp, as was the rally which followed and overdid
itself about ten years later, when over-extension
of railroads and incautious speculation brought a
relapse. In May, 1884, the failures of Grant &
Ward and the Marine Bank first alarmed the Street.
A few days elapsed without further serious trouble,
and then the Metropolitan Bank closed its doors
and the trouble became general. No less than
fifteen firms on the Stock Exchange failed during
this time.
It was in the panic of 1873 that the wonderful
power of the Clearing-House as exercised in the
issue of loan certificates was made manifest. This
power had already been appreciated as one of the
moving causes which had permitted Wall Street to
respond so readily to the government's demands for
large loans during the war, but its influence as a
factor in easing a tense market and relieving the
strain of panicky times was first learned in 1873,
when certificates aggregating $26,565,000 were
issued. Its second great manifestation was in 1884,
and its latest in 1893, which, following, as we have,
the course of financial crises since 1795, brings us
to the present time. This panic, from the effects
of which we are but now slowly recovering, had its
origin in many causes. Some solvent institutions
were forced to the wall through a general distrust
which compelled them to realize on good security
at a time when the market would not buy. In look-
ing for the causes of this distrust many things must
be considered. Tariff changes long impending pro-
voked a general feeling of uncertainty detrimental
to our commercial interests. The Silver Purchase
Law caused, in addition, distrust of our currency
both at home and abroad, causing the foreigner,
for that reason, added to his needs on account of
failures in South America, Australia, and Africa, to
send back our securities for sale, which caused large
shipments of gold out of the country. The Inter-
state Commerce Law and the State Railroad Com-
mission laws decreased the earnings of railroads.
The Reading Railroad receivership, which occurred
early in the year, was followed by others ; the failure
of the Cordage Company in April; the failure of
Western farm mortgage companies, caused by the
inability of farmers to pay interest and principal of
their mortgage loans; the failure of banks, caused
by an unusual demand for deposits ; the hoarding of
currency withdrawn from banks, so that the premium
on it went up to five per cent., were all causes tend-
ing to the general disaster.
The issuance of Clearing-House certificates to
the amount of nearly $50,000,000 followed, which
tended to strengthen pubhc confidence, or prevent it
from being wholly destroyed. All this happened be-
fore the people's attention was directed to the mod-
ification of the tariff which the election of the new
administration and House of Representatives indi-
cated. At and before the assembling of the new Con-
gress in December public attention was attracted to
the tariff, and this added to the distress; and to-
gether with continued failures of corporations, in-
dividuals, and railroads, the year 1893 closed in the
midst of gloom. The last week, when the Atchison
and New England railroads went into the receivers'
hands, was the bluest week the country experienced
in its history, unless the blue week in July may be
the exception.
Since then Wall Street and the government, or
74
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
rather the treasury, have been in more intimate
relation than at any other time since the Civil War.
The real necessity for this close connection is found,
perhaps, in those principles of national finance which
leave an unprotected treasury to bear the brunt of
attacks which it is powerless to avert. In this posi-
tion no more logical ally than Wall Street could be
found, despite the clamor of the uninformed ; and
in the work of the recent Bond Syndicate, headed
by J. Pierpont Morgan, has been given a demonstra-
tion of certain important economic and financial
principles never before correctly estimated. In the
preliminary steps leading up to the formation of
the Bond Syndicate of 1895 was demonstrated the
helplessness of the treasury, unaided, to control our
national finances. A depleted gold reserve in the
first month of 1 894 was met by an issue in February
of $50,000,000 of bonds bearing five per cent, inter-
est, which sold at a sufficient premium to yield
$58,661,000 in gold to replenish the waning trea-
sury reserve.
The tide of exchange, always flowing outward in
the spring and summer, speedily lowered again the
gold reserve. From $106,527,068 in February, the
reserve had fallen to $52,189,500 early in August.
The movement of the crops turned the tide at
this juncture, but by October the reserve was only
$61,361,826, or far below its traditional limit of
$100,000,000 ; so a second bond issue was made in
November. $58,538,500 was netted by this sale,
and the gold reserve stood at $105,424,569. Then
came the most significant and disquieting event in
all otu: financial history. At a season of the year
when large exports of gold were scarcely to be ex-
pected there came a drain upon the treasury such
as had never before been known. Distrust and
rising excitement were visible everywhere ; less than
half the gold withdrawn was for export, the remain-
der was hoarded. In less than two months the gold
reserve fell to $44,705,967, and drastic measures
were required. It was evident that while the trea-
stuy might continue selling bonds, it could not hold
the gold in reserve in the face of the prevailing rates
of exchange and the wide-spread distrust. Not only
was action required that would inspire immediate
confidence, but it must be also such as to sustain
that confidence by regulating foreign exchange.
This was the problem before the treasury in Feb-
ruary, 1895, and the Bond Syndicate, which came
forward to undertake the novel task, had far more
to overcome than was generally recognized. For
this syndicate to supply the treasury with gold was,
comparatively speaking, a simple matter; but for
them to so protect this reserve that it should not be
drained away as the proceeds of the previous bond
sales had been was a different matter. Nevertheless
this the syndicate undertook to do, and a contract
was entered into whereby the treasury bought from
them, by an issue of $62,317,500 in "coin " bonds,
3,500,000 ounces of gold, making the amount paid
by the syndicate for the bonds $65,117,500. From
February, when the agreement was entered into,
until the last week in June, when the final payment
into the treasury was made and the connection of
the Bond Syndicate with the government terminated,
this association kept the gold reserve above suspi-
cion, and their final payment left the treasury with
$107,512,362. How well they performed their
contract is shown in the fact that during April, May,
and June, when heavy gold shipments are always
made, they so regulated exchange that instead of
losing $45,000,000 of its reserve, as the treasury had
done during the same three months of the preceding
year, it actually increased it by $7,242,963. The
method of the syndicate was to meet the local needs
for exchange and to sell American securities abroad
in sufficient amounts to offset this exchange. This
it accomphshed from February until the end of July.
By that time the movement of the crops should have
been sufficient to influence exchange in our favor,
but a delay of some three weeks in their shipment
caused a brief fall. Nevertheless the power of the
Bond Syndicate had been shown. It had done all
it had contracted to do, and revived the public con-
fidence at a time when it sadly drooped. It took
great risks, accomplished great good, and showed
again how far-reaching is the influence of Wall
Street. That the reserve of the treasury cannot re-
main where it placed it is no fault of the syndicate's.
The root of this evil lies far deeper — in the fallacies
of national finance; and the problem it presents
must some day be met and solved.
Without entering into any exhaustive argument of
a subject so vast as this, it may be said that at the
very base of the trouble are the greenback or legal-
tender and United States treasury notes. While the
aggregate of these is only about $500,000,000, their
actual volume is unlimited, for the reason that they
are redeemed only to be reissued. Like an endless
chain, these notes running in and out of the treasury
drain in a steady stream the nation's gold, of which
by far the greater part goes to foreign countries,
while our government, confronted with the task of
paying out gold to redeem notes it may not cancel,
has to borrow that its reserves and credit may be
maintained. The nation is in the position where it
WALL STREET
75
has to give gold to all comers, but may not demand
it for itself, except in the duties of the custom-
houses. It is a fallacy which has already caused
great loss to our people, and unless speedy action
be taken will cause still more. It demands that
the treasury exercise banking functions that it was
never meant to have ; and until these so-called
legal tenders are retired it is hard to see how the
finances of this country can be either satisfactory
or sound.
If Wall Street was the sole reliance for supplies of
gold when it was required for export, it could pro-
tect itself from too great a drain by raising the rate
of discount, which would check imports and stimu-
late exports, thus giving the danger-signal to the
commercial classes, who are directly responsible for
the error of over-trading. The United States Trea-
sury, which does not discount commercial paper,
but has obligations outstanding in the form of legal
tender or treasury notes redeemable on demand, has
no means of protecting its reserve, which must be
paid as long as the demand for it continues or until
its stock of the metal is exhausted.
The work of the Bond Syndicate closes the chap-
ter of memorable events by which Wall Street has
risen to its present importance. A century ago
Lombard Street was the center of the world's
moneyed interests ; Wall Street hardly had an exis-
tence. To-day it rivals the former in many respects.
The Paris Bourse and the great centers of Berlin
and Vienna are as intimately connected with Wall
Street as with one another. A flurry in one center
reflects itself within the hour in all the others. The
Old World is coming to regard American seciuities
as the best and safest outlet for her investors. At
the present time Wall Street most certainly is the
channel leading to the richest and most profitable
fields of enterprise in the world. The railroads,
commerce, mines, and industries of our continent
serve as her soiu-ces of supply, and in their
development has been and will be still greater
wealth.
If in tracing this sketch of Wall Street I may have
seemed to infringe in some degree upon the domain
of national finance, it must be remembered that the
two are indissolubly linked together, and in the in-
tegrity of both lies the great safeguard of our coun-
try's prosperity.
CHAPTER XIII
ADVERTISING IN AMERICA
THE development — yes, even the continued
existence — of every industry described in
this work depends on the dissemination of in-
formation concerning it, and the resulting knowledge
of what it is and what it is doing. Such dissemina-
tion of information is advertising.
It may take myriad forms, — traveling representa-
tives ; exhibits at fairs, by window displays, or in
the stores of the retailers ; distribution of samples ;
circulation of catalogues, circulars, or other printed
and lithographed matter; advertisements in news-
papers ; signs, stationary and movable ; use of
"novelties," — but whatever it is, it is all advertising,
and, for want of a better term, may be defined as
"an effort to cause others to know," and which it
is hoped will also cause them to remember and do.
Emerson says we should read history actively
rather than passively ; that is, we should treat it as
a commentary on our own lives. While much his-
tory has in it nothing in common with our surround-
ings or purposes, and cannot, therefore, yield us
anything of direct value, the history of advertising,
being a record of the adaptation of business methods
to modern business conditions, is peculiarly rich in
helpful information, and a careful study of it in the
manner Emerson suggests should greatly benefit the
modern business man.
The advertising of the pre-printing period had, of
course, to be adapted to the conditions of that age ;
the crier, the carved sign, the crude poster, were
then the best means of conveying information to the
public. Even after the advent of the printing-press
and the newspaper the development of advertising
necessarily awaited the general education of the
masses. Book and paper were alike valueless to
those who could not read. How slowly conditions
changed may be gathered from the fact that the
Boston " News-Letter," the first paper in the country
to maintain publication, had only 300 subscribers
in 1744— forty years after its establishment.
76
A century's history of advertising in the United
States is a story of wonderful development ; but so
marvelous has been its growth during the last fifty
years that the record of the other fifty now seems
scarcely more than one of mere existence. Ameri-
can advertising has advanced along many lines,
concerning each of which much of interest might be
written.
Inasmuch as it has been estimated that more than
seventy-five per cent, of the amount expended for
American advertising is now paid to the newspapers,
— in which term are included the magazine, the
trade journal, and all other publications of the class
known as periodicals, — we will speak first of news-
paper advertising.
The wider use which it has attained over all other
methods is not to be accounted for on the ground
that newspaper advertising is a fashion or a fad.
Its wonderful use to-day, and the still more wonder-
ful future which awaits it, have for their enduring
foundation the fact that newspaper advertising
appeals to human intelligence by the great method
through which information will for all time be com-
municated—the printed page. The plain millions
of America are an ever-reading, ever-wanting, ever-
buying people, and the business man who realizes
all three of these facts can but recognize the reason-
ableness of newspaper advertising as a means of
telling others what he has and what he is doing.
Newspaper advertising could not, of course, exist
apart from the newspaper press. So closely are
they related, that the growth of the former cannot
be adequately set forth without some reference to
the latter. This accounts for the appearance here
of a few newspaper statistics, which may be found
in more complete form in the able article on news-
papers elsewhere in this work.
In 1795, at the beginning of the period covered
by this work, there were in this country about 200
newspapers. In 1810 there were 366 ; in 1820, 700
Francis Wayland Ayer.
ADVERTISING IN AMERICA
77
(estimated) ; in 1 830, 1 000 (estimated) ; in 1 840, press. Comparative statistics of this character have
1403; in 1850, 2526; in i860, 3343; in 1870, been gathered only three times. The first effort
5871 ; in 1880, 11,314; in 1890, 17,712 ; in 1895, was in 1828, when the number of newspapers and
XV**«« .(JOsHUM'AiwE.Tiuy'w
■"lHllklA.M)L06(«i.K)l), '
tl OH ' A u,f„^7,' "• ' ■ -«^ Wfc«*
' l!l'.frS*. "' ^^~ FLOUR,'
**■ Vi'Ji.''"''^''" F '"■•■'^^ '
"JW"S k VlLUMli.iH.i t ~
-t-i.fi ta Mry M^rim hr.t LaiWrorMr*
" "C*t.TL.'ni
ThofcFiTACT & Co. No. >} ?ronl Jtrwt,
CMARLtS U. CAMMAlsfN,
Olln Brwh, li*«n AMlUntia. Mid ht bk
■ j.t-^lirvtmcrt, Iwtc (■<■<■ tUafrv
W-4it.*f.>tt»%i,
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^ iLriMp U. »rpbfw, VllXtAM CRAIO,
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»btrn WIM In hMa. mnd ai
MtdAt da ta pljM* tn4 Ml
■dW"fc«^t»1«*M(.l,f«,i;.
4 t»rtt OarpM Kmln.
JOSEPH DIACKWELL,
S"«i''i£^'°'"''"'''/""""''''''' "" "
C.R»(ltk>i,,Utl4lMltl>]llbUHl i*»
liM. h«w (M U*.l>MjniH ftwif wi-biill cwrn*.
Cm liM,l(rtlWfMthf. WM*.
Ljadmi ihu Djr u Buillnx SH i.
F O H S A I. F,
n iT.fl.dlMl, «Wi r*tr.. p.wte<. pLmh.,
^IJIichMTi'sfcc. Air.,lw.lmiorK«,JC>k
A V.:iiaie, a Main Fcrnx.
20,217. Dividing the century equally, the growth periodicals in the world was 3168, of which 800
in each half is about 1000 per cent. (twenty-five per cent.) were published in America;
It will be interesting at this point to consider the in 1866 the total number was estimated at 12,500,
position which the United States occupies in relation and of these America claimed 5000 ; the count
to the rest of the world in the extent of its newspaper made in 1882 showed a total of 25,766, of which
78
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
1 1 ,000 were published in the United States ; at the
present time the whole number is probably in the
neighborhood of 40,000, of which more than one
half are published in this country.
The first daily in the United States was the
"American Daily Advertiser," of Philadelphia,
estabhshed in 1784, of which the "North Ameri-
can " of that city is the direct lineal descendant.
The following year the " Daily Advertiser," New
York, was started. We reproduce on preceding page
the first page of this paper, date of March 7, 1795.
To-day we have upward of 2000 dailies.
The first newspaper advertisement in America
appeared in the Boston " News-Letter," estabhshed
in 1704, a two-page paper, printed on a sheet eight
inches by twelve, two columns to the page. It had
but one advertisement, which read as follows :
"This NEWS-LETTER is to be continued
Weekly, and all persons who have any Houses,
Lands, Tenements, Farms, Ships, Vessels, Goods,
Wares or Merchandizes, &c., to be Sold or Let ; or
Servants Runaway, or Goods, Stole or Lost; may
have the same inserted at a Reasonable Rate from
TWELVE PENCE TO FIVE SHILLINGS
AND NOT EXCEED. Who may agree with
John Campbell, Postmaster of Boston. All Persons
in Town and County may have said NEWS-LET-
TER every Week, Yearly, upon reasonable terms,
agreeing with John Campbell, Postmaster for the
same."
The earliest recorded instance of the publication
of any number of advertisements was in the " New
England Weekly Journal," of Boston, established in
1728, a two-page sheet, seven inches by thirteen.
The news in this paper was all foreign, and from
three to foiu* months old. The advertisements were
of books, coffee importations, runaway slaves, sales
of negro girls, and a notice of a school for negroes.
Beyond this there was nothing but obituaries and
the sailing and arrival of vessels. But notwithstand-
ing these early instances of the use of advertisements,
American advertising cannot be said to have begun
before 1788, and then only in a very humble way,
the advertisements being confined almost entirely
to the classes just enumerated. These conditions
continued until about 1820, when greater promi-
nence began to be given to news. Hitherto the
columns not devoted to advertising had been largely
filled with elaborate treatises on party principles and
politics, and articles on literary and scientific sub-
jects; but as the news columns became fuller and
more interesting, the number of subscribers and
readers increased, and the growth of the advertising
patronage kept pace with both. The rapid increase
of newspaper advertising may, however, be said to
date from the establishment of the "Sun," New
York, in 1833 ; the " Herald," New York, in 1835 ;
the " Public Ledger," Philadelphia, in 1 836 ; and
the "Tribune," New York, in 1841.
Leading metropolitan papers of to-day carry dur-
ing the week from fifteen to forty columns of adver-
tisements, while their big Sunday editions frequently
have over 100 columns each. In a recent exami-
nation of an ordinary week-day issue of ten leading
dailies selected from different sections of the country,
the space occupied by advertisements ranged from
twenty-five per cent, to seventy per cent., the aver-
age of the ten being forty per cent.
In the beginning of the century advertising was
almost exclusively local ; but to-day newspaper ad-
vertising divides itself, naturally and perhaps quite
equally, into two classes — local and general. I^ocal
advertising portrays the activities of the locality.
These find expression in the myriad "want" ad-
vertisements and other classified announcements,
for the gathering of which numerous branch offices
are maintained, and the services of local and district
telegraph companies employed ; and as well in the
large daily announcements of the leading retailers,
from some of whom single papers are said to receive
an annual income approximating $50,000.
General advertising, on the other hand, voices the
enterprise of the business man anywhere who be-
lieves he has that which is really wanted otherwhere.
By such advertising, and with moderate outlay,
almost numberless articles, otherwise little known,
have been brought into general use throughout the
country, and in like manner some of the most
remarkable commercial successes of the century
have been achieved. General advertising ranges
from the advertisement of the dealer, who seeks to
make direct sales to the consumer, to that of the
manufactiu-er who annually expends from $500,000
to $750,000 to acquaint people with the name and
merits of an article which can be prociired only
through the retailer. It has grown of late years to
such dimensions that many papers find it profitable
to employ one or more representatives whose only
duty is to present the claims of the publication to
advertisers.
Just as the marvelous strides by which American
journalism has outstripped the journalism of all the
rest of the world could never have been possible
except for the marvelous patronage of American
advertisers, so there would never have been such
wonderful growth in advertising except for the men
ADVERTISING IN AMERICA
79
whose ability and energy have been entirely and
untiringly devoted to the promotion of newspaper
advertising. From the small beginning of special
representation of a few papers, there has grown the
advertising agency system of to-day, which well
deserves recognition among American industries.
There are probably more than fifty concerns in the
United States trading as newspaper advertising
agents, and to at least thirty of them the leading
mercantile agencies accord recognition and commer-
cial rating. The aggregate of capital invested runs
into the millions, and one or more representatives
of the industry are to be found in every prominent
newspaper center.
The first beginning in this line was made in
Philadelphia, in 1840, by Volney B. Palmer, who
afterward established branches in New York and
Boston. The S. R. Niles Agency was an outgrowth
of the Boston branch, and, with a record of honor-
able dealing through all these years, still continues
business. Mr. W. W. Sharpe, of New York, com-
menced as a boy in Mr. Palmer's employ, and
to-day does business under the style of W. W.
Sharpe & Company. Mr. S. M. Pettingill, of New
York, was also employed by Mr. Palmer, and with
Mr. Bates carried on the business there established.
The Bates & Morse Advertising Agency was their
legitimate successor, and this business is now con-
tinued by the Lyman D. Morse Agency. The
business at Philadelphia was likewise carried on
continuously and with constant growth, until in
1878 it was absorbed, by purchase, into the business
of N. W. Ayer & Son, who are to-day recognized
leaders in this line. Some idea of the magnitude of
their business can be gathered from the fact that
their outlay for clerical help during 1895 will fall
little, if any, below $100,000.
As in the enormous growth of the advertising in-
terest the advertising agency became an important
factor as well as a necessary result, so the newspaper
guide or directory was a necessity to, as well as an
outgrowth of, the exigencies of the agency. At the
first the agencies guarded with jealous care their
lists of the papers of the country, but the rapid
multiplication of papers soon necessitated printed
Usts; and as the preparation of these lists necessi-
tated the expenditure of large sums of money, the
agents finally concluded to give them to the public,
and solicit advertisements from the newspaper pub-
lishers to help pay their cost.
The first attempt was the " Newspaper Record,"
containing lists of newspapers and periodicals in the
United States, Canada, and Great Britain, by Lay
& Brother, Philadelphia, in 1856. The first per-
manent publication of this character, however, the
"American Newspaper Directory," was started in
New York, in 1869, by George P. Rowell & Com-
pany, newspaper advertising agents, who have con-
tinued the publication regularly to this date. In
1880, N. W. Ayer & Son, of Philadelphia, began the
publication of the " American Newspaper Annual,"
which has been regularly issued since. In addition
to these two directories, Pettingill & Company, of
Boston, publish a very commendable handbook,
while Dauchy & Company and J. Walter Thomp-
son, of New York, and Lord & Thomas, of Chicago,
all widely known advertising agents, with some
others of lesser repute, publish manuals, more or less
pretentious, varying in contents and make-up accord-
ing to the publisher's conception of the needs of the
advertiser.
Perhaps no better general idea can be obtained
of the great extent of the newspaper press of the
United States, and of the vastness of its advertising
patronage, than by an examination and study of the
most complete of these publications. It is almost
impossible for one not familiar with the book to
appreciate the amount of labor and expense which
its annual revision involves. Hourly changes are
going on in all parts of the country: changes of
location, changes in editors, changes in size, price,
or day of publication ; consolidations ; removals ;
suspensions. When it is known that about 4000
publications are started annually, and that, owing
to suspensions and consolidations, the net annual
increase in seasons of business prosperity ranges
from 750 to 1000, even the uninitiated can appreci-
ate in some degree the immensity of the undertaking,
and the greatness of the industry that renders the
publication of such books not only advisable, but
absolutely necessary. The newspaper directory is
as essential to the general advertiser as are the
reports of the great mercantile agencies to the busi-
ness man.
An important factor in the spread of advertising
has been the cooperative newspaper, known to
printers and advertisers as " patent insides " or
"patent outsides" — a system which has had all its
growth within the last twenty-five years. Under
this system half-printed sheets are supplied to the
offices from which, after the printing of the other
half, the papers are issued. The cost of type-setting
is reduced to a minimum, because the reading mat-
ter, with slight variations, is the same in all papers
issued from any one house. This and the wholesale
purchase of paper, together with the income from
80
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the advertising, make it possible to supply the half-
printed sheets at a price scarcely more than the
ordinary cost of white paper. It is readily apparent
that this whole system is contingent upon newspaper
advertising. Except for the income from the ad-
vertising, the system could not exist. Except for
the system, hundreds of small places over the coun-
try could not sustain the local papers which they
now issue. There are at present nearly 8000 such
papers published, — more than one third of the entire
number of the newspaper press of the country, — and
consequently a large amount of money is annually
expended for advertising in them.
Magazine advertising is only about twenty-five
years old. Although there were successful maga-
zines before that time, they did not admit advertise-
ments. It was with the appearance of the " Cen-
tury " (then called "Scribner's Monthly"), in 1870,
that the new order of things came in. Its first
nvunber contained advertisements, which have stead-
ily increased in quantity, until its issue of December,
1894, contained 134 pages of them. In 1882, after
thirty-two successful years without them, Messrs.
Harper & Brothers yielded to the inevitable and
began the insertion of advertisements in their " New
Monthly Magazine." Here, too, the increase in
quantity was rapid, reaching 144 pages in the num-
ber of December, 1894. At the page rate of $250
the advertising income of such an issue would be
$36,000. Putting the average amount of advertis-
ing the year through at 92 pages per month, the ad-
vertising receipts of this one magazine for one year
would reach $276,000. It is estimated that the
December, 1894, issues of six leading monthly mag-
azines represented an advertising investment of
more than $180,000. There are, of coiu"se, a great
many other excellent publications of this class which
cannot here be mentioned, but which are widely
recognized as advertising mediums of great value.
It is said that Mr. Gladstone prefers the American
to the English edition of such of our magazines as
print both, for the reason that the advertisements in
the American editions are so interesting, and set
forth so clearly the enterprise and progress of our
country. Thousands of people have made the same
discovery as the great English statesman and stu-
dent of human affairs. The truth is that the pubHc
has to-day a great and growing interest in the infor-
mation which we call advertising, and the newspa-
pers and periodicals themselves would feel bound to
print much of it as news, did they not print it in the
form of advertisements.
The trade journal is an interesting illustration of
specialization. Starting with the papers which at
tempt to set forth the condition and movement of
trade in general, — of which class the " New York
Prices Ciurent " (from an old issue of which we re-
produce a page) was one hundred years ago, as it
is to-day, a good example, — it has followed the
branching out of each particular industry, keeping
close step with its progress, until to-day there is
scarcely a manufactming or commercial interest but
has its representative journal, and often several of
them, whose reading and advertising columns alike
are of value chiefly to its own special class of readers.
In early days a certain amount of advertising
went with each subscription. For instance, one
hundred years ago the payment by a merchant of a
certain sum to the " Shipping List " as a subscription,
carried with it the privilege of the use of all needed
advertising space during the same period. That
this privilege was not overworked is perhaps as
forceful proof as can be given that the value of such
advertising yet lacked recognition.
That space itself then had no fixed value may be
seen from the announcements in the " New Jersey
Journal," of Elizabethtown, on January 16,
1790, that "advertisements of A MODERATE
LENGTH will be inserted three weeks for eight
shillings, and two shillings for each insertion after-
ward."
While newspaper space to-day very often sells at
a fixed rate, the fixing of that rate is very arbitrary.
The most mentioned factors are quantity of cir-
culation, character of readers, and control of the
field. The price of newspaper space has advanced
greatly with its wider use. The " Herald," New
York, and "Pubhc Ledger," Philadelphia, having
always enjoyed liberal advertising patronage, are
good illustrations of this. Established in 1835 ^"^
1836 respectively, they both at first charged for
advertising fifty cents per square per insertion. The
square was for a long time the unit of measurement,
and fifty cents was for a long time the rate per
square ; but the square itself gradually shrank in size
with the flying years, until from being nineteen agate
lines in 1836 in the "Ledger," in 1863 it equaled
only four agate lines. This, of course, was twelve
and one half cents per agate line. The minimum
price soon climbed to twenty cents in the " Ledger "
and forty-five cents in the " Herald," at which it
stands to-day, showing an increase in the sixty years
of 750 and 1800 per cent, respectively.
While the price of advertising has been advancing,
the size of the papers has been increased many
times also. These enlargements have in almost
ADVERTISING IN AMERICA
81
every case been made necessary by the encroach-
ment of the advertising upon the reading columns.
In some instances the paper would become three
fourths advertising, then an enlargement would fol-
low which would reheve the condition until the
ever-flowing, ever-growing stream of trade again
filled its columns. The average daily edition of the
umns. There are, even now, conspicuous exceptions
to the rule above stated. A number of the most
successful publications have obtained very unusual
circulation, in very unusual time, by means of
advertising in the columns of their contemporaries.
A notable instance is the " Ladies' Home Journal,"
of Philadelphia, whose 750,000 circulation has been
The New-York
Publifliea every MONDAY by JAMES ORAM.
Prices Current
No. 33, Librrty.ftrect, near Mr. Carry Dmn't
3 Dlis.peraitif.]
MONDAY. January 9. 1797.
[No. 5J.
CHAMBER of COMMERCE.
Monthlj Csmm'ittff,
Thiothtlact Bache,
Robert Bowne,
Charli* L. 'Cxmman,
William CoDMAv,
DAvn> Gkim.
NElV.rORK PRICE of STOCKS,
Monday, Jan. 9.
U. S. Bank Stock, 12 p. ct.
New. York, . 28
6 per Cent. - 16/3
3 per Cent. ■- 9/3
Deferred, . iq/a
COURSE of EXCHAKCE.
Monday Jan. g.
Bills on London, 60 djj'j fglif*
5 per cent, under par.
On Amfterdam, 60 daysfiglit, .(o
cents per guild, at Co days crcditi
WHOLESALE PRICES, jrarefully correaed— In Dullare and Cents.
From To
iVsH£S, Jot,
'ton.
Pearl,
Allum, *
Qwt
Alinondi, - 1.
lb.
Anvhori,
Arrack.
Oal,
BACON, -
lb.
Barley. (Scotch) -
JBeant, white.
bu(h.
Scef. Cargo,
by.
Pri*e,
—
Meft,
Standy,Fre . lA proof
Ual.
ad proof,
3d proof,
4tS proof.
SptniOi, iftproof,
id proof,
3d proof,
4tb proof.
Sraziletto, .
Ton.
Bread, Pilot,
Cwt
Middling,
Ship,
Cr|icker«, .
Keg.
Xran, (flruck meaf.
bu(h.
Brimflone, Roll, .
Cwt
Blittet, for export.
lb.
CANDLES, dipt,
lb.
mould.
Spcniu
■Caffia,
Cntn, . ,
Bon
Cwor,
!b.
CiUnamop,
D. C,
90
none,
7 joi
nonf.
iz
7
' 37
9 5°
10 50
'■ S
' H
' 56
I 66
I 81
' 37
1 50
' 19
' 75
75
9 5
7
* 75
75
»7
3
'3
'5
»7
■J3
5°
» 5=
2 5c)
From To
/
Ij. C.
D. C.
Cheefc, Englilh, -l-y-
25
3'
American,
8
10
Chocolate,
25
Cloves, . ,
' »5
' 37
Coal, Fofeign,
Chal
10
10 50
Virginia, -
9
9 5c
Cocoa, Surinam, -
Cwt
SI
22
Ifland,
20
Copper in fticets, .
lb.
19
Copperas -
Cwt
2 2?
2 JC
Coffee, for export.
lb.
2b
2!i
Cordage,
Cwt
'3 75
'5
Currants,
lb.
6
8
Cotton, Georgia,
28
Bahjm.i,
35
W.I (land.
30
St. Domingo,
31
37
Demarara,
35
37
Surinam,
36
+"
Cayenne,
37
42
DUCK, American,
Bolt
IZ 50
Ruffia,
'5
18
Ravens, .
U
IZ 50
Englilh, No. I,
yard
34
56
Ruffia Sheetings,
I'lece
'7
17 JO
FLAX-SEED, -
Burn
I 50
Klax,
lb.
11
■4
Feathers.
53
62
Fuftie,
Ton.
20
25
Fi(h, Cod, dry. -
Quin
5
do. pickled, -
bbl.
5
5 50
Salmon,
9 50
10
do. fmo.iked.
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40
45
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bbl.
9
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Herrings, .
5
From To
1
D. C ;p. C.
Flour. Superfine, -
bl.l.
■ 1
Common, -
10 5c|
Virginia Kloui;,
10
10 7e
Middling, .
6
8
Cornell,
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2
J
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3 5<
Rye.
bbl.
7
Indian meal,
196
5 6:
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Skin
I
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25
I
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Martin,
IS
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19 62
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75 + 50
Wolf,
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b.
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4>
" Herald " and the " Ledger " is now perhaps eleven
times the size of their first number, with the adver-
tising barometer steadily on the rise. In this respect
the two papers named are not exceptional, but
rather good examples of prosperous journals the
covmtry through.
The development of newspaper advertising has
been so rapid that many newspapers themselves
have not yet caught up with it ; that is to say, while
they all freely recommend it to other people for the
improvement of their business, but comparatively
few employ it for the development of their own.
This, of course, refers to advertising in other journals
— not to the exploiting of a paper in its own col-
6
largely obtained and maintained by newspaper ad-
vertising.
Some attempts have lately been made to introduce
color-work into the display of newspaper advertise-
ments. This has generally taken the form of covers
for special editions of newspapers and periodicals.
Quite recently a large newspaper advertiser has been
using color printing on colored paper for inserts in
the leading magazines. This is regarded as a sig-
nificant innovation. The wide use of color print-
ing in the regular issues of daily papers, however,
awaits the overcoming of mechanical and financial
obstacles.
We have no means of knowing what was the
82
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
value of the advertising in the newspapers of 1795,
but the Tenth United States Census gives the value
of advertisements in the American press in 1880 at
$39,136,306, and the next census shows that these
figures had increased in 1890 to $71,243,361 — a
gain of eighty-two per cent, in ten years. We are
justified in believing that the value to-day is con-
siderably over $100,000,000 — a notable result of a
century of progress!
Perhaps nothing has done more to develop news-
papers, and therefore newspaper advertising, than
the railroads, whose remarkable story is told else-
where in this volume. Perhaps, also, nothing has
done more to develop the railroads than the news-
paper. Each without the other would seem to be
as ineffective as a half-pair of scissors ; but worked
together they have cut the restraining cords of en-
vironment and made possible the greatest national
and individual prosperity. With the newspapers to
tell of affairs and trade, and the railroads to carry
persons and things, in spite of our wide territory, we
really touch elbows with one another, and the future
greatness of our commercial interests is beyond pre-
diction. But of one thing we may feel certain : " the
best is yet to be."
When the business man of an earlier time put an
advertisement in the newspapers, what he inserted
was often an inventory of his leading articles — a
sign, so to speak, showing the nature of the business
carried on at the address indicated. The prepara-
tion of such an advertisement required no special
ability. Then, again, he generally expected what
he put in the paper to stay there for a long time.
This fact also contributed to make his newspaper
advertising of very little trouble to him.
But a change of ideas of what an advertisement
should be, and how it should be used, brought into
existence what are to-day two prominent features
of advertising, viz., the advertisement writer and the
paper devoted to advertising. The advertisement
writer is an outgrowth of very recent years. The
fierceness of competition and the increasing cost of
newspaper space have made attractive, interesting,
truthful, and convincing advertisements a necessity.
■^I'he advertisement writer studies to supply this need.
That he well supplies it must be evident to any
reader of to-day's advertisements. Many an adver-
tisement now represents far more thought than has
been used in a corresponding space in any other
part of the publication.
The good advertisement writer must of necessity
be able to see and to tell very clearly. The really
capable ones are in demand, and receive good pay.
Some business houses employ one exclusively;
others use the services of those who write for any
one on order. The leading advertising agencies
also have them in their employ. Their work is
telling for the better on American advertising.
Papers devoted exclusively to the subject of ad-
vertising have appeared in the last ten years. There
are to-day perhaps a dozen of these, the largest
number of them being connected more or less
intimately with some particular advertising agency.
In so far as they point out methods of proved suc-
cess, publish unbiased statements, and call wider at-
tention to the common-sense nature of newspaper
advertising, they do the community a service ; but
to whatever extent they air the foolishness of the
" ad. smith," with his " catchy " and " fortune-
bringing " advertisement, or circulate ill-informed or
ill-intended criticism, they do injm-y to the greatest
business-getting method of modern times. We be-
lieve those familiar with them will agree that these
journals are as a class growing broader in their
treatment of newspaper advertising, better recogniz-
ing its seriousness and its dignity. They certainly
have great responsibility, as they receive very care-
ful reading and are the exponents of a most useful
business idea.
The trade catalogue, always a useful business
adjunct, has in recent years been transformed into
what is often a work of beauty and interest, reflect-
ing credit on all concerned, and materially increas-
ing trade. The "descriptive circular" which the
advertiser of other days was wont to offer his readers
has been to a large extent superseded by the busi-
ness primer, booklet, or brochtue, which is now a
distinct feature in general advertising. It grew out
of recognition of the fact that everything cannot
be told in an advertisement. Perceiving that the
prime object of a newspaper advertisement is ac-
complished when the reader has by replying to it
singled himself out from the mass of mankind and
placed himself within reach of correspondence or
representatives, the bright advertiser employs these
publications to give details and to further or com-
plete sales. To their preparation the best writing,
illustrating, and printing skill is often brought, with
the result that their value in advertising has now
become widely recognized. It is impossible to
estimate closely the amount annually expended in
advertising matter of this class, but the figxu-es are
certainly enormous.
Reference should here be made to lithographic
printing, which now covers an annual expenditure
estimated at more than $15,000,000. Most of this
ADVERTISING IN AMERICA
83
output is intended for advertising purposes. Cards,
folders, hangers, banners, albums, booklets, and
posters are produced by the million. The work as
a class is artistic and attractive, while competition
and ingenuity have greatly cheapened its cost and
widened its use.
The use of posters for advertising is of course
very old. The practice has not only grown greatly,
but many of the posters themselves have of recent
date possessed great artistic merit. The poster, as
its name imphes, was originally an announcement
intended to be posted or put up in a certain place,
and it was therefore for a long time confined to local
use. About twenty-five years ago it transpired that
the effectiveness of a poster was often increased by
its being placed in unusual positions. This led to
sign painting, which in turn has become a recog-
nized method of general advertising. To-day the
most effective and ingenious use is made of blank
walls, bams, etc., for acquainting the public with
various articles. The employment of natural scenery
as a background for this work has fallen under
public disapprobation, and appears to be going into
disuse.
Another development of this outdoor work is the
erection and painting of large bulletin-boards along
the lines of railroads and great travel. These are
leased by the year to advertisers. Such a sign-
board, thirty feet long and four feet high, costs the
advertiser $30 a year. Perhaps $1,250,000 are
spent annually in all kinds of out-of-door painting,
exclusive of the bill posting above referred to.
Street-car advertising may be said to be a devel-
opment of the last fifteen years. During the first
half of this period it received practically nothing but
local patronage. About seven years ago the inven-
tion of the now everywhere common curved car-
rack, because of the uniformity in the size of cards
which it secures, opened the method to the use of
general advertisers, who were not slow to avail
themselves of it. From that time the growth has
been very rapid, until to-day there are perhaps in
this country 15,000 street-cars carrying advertise-
ments. At $100 per year per car this would make
the annual advertising expenditure $1,500,000.
Enterprise is ever seeking expression. Advertis-
ing has always been the expression of enterprise.
The few meager, colorless announcements of 1795,
written with a dull and heavy pen, fittingly expressed
the enterprise of that day. At the close of a cen-
tmy of marvelous progress the enterprise of to-day
finds expression in advertising of every conceivable
form, in every available place, in the preparation
and illustration of which have been combined the
best obtainable skill of hand and brain.
Great as has been the evolution of a hundred in-
dustries in a hundred years, wonderful as has been
the advance in the arts and sciences, the printing-
press has always led the way, and is to-day the
herald and helper of them all. Its usefulness will
still further increase with the discharge of its duty,
which will be to tell the story of the better things
which the opening century will unfold to the better-
seeking millions of America.
jSt jSk jSSc iSSi mS( jfefSt nSc mSc hSc mSc iSSi mSk mSc mSc mSc jSEt mSi mSc mSc hSc jSc
•f* ^ff *$* 'f' w
CHAPTER XIV
FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE
y% MERICAN fire and marine insurance business
/ \ had its birth at about the close of the eigh-
A. \^ teenth century. Both kept in the forefront
of American affairs for many years, but marine insur-
ance suffered heavily when the American flag began
to disappear from the high seas. For the past
quarter of a century it has had a hard struggle to
keep itself anywhere near the old standard of pros-
perity. To do this it has had to draw for the
greater part of its returns upon foreign commerce,
and been forced to compete with English companies.
Fire-insurance has not, as a whole, fared much better.
So distinct are the differences in the business
operations of these two lines of insurance that it is
necessary to treat of each separately. The theory
of fire-insurance is exceedingly simple — it collects
from the many and distributes to the few, relying
for its profit upon an intelligent calculation of the
chances of fire and the collection of more than it
distributes. The sources of profit are twofold : first,
interest upon invested funds; second, excess pre-
mium receipts over losses and expenses.
Reviewing the history of fire underwriting for the
past century, it cannot be classed as one of the
profitable departments of business activity. A cer-
tain number of companies have been successful, but
only a very insignificant percentage of the various
companies organized in the United States during
the past century have sustained life for a score of
years. Only one American company which was in
existence in 1795 is now in successful operation.
It is the Insurance Company of North America, of
Philadelphia, organized in 1794, and which now
has a cash capital of $3,000,000, with total assets
of nearly $10,000,000.
The large conflagrations of the century at New
York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Portland, and
Pittsburg each in turn crippled all interested com-
panies and ruined many ; but, as experience is a
dear but a sure teacher, these fires brought about
needed improvements in municipal fire departments,
and led to new safeguards in underwriting. At the
time of the great New York fire in 1835 there were
about forty companies doing business in the city,
and all but two found themselves hopelessly in debt
when the blaze had burned itself out. The two
companies spared were the Bowery Fire and the
Jefferson, which had not taken many risks down-
town, in which section of the city the fire raged.
To save the companies from utter ruin the legisla-
ture passed an act on February 20, 1836, allowing
them to take what assets they had and pay their
losses, without interfering with their charters. This
privilege was granted for a limited period. About
ten companies availed themselves of this opportu-
nity, and then obtained a new capital and continued
in business. Twenty-eight of the remaining thirty
companies never recovered from the blow. The
company paying the greatest percentage of losses
was the Howard, which gave fifty-eight per cent.
To-day there are only two companies — the Eagle
Fire and the North River — in existence that sur-
vived the conflagration of 1835. Ten years later
there was another great fire in New York, in which
the damage was also large ; but neither the public
nor the insurance companies suffered as much com-
paratively, owing to more careful underwriting. The
fire of 1845 brought about a schedule of new tariff
rates, which lasted until 1850.
The Chicago fire of 1871 was the most disastrous
conflagration underwriters have ever known. It has
been accurately estimated that $118,000,000 worth
of property was destroyed, on which the insurance
amounted to $92,000,000. Of this sum companies
outside of the State of Illinois had written $58,144,-
000, and while the exact amount held by Illinois
companies could never be ascertained, it was calcu-
lated to be $33,878,000. $39,233,000 was paid to
the assured by the companies outside of the State.
About every insurance company involved in the fire
84
Henry H. Hall.
FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE
85
was forced to make assessments on its stockholders
in order to live. Credit is due to the Liverpool,
London & Globe Insurance Company for their
promptness in paying the amount of their losses at
Chicago ; but to the Home of New York, ^tna of
Hartford, as well as to many other American com-
panies, equal credit is due. The strength of many
American companies was manifested by this severe
trial, and the necessity for foreign capital was fully
demonstrated. It is safe to say that over one
hundred companies were driven to the wall, while
every company in the State of Illinois was wiped
out. Shortly after the Chicago fire came the great
Boston fire, both preceded by the one in Portland,
each adding its proportion to the general wreck of
fire-insurance companies.
It may therefore be very readily seen that the
business of fire underwriting in the United States for
the past century has been done at a loss, and the
most successful companies, as a whole, have not
retained more than simple interest upon their capi-
tal and invested funds. The question has been
asked many times. Why cannot this important inter-
est be placed on such foundations as to present a
reasonable hope of profit to capitalists on their
investment? The chief obstacle to this attainment
has been the ignorance of legislators. Every year
the fire-insurance interest runs the gauntlet of the
legislatures of all the States, protecting themselves
from attacks made with a persistency born of igno-
rance, suspicion, and prejudice. Every recurring
legislature is freighted with schemes without num-
ber to "regulate" the fire-insurance business. To
the average legislator there is just enough mystery
about the business to tempt him to the same mental
exertion he displays on the " Thirteen Puzzle " and
in squaring the circle.
Every insurance company must exhibit for publi-
cation its premiums and losses in every State where
it transacts business, and every detail of its manage-
ment is open to pubhc inspection. It is a blow to
all originality, a handicap to enterprise, when skill
and knowledge gained by experience are thus given
to every competitor ; but this, even, does not satisfy
our lawmakers. Various schemes of taxation are
devised. State and municipal, to which are added all
the forms of restrictive legislation that the mind of
man can conceive. In many States insurance com-
panies are denied recourse to the United States
courts, must submit to poUcy forms drafted by the
various legislatures, and are compelled to adopt such
methods of loss adjustment as can be comprehended
by the feeblest lawmaking mind. The history of
fire underwriting for the past century is a record of
the incapacity of American legislators.
The aggregate fire premiums collected annually
in the United States amount approximately to
$140,000,000. This is a tax levied upon every
property owner in the United States. If complaint
is made of the expense of continuing the fire-insur-
ance business, it should be recalled that the fire-
insurance capital of the world is at the command
of the resident of the smallest village. With few
exceptions, the largest manufacturing plant can
secure in the village in which it is located ample
insurance from the strongest companies in the
world ; and if loss occurs, the same is adjusted and
paid on the ground. To afford these facilities vast
and expensive organizations are necessary. Every
important insurance company has a large staff of
special agents and adjusters, and in addition to this
there are many associations to advance the interest
of associate companies. Among these is the National
Board of Fire Underwriters, composed of the lead-
ing companies of the country, which was organized
in 1866. The chief work of this organization is on
the line of public benefit, such as the recommenda-
tion of proper building laws to the various munici-
palities of the country; the inspection of all fire
departments, with suggestions for their improvement
and the increase of their efficiency; and the arrest
and punishment of incendiaries. Through the
efforts of this board the people have been educated
as to the true economy of good building laws and
efficient fire departments. Within the past few
years the board has maintained an electrical bureau,
and by experiments and investigation has done
much to minimize the hazard incident to the gen-
eral use of electricity for light and power. With
great labor and expense it is endeavoring to awaken
public interest to the great drain on the national
resources by the annual fire waste, so large a portion
of which is due to careless building and lax munici-
pal administration. In addition to this organization
the fire underwriters maintain in every State and in
every town local boards of underwriters, for the
collection of statistics, upon which equitable rates
can alone be predicated.
Through the influence of the New York Board of
Fire Underwriters a paid fire department for the city
of New York was secured. The fire-insurance
companies are also maintaining, at their own ex-
pense, fire patrols in thirty of the large cities. These
patrols are established by law, and supported entirely
by the fire-insurance companies transacting the busi-
ness in their several localities. New York City was
86
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the pioneer in the establishment of these organi-
zations, and they are organized to protect life and
property at fires, regardless of the insurance interest
therein ; and the New York Board of Fire Under-
writers has already distributed numerous gold med-
als to its patrolmen for heroic efforts in the saving
of life. Fire underwriters stand unrivaled by any
form of purely business association in their success-
ful efforts for the general good.
Reviewing the history of fire underwriting for the
past century, there can be observed a steady advance
in the methods and practice of the business. There
must always be an element of chance in its conduct,
but there has been a gradual advance to a more
scientific basis of action. In the past fifty years
there has been a complete change in the controlling
principles of the business. The older method was
to "accept the risk as you find it," and charge
accordingly. The more modern method is to sug-
gest improvements, with a view to a lower rate and
larger liability. To make this more clear, in days
past, underwriters would accept a small " line " on a
poor risk at a high rate; but the present method
is to decline it altogether and suggest improve-
ments, and, when made, give a lower rate and larger
line.
The fire underwriters now maintain several very
expensive organizations of expert surveyors for the
sole purpose of instructing manufacturers as to the
best means of fire protection, that the lowest rate of
fire-insurance may be secured. This entire change
of method is due to the influence of the New Eng-
land system of mutual insurance ; and it is but sim-
ple justice to these companies, of which Edward
Atkinson is now the official head, that this recogni-
tion should be made.
The conflict between projectile and armor-plate
is no more interesting than the constant combat be-
tween increase in the size of buildings and growth
of cities, and the improvement in fire-extinguishing
facilities shown by the development of the New
England system. The inception of this system was
due to the lack of proper recognition by stock com-
panies of improved appliances for the-extinguishing
of fire. A manufacturer, having introduced a fire-
pump in his mill, asked for a reduction of rate for
this appliance. It was denied. Other manufac-
turers were interested, and, having equipped their
mills with fire-pumps, a mutual company was organ-
ized ; and from that time there has been a constant
study to reduce the fire hazard, and to secure insur-
ance indemnity at least cost by the agency of a
mutual system. From a simple pump to perforated
sprinklers, thence by various improved devices to
the present perfected automatic sprinkler head, were
gradual steps in the line of defense against fire.
The general introduction of automatic sprinklers
has not only reduced the fire waste, but will eventu-
ally (with slow-burning construction) revolutionize
the practice of fire underwriting; for, with less
liability to fire, the stronger companies will increase
their acceptances on individual risks, thus concen-
trating the business in a smaller number of com-
panies, and reducing competition and expense.
Starting from the change in the conception of the
province of the underwriters, the advance to the
present practice is plain and logical. In former
times the underwriters would promulgate minimum
rates for various classes of merchandise — sole-
leather, package dry-goods, etc. Upon each of
these various classes a uniform rate would be made
for brick and frame buildings. Assuming the rate
to be adequate to pay the losses and a profit on this
class, this system was clearly inequitable. If the
stock of one merchant was in a two-story brick
building of small area, with no open skylights, etc.,
it was certainly unfair to charge him the same rate
as the merchant whose stock was in a higher and
larger building, with skylights, wood cornice, and
well-holes. To rectify this and similar cases of in-
equality a plan of schedule rating was put in force
by General Arthur C. Ducat, of Chicago. While
surveyor of the Chicago Board of Fire Underwriters
he formulated a plan of schedule rating, constructing
a theoretically perfect building, and adding for defi-
ciencies of construction. Within the past few years
this system of schedule rating has been elaborated
by President F. C. Moore, of the Continental Insur-
ance Company, of New York. A universal mercan-
tile schedule has been devised by him, which adopts
the same principle for various classes of towns and
cities. This system has already been adopted by
local underwriters in several of the larger cities.
The application of this principle will lead to a grad-
ual improvement in the construction of buildings,
and ultimately to the modern " fire-proof," or, more
correctly, "buildings of slow-burning construction."
In the line of schedule rating, and a corollary
thereto, is the general introduction of the " coinsur-
ance clau.se." With the improvement in the con-
struction of buildings and the increased efficiency of
fire departments, and with the aid of fire patrols, it
is expected (and to some degree realized) that the
percentage of loss by fire will be reduced — a fact
that many property owners have not failed to
appreciate, and many have inclined toward a reduc-
FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE
87
tion of the percentage of insurance carried to valu-
ation.
Fire-insurance rates, to be equitable, must not
only be predicated upon the construction and en-
vironment of each building insured, but must also
have relation to the percentage of insurance to value
carried by the merchant. The sole object of the
various forms of coinsurance clauses insisted upon
by fire underwriters is to secure a uniform practice
upon the part of property owners as to the percen-
tage of values insured.
Each State has an insurance department, to which
all classes of insm^ance companies doing business in
the State must make an annual statement of their
financial condition. The head of such department
is charged by statute with the duty of determining
the solvency of every company applying for permis-
sion to transact business in his State, as well as
at the time of the renewal of the annual license.
The system of State supervision was first adopted
by the States of New York and Massachusetts ; and
the policy adopted by William Barnes and Elizur
Wright, respectively superintendents of the insurance
departments of the States named, for the govern-
ment of such departments has been generally fol-
lowed, and in the main the standard of personal and
official probity established by these gentlemen has
been observed, with a few monumental exceptions.
There is no class of government officials, either
State or national, in whom is vested such autocratic
power as is accorded the superintendents of the in-
surance departments of the various States. This
power, exercised wisely in the protection of the pub-
he against fraudulent institutions, is beneficent and
mutually advantageous to the reputable companies
and the public ; but when exerted in securing and
publishing the smallest detail of management, it is a
barrier to proper development, and when exerted
corruptly it becomes legalized blackmail, of which,
unfortunately, there have been a few instances.
The business of insurance supports many trade
papers, many of them useful and edited with great
skill and ability. The " Insurance Cyclopedia "
(pubhshed by the "Weekly Underwriter," one of
the best insurance journals) gives a list of fifty-one
such papers now regularly issued. Fire-insurance
is now conducted throughout the United States by
thousands of agents, and the percentage of funds
lost through misappropriation is infinitesimal. These
agents, as a rule, are selected with great care.
From the ranks of insurance agents have sprung
governors of States, judges, senators, and foreign
ministers.
At the present time there are five British com-
panies engaged in the business of fire underwriting
in the United States that have been continuously in
business for over a century, to wit : London Assur-
ance Corporation, organized 1720; Norwich Union
Insurance Company, organized 1797; Phoenix As-
surance Company, organized 1792 ; Sun Fire Office,
organized 1 7 1 o ; Union Assurance Society, organized
1 7 14. To-day the fire-insurance companies of
foreign countries transact twenty per cent, of the
entire business of fire underwriting in the United
States.
The distribution of the risks assumed by the fire-
insurance companies doing business in the United
States is shown by the following table of the amount
at risk and premiums collected in 1 894 :
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indian Territory . . .
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire. . .
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina ....
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island ,
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin ,
Wyoming ,
Amount at Risk.
Premiums.
$66,828,364
$1,067,445
1,110,545
23,726
4,310,368
105.454
32,620,429
705.398
377.8i3>892
6,336,734
85,894,340
1,422,026
221,828,297
2,171,851
19.679.838
176,117
75,148,286
475,502
26,698,005
596,775
138,769,873
1,905,826
5,907,466
151.079
946,661,803
11,805,170
4.570,368
125,614
268,107,483
3,480,419
232,011,959
3,867,475
140,109,802
1,961,450
187,397.787
2,605,337
197,442,627
2,649,323
94,894,475
1,477,289
214,414,675
1,859,261
687,413,281
7,648,298
283,738,338
4,302,988
233,942.097
3,680,966
37.951,832
787.985
348,602,501
4,903,494
26,852,407
626,905
107,641,249
1,816,538
4,182,969
119,813
64,784,571
853.963
433.453.659
3,735.983
7.302,979
147,579
3,078,604,705
22,339,420
48,274,243
783.751
18,088,057
390,576
564,925,910
6,749.335
4,438,202
114,075
45,287,428
936,068
886,271,730
9,808,572
90,434,532
940.054
43.057.308
639.698
18,745,334
396.047
115,880,325
1,784,281
179,937,487
3.217,273
20,644,800
357,886
33.878,289
512,612
110,663,406
1,598,356
54,018,972
1,181,901
39,034,554
476,487
255.243,795
4,237,866
6,922,024
132,262
88
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The history of American marine insurance begins
in 1793, when the General Assembly of Pennsyl-
vania chartered the Insurance Company of North
America. This company is still in existence, and
its long life is in a measure due to its special charter
privileges of being able to conduct a marine as well
as a fire insurance business. In 1796 the second
marine-insurance company was formed under the
name of the New York Insurance Company, with a
capital of $500,000. Since that time twenty-seven
other marine companies have been organized and
commenced business in New York State, and of
this number only one, the Atlantic Mutual, which
was chartered in 1842, is still in operation.
New York's marine-insurance history is that of
all the other seaboard States, for in nearly all marine
insurance once flourished, but has now succumbed
to English competition. The golden period of
American marine insurance was between the years
1840 and i860, when the clipper sailing ship was
developed and perfected. In those times the lead-
ing merchants owned their own ships, and frequently
a member of the firm would go to China of the
East Indies to supervise the proper distribution of
the cargo, and to secure a remunerative one for the
return. The ship and cargo were insured with an
American company, and as it might be as long as
nine months before the vessel was heard from, the
risk was considerable and rates were high. As
much as five or six per cent, was charged for insur-
ance in those times. The rate on dry-goods from
Liverpool to New York in the old packet sailing
ships was placed at two per cent. This trade was
carried in American ships, and the insurance, both
on the vessel and on the cargo, was naturally placed
in American companies.
But the rates of insurance have changed with the
transformation of the ocean carrying service. The
East India goods are now shipped across the Pacific
to San Francisco, and thence East via rail. The
cost of insurance on these is now only three quar-
ters of one per cent. Rates on the Atlantic have
likewise declined. Insurance on dry-goods and like
merchandise carried in the modern " liners " is
placed at two tenths of one per cent. In other
classes of goods depreciation in rates is in like pro-
portion.
Marine underwriters do not ascribe the decline in
American marine insurance to any trouble from
unwise laws or legislative interference, but to the
changed business conditions and to English compe-
tition. The bulk of the carrying trade of the world
has passed into British hands, and a British mer-
chant and ship owner insures in a British company.
The English marine companies have, as well, invaded
American soil, and have secured a large portion of
the American business. When the Enghsh com-
panies first established themselves in America, along
in the early seventies, they began cutting rates.
The American companies did not effect any com-
bination to prevent this, but followed their example.
The American companies were also placed some-
what at a disadvantage by the laws governing the
admission of foreign marine-insurance corporations.
The foreign companies are required to make a
deposit before they can write American business;
but in New York State, which has stringent insur-
ance laws, the amount is fixed at the minimum
capitalization allowed a home company, viz., $200,-
000. So much of the carrying trade of the world
is done under the British flag and with the aid of
British credit, and with countries under British con-
trol, that the American underwriter, working against
all these disadvantages, is seriously handicapped.
Therefore, there being no national or local tariff asso-
ciations among marine underwriters, the American
companies are worsted in this rate war. There
are now not enough of them to form any sort of an
association which would wield much power.
Despite the uphill work of the American com-
panies to hold their own, through loss of prestige
on the ocean and active rivalry on land, there are a
number of stock and mutual American marine-insur-
ance companies which continue to do a flourishing
business. The largest and one of the oldest is the
Atlantic Mutual, of New York, which has over
$12,000,000 of assets, and has been most carefully
managed throughout its career. It was formed in
1842, at the time when many stock companies were
turned into mutual companies, and by which change
the profits accrue to the poHcy holders instead of
the stockholders. The company is noted for retain-
ing its faithful and tried officers until their death.
The late John P. Jones was connected with the
company for fifty years, and was its president for
forty. In his life-work of building up the company
he was ably assisted by Vice-Presidents W. H. H.
Moore and A. A. Raven, who have been with the
company thirty and forty years respectively. Among
the other large companies which still do a thriving
business are the two Boston corporations, the China
Mutual and the Boston Marine.
There have never been many marine Lloyds in
the United States, though this form of marine insur-
ance has been mo.st in vogue in marine underwriting
in Great Britain. The origin of the term is both
FIRE AND MARINE INSURANCE
89
SUMMARY OF RISKS IN FORCE AND PREMIUMS CHARGED THEREON DECEMBER 31, 1889, BY THE
FIRE, OCEAN MARINE, AND INLAND NAVIGATION AND TRANSPORTATION INSURANCE
COMPANIES TRANSACTING BUSINESS IN THE UNITED STATES.
BY CLASSES.
Classes and States in
WHICH Home Offices are
Located.
Total
Class I
Alabama
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
District of Columbia
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire . . .
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina . . . .
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Foreign
Class 2 ,
Iowa
Massachusetts
Class 3
Georgia ,
Illinois ,
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Maryland ,
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Wisconsin
Number
Com-
panies,
1,926
434
7
I
II
I
10
II
'1
8
16
10
12
•16
2
14
15
3
4
'3
4
4
'9
10
57
3
I
I29
16
'42
3
I
16
14
2
*i
I
8
*6
39
4
'73
I
2
I
8
^3
I
I
I
8
3
2
4
5
12
2
Fire, Ocean Marine, and In-
land Risks in Force, and
Premiums charged thereon,
December 31, 1889.
Amount in
Force.
$18,691,434,190
15,413,429,842
30,789,209
696,999
383,678,288
4,788,204
1.359.^78,764
37.754.794
29,431,941
342,381,186
10,172,607
173.392,934
65,045.177
144,181,430
1.885,379
111,536,402
406,517,661
59,517,482
1 13,469,208
5,038,207
76,252,301
46,163,699
163,398,665
282,878,026
4.965.230,523
2,787,430
8,300
213,216,829
22,147,389
1,785,670,413
136,689,339
62,406
16,636,119
32,4^4,808
8,898,345
2,805495
33,316,514
2,092,760
14,997,402
207,431,944
4,120,105,263
25,360,152
3,512,380
21,847,772
591.745.356
525,221
31,989,479
576,650
1,628,000
535.725
1.287,253
242,331,706
6,101,882
7,189,441
6,699,941
14,448,211
273,449,172
4,982,675
Premiums
Charged.
$211,424,242
174,201,696
428,382
14,061
5.803.335
74.907
16,309,218
198,455
453.182
5,459,474
99.630
3.243.525
908,167
2,161,380
126,526
820,519
5.597.740
764,025
1,506,046
108,940
1,028,840
885,966
2,062,401
2,884,863
46,021,786
60,413
304
2,623,036
655.945
24,211,683
1,679,380
840
405,580
525,685
223,219
31.279
663,102
53.677
611,252
2,698,181
42,706,752
464,512
218,118
246,394
10,596,879
5.172
926,303
20,585
70,100
111,772
128,712
5.341,230
158,722
865,984
93.775
171,130
2,546,264
157.130
Classes and States in
WHICH Home Offices are
Located.
Class 3 A
Maine
Massachusetts ....
New York
Class 4
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire . . .
New Jersey
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina ....
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Class 5 6
Connecticut
Delaware
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts ....
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
New Hampshire . .
New Jersey
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina . . .
South Dakota
Virginia
West Virginia ...
Wisconsin
Number
Com-
panies.
152
I
3
2
I
II
12
5
2
3
10
21
2
12
7
10
12
'17
'19
I
I
*i
*i
2
3
I
2
1,281
16
3
I187
2 60
127
II
5
'29
7
19
60
3 86
*27
10
30
17
2113
="4
86
2178
4
I
18
In
I
■181
Fire, Ocean Marine, and In-
land Risks in Force, and
Premiums charged thereon,
December 31, 1889.
Amount in
Force.
$127,613,864
1,748,406
7,949,890
"7.915,568
971,866,938
9,277,077
25,988,388
13.715.239
20,435,693
33,321,034
4,040,998
22,476,902
4.391.567
5,709,452
47,297,788
269,167,557
12,062,998
54.330,327
11,481,171
31,118,584
145,245,931
75,075.375
99,510,249
19,291,414
3,543,955
49,999,981
11,121,594
79.350
3,184,314
1,561,418,038
78,308,021
2,889,971
84,166,658
30,261,418
65,200,389
3,063,307
10,433,819
11,250,866
36,528,277
102,592,626
165,412,143
23.979.024
6,778,874
6,336.415
11,781,011
36,456,381
136,919.530
342,074
106,461,569
462,333,093
35,312,684
818,775
640,334
22,047,364
610,000
120,403415
Premiums
Charged.
$1,730,377
135,000
194,076
1,401,301
23,600,007
256,294
93.406
25,688
241,213
1,191.233
327,800
1,207,608
84,217
37,933
920,895
4,013,430
612,156
1,778,083
189,053
2,265,924
1,354,681
1,001,589
2,590,723
175,023
60,305
5,005,211
45,822
692
121,028
830,771
830,771
1 Includes i company for which no report is made. * Only i company reported and that too incompletely to tabulate.
2 Includes 3 companies for which no report is made. ^ Includes 4 companies which could not report risks in force.
3 Includes 2 companies from whom a statement of risks in force could •* The companies of this class, as a rule, charge no premiums, but
not be obtained. assess for losses.
'' Includes 6 companies from which no report was received.
90
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
interesting and peculiar. The name of Lloyd orig-
inated in old Lloyd's Tavern, in Tower Street,
London, far back in the days of good Queen Anne.
It was the practice of many ship owners and trad-
ers to drop in at the tavern and talk over their pro-
spective profits ; and gradually a custom developed
of inscribing their names on a blackboard, certifying
that the men signing would be jointly liable for the
loss of a vessel during a certain voyage. From this
crude beginning have grown the world-famous as-
sociations in the British Isles. In the United States
there are a few Lloyds, two of the principal ones
being located in New York City — the United States
Lloyds and the New York Marine Underwriters.
The scope and definition of a marine policy is, of
course, entirely different from a land fire policy.
The risks insured against are many, and may be
summarized as including all perils of the sea. There
are two classes — a voyage and a time pohcy; the
former is generally used in insuring vessels, and the
latter for cargoes. There are naturally many clauses
governing marine-insurance policies, such as capture,
seizure, war, and so on. The life of the insurance
on a ship begins at the port from which it is insured
until moored for twenty-four hours at the port to
which it is insured. When an insurance is made
on freight to be carried under a charter, the policy
attaches as soon as the vessel sails, although she
may be destined to a distant port for her cargo.
Though single losses to marine underwriters have
been small, compared with some of those of fire
underwriters, there have been shipwrecks that have
lived in marine-insiu-ance men's memories. One of
the greatest losses to American marine insiu"ance
was that of the American steamer Central America,
which foundered off the Cuban coast in September,
1857. The Central America was bound from
Aspinwall, now Colon, to New York, and was
loaded principally with treasure from the California
gold-mines. She carried insurance amounting to
between $700,000 and $800,000, all of which had
to be paid by American underwriters. Another
notable loss was that of the steamer Eric, which
sailed from Pernambuco, Brazil, loaded with coffee,
on January i, 1893, and was burned at sea. Coffee
prices were high in those days, and the Erie went
down with $500,000 insurance.
Two losses which not only made inroads on the
American marine companies, but which also seri-
ously crippled the growth of American steam trans-
atlantic service, were the sinking of the steamer
Arctic, off Newfoundland, in 1854, by collision, and
the disappearance of the steamship Pacific, which
sailed from Liverpool for New York in January,
1856, and was never heard from. Both steamships
belonged to the Collins Line, which was the first
one to put on steam-vessels for the Atlantic trade.
These early losses were particularly detrimental to
American marine insurance, because the companies
carried extremely heavy lines in those days. Among
the recent heavy losses was that of the steamer
Oregon, which was run into and sunk off the Long
Island coast in 1 886. American marine underwrit-
ers had between $700,000 and $800,000 on the
Oregon's cargo. The loss of the Oregon also showed
underwriters how quickly even a properly con-
structed iron ship sinks. The introduction of iron
in place of wood for building vessels has not made
any material difference in the rates of insurance, for
iron has hazards which wood has not, and vice versa.
As to the future of American marine underwrit-
ing, it is difficult to prophesy. As trade follows the
flag, so marine insurance flourishes in the country
with a prosperous merchant marine. The United
States is again forging to the front as a great ship-
building nation, and this gives American marine
underwriters hope that American marine insurance
may follow in the wake of the growth of American
ship building.
The United States census of 1890 gives the sta-
tistics of the fire-insurance interest at the close of that
year, which may be found in the table on page 6,
The following classification is employed in that
table :
Class I. — Companies having a joint-stock capi-
tal, and doing either a fire, ocean marine, or inland
navigation and transportation insurance business.
Class 2. — Companies having guaranty capital, and
doing either a fire, ocean marine, or inland naviga-
tion and transportation insurance business.
Class 3. — Companies doing a fire-insurance busi-
ness on the mutual plan and insming only manufac-
turing property.
Class 3 A. — Companies doing a marine-insurance
business on the mutual plan and insuring ocean-ma-
rine risks.
Class 4.— ^Companies doing a fire-insurance busi-
ness on the mutual plan and insuring all kinds of
property on land.
Class 5. — Companies doing a fire-insurance busi-
ness on the mutual plan and insuring only dwellings
and contents and farm property.
CHAPTER XV
LIFE-INSURANCE
IT is a singular fact that the doctrine of chances,
upon which the science of life-contingencies is
based, had its origin in the solution of problems
connected with games of hazard. It happened in
this way. In the year 1654, the Chevalier Mere, of
Paris, an ardent gamester, applied to the celebrated
Abbe Pascal for solutions of two problems for which
he himself was unable to find answers.
His first problem was to ascertain in how many
casts of two dice one might bet with advantage that
two sixes would be thrown. The second was to find
a rule for dividing the stakes between two players,
should a game of hazard be interrupted, in the exact
proportion to their relative chances of winning at
the moment of interruption. Pascal considered all
possible combinations in casts of two dice, and all
possible changes which might occur in an unfin-
ished game, and was thus enabled to solve the two
problems. He illustrated his solution by casts of
dice. While in a single cast the chance that an ace
would be thrown is just one out of six, in a suffi-
ciently large number of casts the number of aces
would be precisely one sixth of the whole number.
Generalizing, Pascal proved that, by observing a
sufficiently large number of happenings in the past,
he could, with great precision, predict the number
of happenings which would occur under similar cir-
cumstances in the future, and he thus enunciated
the theory or doctrine of chances. Thus, if it were
ascertained that out of a large number of persons
of a given age, similarly situated as regards health,
occupation, chmatic influences, etc., a certain num-
ber had died in one year, the percentage of deaths
in a given time, under similar circumstances, could be
predicted with precision, provided the number were
large enough to secure a proper average. Hence
the solution of problems connected with trivial games
of hazard led to the discovery of the laws of chance,
upon which, as an exact science, was built up not
only the theory of life-contingencies, but also of
all astronomical calculations. By means of careful
observations as tp the rates of mortality which have
prevailed among a vast number of insured lives, at
all ages and in different circumstances, we can fore-
tell, with almost absolute accuracy, the rates of
mortahty which will be experienced under similar
conditions in the future. In other words, while
nothing is more uncertain than the duration of a
single life, nothing is more certain than the number
of deaths which will happen in a given time, among
a large number of persons under known conditions.
Hence life-insurance has for its basis an exact
science, depending upon inflexible laws of nature;
so that it has been well said by the late Professor De
Morgan, of London, an eminent authority, " There is
nothing in the commercial world which approaches,
even remotely, the security of a well-established life-
office."
In an abstract or mathematical sense, life-insur-
ance is a bet or a series of bets. The individual
bets the insurance office that he will die within one
year ; the office bets the individual that he will not die
within that time. The stakes, called the premiums,
are accurately and equitably adjusted — one is bound
to win, the other to lose. The office gives to the
individual the right to make a series of similar bets
during each of the remaining years of his life, or for
a limited period.
In a concrete or moral sense, hfe-insurance is pre-
cisely the reverse of gambling — unless, indeed, the
individual who neglects to protect those dependent
upon him from pecuniary loss in the event of his
own death, and thus assumes the risks of loss to
them, is a gambler.
Life-insurance is one of the most beneficent de-
vices of modern civilization. By its means the
pecuniary loss and hardship which would result to a
family from the death of its natural protector are as-
sumed by a vast number of persons, upon each of
whom such loss falls lightly. It is benevolence
without ostentation, and charity without humihation.
It is practically a fulfilment of the divine injunction
91
92
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
to " bear one another's burdens," and is therefore an
evidence of the highest Christian civilization.
Important as was this discovery by Pascal, it
attracted but httle attention until 167 1, when the
Grand Pensionary De Witt, of Holland, celebrated
alike as a statesman and a mathematician, conceived
the idea of applying the doctrine of chances to the
valuation of annuities. From the registers of births
and deaths in several towns in Holland he deduced
rates of mortality, or probabilities of living and dy-
ing for each age. In a report to the States-General
in April of that year he computed the value of
annuities for the several ages. This report is valu-
able as the first instance of the application of scien-
tific principles to the solution of questions depending
upon the contingencies of living and dying, com-
bined with the improvement of money by interest.
De Witt's report was lost to the public for one
hundred and eighty years, or until 185 1, when it
was recovered through the perseverance and skill
of Mr. Augustus Hendricks, actuary of the London,
Liverpool and Globe Insurance Company, and at
one time president of the Institute of Actuaries,
London.
In 1693, the illustrious Halley, astronomer royal
of Great Britain, constructed the first complete
table of mortality, in a form which has ever since
been followed, showing for each age the chances of
living and dying, with various monetary values de-
duced therefrom. Halley's table was based upon
the records of births and deaths in London and in
Breslau. It was more than half a century afterward
before Halley's labors were applied to any work of
importance. As life-insurance became better known
and appreciated the necessity of accurate tables of
mortality became more evident. The following list
comprises the principal mortality tables which have
at any time been used by life-insurance companies :
1. The Northampton Table, based upon an enu-
meration of the deaths in that town for the forty-six
years prior to 1780, constructed by Dr. Richard
Price. As the number of persons living in these years
was not known, but merely assumed, this table was
quite inaccurate ; yet it was used as a basis of values
for many years by insurance companies, and by
courts of law in the determination of insurance pre-
miums, annuities, and rights of dower. It was used
in the determination and distribution of the surplus
of the Equitable, of London, as late as the year 1889.
2. The Carlisle Table, based upon the numbers of
both living and dying in the city of Cariisle during
eight years prior to 1787. This table was con-
structed in 1815 by Joshua Milne, actuary of the
Sun Life-Office, and was, for a full half-century, the
standard adopted by British and American life-
insurance companies. A great variety of monetary
values were computed upon this table, and a vast
number of insurance contracts were based upon it
3. The Actuaries' or Combined Experience Table,
deduced from the mortality of seventeen British life-
insurance companies, embracing 83,905 assured
lives. This table was constructed in 1845, ^y the
late Jenken Jones, actuary of the Guardian Assur-
ance Company. It is valuable as being the first
important table based upon the actual mortality
among persons whose Uves were insured. Although
the Actuaries' Table has long since become obsolete
in Great Britain, it has been adopted, and is still used,
as the official standard of valuation by Massachu-
setts and by several other state insurance depart-
ments.
4. The HM (Healthy Male) Table, based upon
the later experience of twenty British companies, em-
bracing the mortality among 147,000 insured lives,
and completed in 1869, under the supervision of a
committee of the Institute of Actuaries. Elaborate
monetary values have been computed upon this
table, which are embodied in the " Text-book " by
George King, actuary of the Atlas. This table has
long been the vade-mecum with actuaries, and until
it shall be superseded by tables based on later and
more extended observations will be the most rehable
standard of value in Great Britain.
5. The American Experience Table (so called),
constructed by the writer, and based upon the
mortality experience of the Mutual Life-insurance
Company, of New York, during its first fifteen years.
Confirmed as it has been by later and more exten-
sive observations upon the mortality in that and in
other American companies, this table is unquestion-
ably the best exponent of rates of mortality which
may be expected to prevail among insured lives in
the United States. Rates of premium and estimates
of the value of contingent insurance liabilities in
nearly all American companies are based upon this
table, which is also the official standard of insiuance
valuations in many of the States.
The origin of life-insurance is lost in antiquity.
At a very early period the lives of masters of vessels
and of merchants voyaging with them were insured,
always for brief periods and generally by individual
underwriters, against death or captivity by pirates.
In the middle of the sixteenth century, lives of persons
were insured for short periods by individual under-
writers, who divided the risks among themselves
very much in the manner of the modem Lloyd's.
Sheppard Homans.
LIFE-INSURANCE
93
The earliest life-insurance policy on record was
issued June 15, 1583, by the Office of Insurance
within the Royal Exchange, London, upon the life
of one William Gybbons. The insurance was for
twelve months for ^^38^ 6s. Sd., at a premium of
eight per cent. The policy was underwritten by
thirteen different persons, who guaranteed sums
varying from ^2e^ to j^^o each. The oldest exist-
ing office, which transacted at any time a life-insur-
ance business, is the Hand-in-Hand, London, char-
tered in 1696 ; but its first life-insurance policy was
not issued until 1836. The earliest purely life-
insurance company was established in 1699, under
the name of the Society of Assurance for Widows
and Orphans. This association had a brief exis-
tence. The celebrated Amicable Society for a Per-
petual Assurance was chartered March 25, 1706,
by Queen Anne. This society carried on the busi-
ness of life-insurance for one hundred and sixty years,
or until 1836, when, under an act of Parliament, it
passed out of existence as a separate institution and
was merged into the Norwich Union Life-Office.
In the year 1721, there were founded two insurance
offices, still existing, the Royal Exchange and the
London Assurance Corporation, each of which at
once issued life-policies, and each has continued to
do so until the present time. They are therefore the
oldest existing offices writing life-insurance contracts,
but their principal business has always been that of
marine and fire insurance. All of the offices above
named charged a uniform rate of premium for all
ages of about five per cent, until after the com-
mencement of the present century, and their business
was conducted upon methods very similar to those
practised by modern assessment associations.
In 1762, the famous Equitable Society for the
Assurance of Life and Survivorship, of London,
commenced business. This society was founded
upon the recommendation of Dr. Richard Price,
with the view of charging rates of premium adjusted
to chances of living and dying at the different ages.
In other words, its business was from the first con-
ducted on sound principles. The society has had
from the outset a phenomenal success. It has never
employed agents or paid commissions or solicited
business. It has always been managed with great
ability, and is still pointed out with pride as the
" Old Equitable." It has led the way in many of
the advances and improvements in the system. In
the amount of business transacted it has been dis-
tanced by many modern offices ; and although its
volume has greatly diminished since its maximum,
about 1 816, it is now increasing quite rapidly. The
Equitable, of London, is not, however, as has gen-
erally been assumed, the oldest office in existence
doing a purely life-insurance business. That honor
is due to a little American office in Philadelphia, Pa.,
called the Presbyterian Ministers' Fund, organized
in 1759, or three years before the Equitable, of Lon-
don. It has, for one hundred and thirty-six years,
pursued quietly, unostentatiously, and without in-
terruption the business of life-insurance. In the
Papers and Transactions of the Actuarial Society of
America, No. 2, page 83, maybe found a facsimile
of a poHcy issued by the Presbyterian Ministers'
Fund, dated May 22, 1761, on the hfe of Rev.
Francis Allison. In consideration of a premium of
^6 annually, it provided for the payment, after his
death, of;^2o annually, for a stated number of years,
to his widow and orphans. The premiums were
based upon the hypothesis of De Moivre, the rates
being level for life. It is, therefore, the oldest
purely life-insurance company in existence. It has
ever kept pace with modern improvements in the
science of life-contingencies, and is to-day in a sound
condition, with every prospect of continued success.
After the formation of the Equitable, of London,
in 1762, came the PeHcan, in 1797, the London, the
Provident, and the Rock, in 1806, and new offices
were started in almost every subsequent year. There
were founded during the present century, in Great
Britain, about three hundred and seventy life-offices,
out of which only eighty-eight, according to the
Parliamentary Return for 1894, remain. The others
have had, generally, an ephemeral existence. Some
have been wound up voluntarily, some by processes
of law, some have been merged into stronger or
better-organized institutions, and all have suffered
penalties from the violation of sound principles of
science and commercial experience.
On the continent of Eiuope, life-insurance has
been a plant of slower growth and development.
Many strong offices have been built up in France,
Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Austria, with a few
in the other kingdoms. It is in the United States
and in Great Britain, however, that the system has
flourished and attained its highest development.
In the United States, the Presbyterian Ministers'
Fund was, as stated, organized in 1759, and is still
in existence. The Baltimore Life was organized in
1 83 1, and was merged into the Equitable in i860.
But modern life-insurance dates from 1843, when
the Mutual Life-insurance Company, of New York,
first commenced business. This great company, in
volume of assets the largest in the world, issued its
first policy February i , 1 843. It is organized upon
94
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the mutual plan, having no capital, and its enor-
mous accumulations ($203,822,134 on December
31, 1894) have resulted entirely from insurance
premiums and interest thereon, after deducting pay-
ments for death-claims and expenses.
This company was organized by friends of the late
Morris Robinson, solely to give a position to that
gentleman. Its affairs were managed with great
skill by him and by his successors in the office of
president, the late Joseph B. Collins and Frederick
S. Winston. Under the present incumbent, Mr.
Richard A. McCurdy, the business and accumula-
tions are rapidly increasing. The history of the
Mutual Life-insurance Company is a record of
phenomenal success, resulting from the application
of science and sound business principles to the most
important economy of modern times, by men of ex-
ceptional ability, energy, and business training. The
American Experience Table of MortaHty, so called,
constructed, in 1858, by the writer, and since adopted
by all American companies and by many of the
States as a standard of valuation for premiums and
liabilities, was deduced from the mortality records
of this company. The " Contribution Plan " of
dividing surplus equitably among the members of
a life-insurance company was first applied by the
writer in the distribution of the surplus of the
Mutual Life in 1863. When we consider the vast
amount of surplus now held for policy-holders by
American companies, amounting to more than
$112,000,000, in addition to over $325,000,000 of
surplus already awarded and paid to them under
the " Contribution Plan," one may appreciate its
importance and value.
In the report of the Massachusetts Insurance
Department for 1868, the commissioner, Hon. John
E. Sandford, states :
" The forty -seven life-insurance companies doing
business in this State, or rather twenty-one of them,
were fortunate enough to find themselves during the
last year in possession of divisible surplus to the
amount of more than seven and one half millions of
dollars ($7,595,671.97). The whole of this magnifi-
cent fund was made up of the overpayments of in-
dividual policy-holders, or was the surplus earnings
of their money held in reserve by the companies.
They were consequently entitled to have it divided
among them by some rule or method of distribution.
The propriety of so dividing it that each policy-
holder should receive his own — the share of it which
belonged to him, neither more nor less — is too plain
to need argument or illustration.
" How, then, shall it be divided? This is not a
question of usage, of precedent, or of convenience,
but of equity and right — of right to property, to
one's own money ; and involving, as it does, millions
of dollars annually, it is a question of the first
importance.
"As a practical question, at the present time, it
resolves itself into the discussion of two essentially
different methods of distribution, which, with some
variance of detail, appear to divide the practice of
all the mutual companies. ( i ) The ' Percentage
Plan' distributes the surplus by a uniform percen-
tage of the annual premium — assuming, apparently,
that this premium fairly represents, for the current
year, the whole capital or stock in trade of each
poHcy-holder in the joint concern, on which his
share of the profits or savings for the year is to be
computed. There is no other assumption on which
such a mode of distribution is inteUigible. (2) The
' Contribution Plan,' rejecting the annual premium
as the measure of distribution, inquires for the
sources of the surplus — how much of it is traceable
to the surplus earnings of each one's share in the
accumulated reserve of previous years, as well as of
the current premium, and how much to each one's
share in the savings on the payments for losses and
expenses — and professes to return to each what he
or his money has actually contributed to make up the
sum total of the surplus which is to be divided. If
one of these methods is right in principle, and the
other wrong — and they cannot both be right — the
sooner it is known and admitted the better.
"We think it admits of demonstration that the
percentage plan ignores the origin of the surplus ;
that its idea is radically wrong, and discordant with
the theory and methods of life-insurance; that it
gives money which belongs to one policy-holder,
without reason or right, to another, subtracting
from the dividend to which the longer insured is
entitled, to make for the newly insured an equal
dividend to which he is not entitled ; that it does this
uniformly and inevitably, and does it on an extensive
scale. The equity of the uniform percentage plan
in dealing with the money of the insured is like the
hospitality of the famous old robber of Attica, who,
if the legs of his unwilling guests were too long for
his bed, lopped them off, and stretched them to the
requisite length if they were too short.
"The contribution plan, on the other hand,
recognizes the constant sources of surplus — a
higher rate of interest than was assumed, a lower
rate of mortaHty than was expected, and a less
percentage of expense than was provided for — in
establishing the premiums and reserve of the com-
LIFE-INSURANCE
pany. These sources yield a surplus which varies
with the reserve on each poHcy, with the age of the
insured, and with all the terms and conditions of the
insurance. The system adapts itself to the incidents
of each policy, and returns the surplus earnings from
interest, and the excess of the payments for mortality
and expenses, which belong to it. In a word, it
seeks to give to each of the insured the siuplus which
his money has earned or created. It requires no
other statement than this to demonstrate its theoreti-
cal equity. The actual adaptation of the plan is
demonstrated by the fact that its formulas are de-
duced from and harmonize with the fundamental
processes of life-insurance, while no mathematics
either suggest or justify the percentage plan.
" In this country, where every improvement is
eagerly sought and usually accepted, its essential
features have received the indorsement of the most
eminent actuaries, and it has been already adopted
by a majority of the participating companies. The
statutes of this State have been amended in order
to admit of its adoption by our own companies.
Actual trial, which is the best test of its merits,
seems to have approved its equity and the practica-
bility of its use. Other companies, whose practice
has sanctioned thus far the older plan, are known to
be considering seriously its adoption. A firm belief
in its superior equity and in the general good results
to be expected from its use cannot fail to induce the
hope that this, with every other improvement that
science or experience suggests, may be ingrafted on
a system whose present success and beneficent future
are cherished and believed in with a strong and
abiding faith. Life-insurance claims an alliance
duce the system of non-forfeiture, since adopted by
all other American companies. By this concession,
policy-holders, who are unable or unwilling to con-
tinue their contracts, are guaranteed an equitable
surrender-value in paid-up insurance or in cash. The
company owes its success largely to the ability and
energy of its former president, the late William H.
Beers. Under its present able executive, the Hon.
John A. McCall, its business is growing with great
rapidity.
The Equitable Life-Assurance Society of the
United States was organized in 1859, by Mr. Henry
B. Hyde, who, although declining to be its first
president in favor of Colonel William C. Alexander,
has been the guiding spirit from its organization to
the present day. Under the superb management
of Mr. Hyde, the Equitable has siu-passed its two
great rivals, the Mutual and the New York Life —
which started respectively sixteen and fourteen years
prior — in the items of income, volume of business,
and surplus. In one respect the Equitable is unique
among all large life-companies, and that is in the
fact that it has always remained under the manage-
ment of one man from its organization to the present
day. These three American offices are by far the
largest in the world. Want of space prevents men-
tion of other American life-companies by name.
The remarkable progress of life-insurance in the
United States may, perhaps, be best illustrated by
the following statistics, compiled from the reports of
the Insurance Department of Massachusetts for the
years ending December 31, 1859, and December 31,
1894. The list includes all companies which re-
ported to that department at the two dates named.
MASSACHUSETTS INSURANCE REPORTS, 1859 and 1894.
Amount Insured.
1859.
1894.
Assets.
1859.
1894.
Premium Income.
1859.
1894.
Surplus — Combined Ex-
perience. 4 per Cent.
1859.
1894.
New England Mutual .
State Mutual
Berkshire
Massachusetts Mutual
Mutual Life, N. Y. . . .
Mutual Benefit, N. J. .
Connecticut Mutual . .
National, Vermont . . .
Union Mutual
Manhattan, N. Y
Equitable, N. Y
1844
1845
1851
1851
1843
1845
1846
1850
1849
1850
1859
13,041,484
2,876,591
1,787,650
4,210,380
37.235.392
22,559,177
22,701,294
1,751.540
4,368,542
10,333,644
808,000
93,868,387
52,909,932
38,159,229
89,877,280
854,710,761
209,369,528
156,686,871
64,975,950
36,312,041
61,618,675
913,556,733
$
1,347,637
351,617
106,685
183,516
5,840,150
2,800,717
2,528,842
187,768
582,840
670,268
107,974
24,252,829
9,893,072
6,430,146
15,653.367
202,494,184
55,656,860
62,229,586
11,046,572
6,592.373
13,695,656
183,138,559
347,717
57,429
52,565
109,387
1,032,663
649,157
709,613
46,370
167,688
308,354
15,590
3,079,506
1,849,884
1,455,372
3,109,360
36,123,164
7,626,152
4,677,973
2,472,702
988,582
2,056,336
36,038,931
533,7"
147,950
115,007
134,905
1,518,868
886,387
849,599
125,891
340,684
227,716
91,882
1,697,009
1,053,008
598,083
1,033,620
15,089,823
3,577,984
7,450,858
1,055,001
260,314
774,451
28,115,809
with interests too high and sacred to be persistently
guilty of systematic wrong."
The New York Life-Insurance Company com-
menced business in 1845. It was the first to intro-
Among the early workers and fathers of American
life-insurance who are no longer living, special honor
should be given to Judge Phillips of the New Eng-
land; Guy R. Phelps of the Connecticut Mutual;
96
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Morris Robinson, Frederick S. Winston, Henry H.
Hyde, and Professor Gill of the Mutual Life;
Joseph L. Lord of the Mutual Benefit ; William H.
Beers of the New York Life ; and last, but not least,
the late Elizur Wright, the first insurance commis-
sioner of Massachusetts.
There is one specialty in the larger American
companies which is worthy of attention, and that is
the very large amount of insurance written upon
tontine plans. Tontine assurance, as now written,
is simply an agreement by which surplus is retained
and accumulated for the exclusive benefit of those
policy-holders who survive and keep in force their
policies until the end of the tontine period agreed
upon — generally ten, fifteen, or twenty years.
Upon ordinary plans the surplus is divided an-
nually; 'upon both plans the full sum insured is
always payable at death.
Life-insurance is, in effect, an arrangement or de-
vice by which the pecuniary loss to family or de-
pendents, which would result from the death of their
protector, is borne by a large number of associates,
upon each of whom the burden or loss falls but
lightly. In the case, however, of a person who dies
after paying one premium, or only a small number
of premiums, the pecuniary gain to his beneficiaries
is abnormally great, since the amount of insurance
is very large in comparison with the premiums paid
therefor. To pay dividends, in addition to the in-
surance in such cases, only aggravates the relative
inequality between persons dying early and those
who live longer and pay premiums for many years.
The tontine system, by awarding and paying sur-
such a large number of applicants prefer and select
tontine policies may be considered a proof of the
confidence of the companies and of their patrons in
the system. In the volume of business the tontine
companies surpass by far the companies which refuse
to issue that class of policies. Incidentally, it is
claimed that lapses are fewer among tontine than
among ordinary policies, and that there is a great
advantage to those who survive the tontine period
in the opportunity of closing their contracts by re-
ceiving their full equities both of reserve and surplus
in cash or in paid-up insurances, or of continuing
their poUcies with greatly reduced premiums.
While many companies in the United States have
failed and been wound up, those now doing an ac-
tive business are believed to be on a sound, healthy
basis. The cause of failure in almost every case
may be traced to extravagance or inexperience, but
not to excessive mortality in any instance. There
are at present, in the United States, fifty-six regular
old-line life-insurance companies, of which thirty-
two only are authorized to transact business in the
State of New York. The companies not admitted
to that State, however, are mostly small and unim-
portant. The magnitude of the business in the
thirty-two old-line companies doing business in
New York may be seen by the following statistics,
taken from the report of the Insurance Department
for the year 1894. The statistics for the British
offices (counting five dollars to one pound) were
taken from the Parliamentary Return for 1894,
published in 1895. The business of industrial
companies is omitted in both cases.
INSURANCE STATISTICS FOR 1894.
Total insurance in force, December 31, 1894
Total number of policies in force, December 31, 1894
Total income from premiums, 1894
Total income from interest, etc., 1894
Total income from all sources, 1894
Payments for death-claims
Payments for commissions $29,854,751
Expenses of management 13,672,918
Total $43,527,669
Total liabilities, December 31, 1894
Total surplus, " "
Total assets, " "
Total number of companies reporting
united states.
(32 Offices Only.)
Great Britain.
$4,675,583,046
1,780,307
205,132,044
51,492,434
256,624,478
78,313,162
$2,500,030,330
91,391,415
37,662,580
129,053,995
63,874,645
12,522,145
916,591,138
139,740,544
1,056,331,682
32
1,038,626,035
88
plus to the latter class only, equalizes these otherwise
unavoidable and unforeseen inequalities. Moreover,
each person should be allowed full liberty in the
choice of different forms of insurance, and so-called
tontine companies issue all kinds. The fact that
In addition to the fifty-six regular old-Hne com-
panies, there are, in the United States, several hundred
cooperative or assessment companies, fraternal and
secret associations, in which, generally, the promise
to pay the sum insured in case of death is not def-
LIFE-INSURANCE
97
inite and absolute, but is made contingent upon the
result of assessments to be collected from survivors.
The exact number of these organizations, with the
number of members and the total amount of insur-
ance, cannot be given, but the total insurance in
force no doubt exceeds eight and one half billion
dollars at the present time, or nearly double the
amount outstanding in all the regular life-insurance
companies.
Insurance in the old-line companies is secured,
almost invariably, through the intervention of soHcit-
ing agents or canvassers, who are compensated by
commissions on the premiums collected. Men, as
a rule, will not seek life-insurance as they seek fire
or marine insurance upon their houses and merchan-
dise. They require the urgent solicitations of can-
vassing agents to persuade them to do what every
one, who has a family dependent upon his exertions,
should recognize as a duty and a privilege. In the
cooperative or assessment companies the expense of
procuring business is less, but the quality of the
insurance is inferior.
In one respect, life-insurance in the United States
differs in a remarkable degree from that in Great
Britain, and, in fact, from that in all other countries.
Each of the United States, in the absence of legis-
lation by the national government, has power to
impose restrictions, conditions, and taxes upon
corporations of every other State seeking to do
business within its precincts. Each State has its
own Insurance Department and its own statutes reg-
ulating life-insurance. In consequence, the policy-
holders of life-insurance companies are subjected to
great hazard, inconvenience, and expense by reason
of diverse and oftentimes incongruous legislation.
The burden imposed upon the management of our
life-insurance companies by reason of the require-
ments of the different States, and of the necessity
laid upon them to protect the interests of the policy-
holders by guarding them against unfavorable and
unwise legislation, is very serious.
In striking contrast with the American system of
State supervision by legislative enactments is the
system adopted in Great Britain. There the com-
panies are required simply to file with the Board of
Trade sworn statements as to the amount of assets,
of income, and of liabiHties, giving the table upon
which such liabilities are computed ; and the public
is left to find out their relative merits or standing by
such illumination as active competition and pubHc
information may bestow. No attempt at super-
vision of companies is made, and in Great Britain
no tax is laid upon life-insurance. It is there as-
sumed, and very justly, that life-insurance is a pub-
Hc benefaction ; that it tends to promote thrift and
economy on the part of its citizens, and to avoid
the burden of paupers upon the state, and as such
should be fostered and encouraged by every proper
means.
In other words, life-insurance in the United States
is the subject of supervision and tax by our legisla-
tive Solons, while in Great Britain publicity and
natural competition are relied upon to keep the
companies in sound condition. The two methods
are in sharp contrast. It cannot be denied that the
American system has one advantage in the complete
published returns, even to the minutest detail, of the
items of assets, liabilities, and methods of business,
which are open to the inspection of the public.
American companies are thus enabled to dispel
honest doubts and disarm designing criticism by
the simple logic of facts, and to demonstrate be-
yond question their claims to the confidence of the
community.
CHAPTER XVI
AMERICAN RAILROADS
DYNAMICS has never produced a greater
power than the locomotive engine. Stephen-
son's Rocket drew in its train results more
momentous in their relation to human destiny than
any motive force the world has ever known. To-
day, railroads, their achievements and their prob-
lems, are of vaster importance than any other one
factor in economic affairs. Evolved from the dis-
coveries that found steam a force and harnessed it,
through the means of appHed mechanics, their de-
velopment has produced those marvelous feats of
constructive and engineering skill which distinguish
both them and the age alike. Their extension has
blazed the path of progress, and as they have built
up, so have they bound, the new sections to the old,
until beneath their network has broadened homo-
geneously the greatest nation on the face of the
earth.
Transportation, whether of the person or of prop-
erty, with ease, speed, and safety is the first and
most self-evident of the achievements of the rail-
road. In the administration and regulation of this
function questions have arisen, legislation been
framed, and experiments made during nearly thirty
years, but with small beneficent result. In the mists
of the discussion thus raised the " railroad problem "
has ever loomed larger and more distorted than it
should appear. Primarily the railroad is based upon
certain broad and immutable principles underlying
the commercial and industrial system, as an integral
part of which its dependence should be at once ap-
parent. That such has not been universally recog-
nized is due to two causes : first, few people except
those whose interests and prejudices have moved
them strongly either to one side or the other have
ever investigated the matter to its ultimate conclu-
sions ; second, the railroad system itself, in the strong
throes of its formative period, has sometimes seemed
to deny its manifest destiny. Unrestrained and
ruinous competition, reacting upon itself, has forced
rate wars and discriminations, confined to no one
locality or territory, but threatening even such results
as the diversion of the nation's commerce. That
this period, now approaching its end, should give
way to better conditions and wiser policies is as in-
evitable as that iron rails should give place to steel.
Potent as the railroad is, it must conform to rather
than make conditions. The New York merchant
will trade with Chicago if transportation rates leave
him a profit; if they do not, his business with
Chicago ceases, and the carrier loses. From this it
follows that, within the limits of a just and reason-
able freight tariff, the equalizing laws of trade must
determine conditions for the railroad. With this
elementary principle in mind, the "railroad prob-
lem " loses many of its difficulties ; but it is not the
purpose of this article to discuss this question further,
except as its effects are seen in tracing the history
of the system's development.
The first railroad commonly claimed to have been
built in America was in Massachusetts, and ran
from the Quincy granite quarries to tide-water at
Neponset, a distance of three miles. It was com-
pleted in 1826, at a cost of $34,000. Candor com-
pels the statement that this much-vaunted bit of
road was neither more nor less than an ordinary
tramway for horse-power, such as had been common
at the English coal-mines for many years before that
time. Waiving, then, the claims of the Quincy
road, as well as those of the Mauch Chunk switch-
back road, built in 1827, the record shows the first
railroad in this country really entitled to be called
such, and the first on which a locomotive was actu-
ally run, to have been the Carbondale Railroad,
built in 1828, by the Delaware and Hudson Canal
Company, from their coal-mines to Honesdale, Pa.,
a distance of sixteen miles. In 1829 a locomotive
built in England from the plans of Horatio Allen,
an American engineer, was brought over, and in
August commenced running regularly on this road.
98
AMERICAN RAILROADS
99
That locomotive, called the Stourbridge Lion, was
the first ever used in the United States, and was
imperfect even for those times. The multitubular-
boiler engines which succeeded this type were per-
fected by Stephenson, and the Rocket, the first of
this new class, was successfully tested over the Rain-
hill track in the same year.
The Rocket was to the railroad what the Clermont
was to steam-navigation, and to its inventor, as to
Fulton, should be accorded the full measure of glory
for the achievement. At the same time, in this case
again, as in that of Fulton, the idea thus perfected
and demonstrated practicable was not a new one.
Little known as the fact is generally, an American
was the first to conceive the locomotive engine.
His name was Oliver Evans, and in Philadelphia
he perfected in 1782 a steam-carriage, consisting of
a high-pressure engine placed on wheels. This
machine, when exhibited during that year, was
found capable of running a mile and a half at a
single stretch. From this time the records show no
further attempts in this direction for twenty years,
or until 1802, when Richard Trevethick, an English-
man, patented a self-acting steam-engine, capable
of drawing a light load at the rate of five miles an
hour. Two years later this engine was put in use
at the Merthyr-Tydvil mines ; and the demonstration
in 181 1, by Mr. Blackett, an English coal propri-
etor, that weight and friction would suffice, even
with smooth wheels and rails, to render the steam-
engine self-motive on grades or with heavy loads,
caused the further introduction of short lines at the
mines. The final triumph in locomotive engineer-
ing, and the one which made possible a speed and
draft-power of practical utility, was reserved for
George Stephenson, the rough and unlettered North-
umbrian miner. Passing over his earlier struggles
and partially successful models, we find the Rocket,
in 1829, standing boldly forth as the alpha of the
modern railroad.
The first American locomotive did not appear for
nearly a year later, and was but a diminutive affair.
It was called the Tom Thumb, and its inventor was
no less distinguished a personage than the late Peter
Cooper. The boiler of the Tom Thumb, although
little larger than that of an ordinary kitchen range,
was provided with vertical tubes, thus seciuring the
necessary heating surface ; but the waste-steam blast
of Stephenson was replaced by a primitive bellows-
like contrivance worked by a drum, with a belt
which passed over one of the wheels of the carriage.
Notwithstanding its crudity, this little locomotive,
which was run by its inventor over the tracks of
the Baltimore and Ohio, — then operated by horse-
power,— was capable of a very fair speed.
Mr. Cooper's retirement as a locomotive engineer
came about too speedily, however, for his genius in
that line to be thoroughly tested. It was due to an
amusing circumstance, which caused the late ven-
erable philanthropist much mortification for many
years. While out with a party of friends exhibiting
the Tom Thumb, Mr. Cooper met, at a spot where
the road and railroad tracks paralleled each other,
the proprietor of the great stage-coach line of that
part of the country. This gentleman, who was
waiting with one of his fleetest trotters, proceeded
to demonstrate the superiority of horse-flesh over
steam. He would scarcely have been able to do
this but for a mishap, as Mr. Cooper fired up his
tiny furnace and ran steam far above license limits,
while the diminutive Tom Thumb trundled along at
a rate that after the first quarter was placing steam-
power well in the lead. Slowly the engineer-fire-
man-inventor saw his engine drawing away from
the wearied horse, and victory seemed certain, when
suddenly the belt, before mentioned, ran off the
drum, the fires slackened, and the race was lost.
Mr. Cooper felt his defeat keenly.
The second American locomotive was built at the
West Point Foundry near Cold Spring, N. Y. (where
the Parrott guns were cast during the War of the
Rebellion), after plans by E. L. Miller, and was
equipped with a common vertical boiler. Despite
this drawback, this locomotive, which was called
the Best Friend, did attain, unattached, a speed of
thirty to thirty-five miles an hour, and with a train
of five cars fifteen to twenty miles. This locomo-
tive was built for the South Carolina Railroad, which
ran between Charleston and Hamburg, and with the
consideration of which is fairly begun the history of
American railroads.
On the fifteenth day of January, 1 831, or precisely
four months after that memorable day when George
Stephenson, standing on the foot-board of the
Northumbrian, had started the first train, on board
of which was the Duke of Wellington, over the
Manchester and Liverpool Railroad, the stockhold-
ers of the South Carolina Railroad celebrated the
first anniversary of the opening of their road by
introducing steam motive power. The Best Friend
was the locomotive, and by means of it a train of
two pleasure-cars, carrying a band and 150 stock-
holders, together with a specially fitted up carriage
bearing a detachment of United States troops and
a field-piece, went down the road on a grand excur-
sion. This was the inauguration of the passenger
100
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
railroad system of the country, and it followed very
closely, as can be seen, upon the English beginning
made by the Stockton and DarHngton road in 1825.
The fact that the road was a year old before steam
was introduced illustrates a point which every stu-
dent of American railroads has had brought to his
attention and consideration, viz., that America, as
though foreseeing the final triumph of the locomo-
tive, commenced her railroads some time before this
motive power was developed. As an example of
splendid assurance, the action of this same South
Carolina Railroad in voting, on January 14, 1830,
that " steam " should be the only motive power used
on the road stands unequaled. Other roads were
similarly forehanded in laying their tracks in antici-
pation of the locomotive. The Baltimore and Ohio,
begun in 1828, was operating by horse-power a short
stretch of road fifteen miles long, from Baltimore to
EUicott's Mills, in 1829, and carried as many as
80,000 passengers and 6000 tons of freight during
the year 1831. A year later, when the line had
been extended to Frederick, steam was introduced
as the motive power. In 1831 the South Carolina
Railroad had progressed to a point where it origi-
nated the four-wheel car-truck, and had replaced the
primitive old Best Friend — which had unfortunately
suffered from a boiler explosion early in its career —
by locomotives of more improved construction and
design. In connection with the apprehension caused
by the bursting boiler a curious custom developed
on this road. This was the introduction of a car
loaded with several bales of cotton, and known as
the " barrier car," between the locomotive and the
passenger-cars. Behind this the early Carolina
traveler felt comparatively safe.
Among others of the very early roads were the
Baltimore and Susquehanna, dating from 1830 ; the
little four-and-a-half-mile line between New Orleans
and Lake Pontchartrain, starting the same year ; the
Boston and Lowell, incorporated in 1830; the Bos-
ton and Providence, and Boston and Worcester, in-
corporated in 1831 ; and the Mohawk and Hudson,
which commenced running in September, 1831.
Of all the early roads this latter is probably the best
known, through the numerous old prints that have
been preserved of the De Witt Clinton puffing along,
with a train of most extraordinary cars in the rear.
These were nothing more or less than ordinary
stage-coach bodies mounted on trucks, coupled to-
gether with chains. The track consisted almost
universally of wooden rails, laid upon stone or tim-
ber ties, and having an iron bar or " strap," of from
one half to five eighths of an inch in thickness,
spiked along the top on its inner edge, on which the
wheels ran. The early American locomotive engine,
of which the De Witt Clinton may fairly be said to
be typical, was a small, rather rickety affair, weigh-
ing from three to three and one half tons, with a
detached tender carrying pitch-pine for fuel, and
capable, when driven, of making thirty miles an
hour. The spark-arrester for smoke-stacks was un-
known, and outside passengers escaped hghtly if
their clothing caught fire no oftener than once or
twice during a trip.
The English locomotives built by George and
Robert Stephenson at Newcastle-on-Tyne were
heavier and better machines. The first of these,
brought here before the Rocket model had been
perfected, was landed at New York in 1829, and
set up in an iron-yard on the East River, where it
was exhibited as one of the mechanical marvels of
the time. This engine, however, was little, if any,
better than the home-made ones; but in 1831 there
was imported another of the improved models,
which weighed seven tons, and was considered a
most powerful machine. This engine was for the
Mohawk and Hudson road, and cost when deliv-
ered, with all charges paid, $4869.59. Its general
appearance and effectiveness will be easily imagined
by those who saw at the World's Fair at Chicago
the famous old Johnny Bull, of the Camden and
Amboy line, of historic memory. This engine, a
great machine in its day, was landed at Philadelphia
in August, 1 83 1.
Almost the first improvement made by American
engineers upon the EngHsh models was the intro-
duction of the swivel fore-end truck, suggested in
1 83 1 by Horatio Allen, of the South Carolina Rail-
road, but first perfected and adopted by John B.
Jervis on the Mohawk and Hudson road, in the
same year. This change, so absolutely necessary in
a country where railroad companies had neither
money nor time to spend in avoiding heavy gradi-
ents and sharp curves, gave the American machines
an advantage over the rigid English locomotive
which they have ever since maintained. Even to-
day a billiard-table road-bed is essential in obtaining
good results from machines of English make. The
equalizing-lever, patented by Joseph Harrison, Jr.,
of Philadelphia, was the second improvement, and
was absolutely demanded by the rough-and-ready
nature of the work required on American railroads.
It gave greatly increased stability, and lessened to a
large extent the danger of derailment. The idea of
two pairs of driving-wheels was patented in 1 836 by
Henry R. Campbell.
AMERICAN RAILROADS
101
The railroads of the country were growing, mean-
while, and those already mentioned and a few others
were either undertaken or in view within twelve
months of the day that the Best Friend pulled the
first passenger-train out of the Line Street station in
Charleston. In 1830 there were but 23 miles of
railroad in operation in the United States. Within
a year this had been increased to 95, and a year
later still to 229 — a wonderful record, considering
the undeveloped resources of the country at that
time. It cannot be claimed that these railroads
were such as to compare even distantly with those
in England. They were but primitive constructions
at the best, cheaply built, poorly equipped, faultily
designed, and, briefly, such only as a young country
commanding the crudest of mechanical appliances
could produce. Then, as in later times, it was the
practice of railroad managers to construct their lines
as quickly and as cheaply as possible, leaving their
improvement to the future, when its necessity should
have been demonstrated, and the expense could be
borne by the earnings and surplus funds. This pol-
icy, avoiding enormous initial outlay, is still working
itself out, as has been seen so plainly of late years
in the gigantic undertakings by which the Pennsyl-
vania road is straightening its crooked course, and
the New York, New Haven, and Hartford is obvi-
ating highway crossings at grade. In England, on
the contrary, construction has always proceeded
upon a different plan. Heedless of obstacles, re-
gardless of expense, and careless of time, engineers
have gone slowly forward. Had Edinburgh and
London been as far apart as New York and San
Francisco, they might not yet have had a rail con-
nection. The Manchester and Liverpool, the second
English railroad opened, well illustrates this. It
approached very nearly to those attainments of
engineering skill which characterize construction to-
day. George Stephenson, who had invented the
locomotive, also carried out the building of its path-
way ; and in this road, with its underground tunnel,
high embankments, deep cuttings, lofty viaduct, and
buoyed road-bed across the quaking bogs of Chat-
moss, he achieved a distinction as an engineer that
was second only to the greater glory of his mechan-
ical inventions.
America, slow though she necessarily was at first
in developing the resources which were essential to
perfect railroad construction and equipment, was
behind no nation in her realization of the economic
value of this new method of transportation. Her
initial crudity, even if the circumstances of the time
did not sufficiently excuse it, may perhaps be par-
7*
doned when it is considered what sacrifices the pro-
prietors have made in later years in order to overtake
and outstrip every other nation on the face of the
earth. The American railway system stands forth
to-day as the most stupendous and progressive, and
among the most perfect, in the world. But this is
outrunning history. Sixty-five years ago, the great
mass of the people never dreamed, wonderful as they
beHeved the railroad to be, of the extended achieve-
ments of to-day. Only by a few men of great
minds was the true significance of this new factor in
affairs properly appreciated. Long after the excite-
ment and novelty attending the opening of a new
road or the trial of a new locomotive had worn off
through the very frequency of its occurrence, they
were planning and working toward great ends.
They saw that the canal system must give way be-
fore the new force as soon as the public needs
demanded that speed and convenience should
replace the old-time delays and discomforts. With
it all, the men who had made New York the great
commercial center of the country, and who, down
the long Erie Canal and the broad waterway of the
Hudson, had led to their city the produce of the
great central and lake region, then known as the
West, saw their commercial supremacy menaced.
Nor did they reaHze the danger more quickly than
did the enterprising spirits of the other great rival
seaports — Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore —
recognize their opportunities. The Erie Canal,
striking to the very heart of the continent on the
line of least elevation above tide-water, had settled
the question, until then contested, as to which of the
great Eastern cities should become the national port
of entry and distributing center. Away down in
New Orleans, reaching up with the long arm of the
Mississippi, as well as in all the Atlantic seaports,
had been felt the diversion of the stream of Western
trade ; and it was, in fact, the effort to recover this
lost ground that caused one of the earliest of the
railroads, the great trunk-line of the Baltimore and
Ohio, to be projected. Between Baltimore and her
hopes, however, stretched the rough barrier of the
Alleghanies, and the engineering skill of those days
was scarcely sufficient to compass all at once this
difficulty. Philadelphia, too, actuated by the same
motive and attempting reprisal by the same means,
found herself balked by the same great wall. Still,
these delays were recognized as being only tempo-
rary, and already, by 1835, Boston was seen to be
reaching out over the Boston and Worcester to cross
the previously supposed insuperable barrier of the
Berkshire Hills and enter Albany, This, we know,
102 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
was accomplished in 1841 ; but long before that early increase as expressed in percentages is seen
time, in 1836, the great trunk-line of the Erie Rail- at once. From 1835, when the first 1000 miles of
way was commenced, and the foundation laid for railroad were in operation, the increase for each
New York's greatness as a railroad center. The established period of five years varies but little from
completion of this road to Dunkirk in 1851, and its one hundred per cent, until the time of the Civil War.
opening for through traffic, marks the inauguration With the railroads of the country thus doubling twice
of the trunk-Hne system. in every ten years, it is easy to understand that condi-
Another great railroad power, active during all tions must have been more or less chaotic so far as
the earlier period in behalf of New York, was the rates and facilities were concerned. Towns reached
New York Central, which was formed in 1853 by only by a long, tiresome, and expensive wagon-ride
the consolidation of five small railways. This shows one year were placed in close communication with
how, before its future great president. Commodore the outside world the next. The communication
Vanderbilt, entered on his successful career as a naturally established trade relations ; a new market
manager, others appreciated the axiom that compe- and a new source of supply were concurrently
tition among railroads cannot exist where combina- developed, and the effect could not be anything
tion is possible. Commodore Vanderbilt was, how- but stimulating to the industrial condition of the
ever, well known before that as an important factor country.
in the business of conducting transportation. In There was much unevenness in this early develop-
the very earliest days of railroads, when the Boston ment, however, and much inequality ; not only was
and Providence, in 1835, established the first link in one town favored at the expense of another, but
the rail connection between New York and Boston, even the favored ones found themselves confined
his steamboats afforded the complementary trans- within the limits of a system that was ignorant of
portation. It would be far too tedious, and require coterminous facilities, and jealous to an extreme
too great a space, to trace in detail the fortunes of degree of joint traffic. In such conditions, there-
the American railroads through the disconnected fore, it was some time before the many links began
links of short lines which began in 1831 to spring to realize that they were but part of what must
up all over the country. As an evidence of the eventually be a great chain. It was not until so
number and comparative insignificance of these late as i860 that the railroad chain was complete
roads, it can be stated that in 1832, when the total and continuous along the Atlantic coast and to the
mileage of the country was only 229, there were no South, and that Bangor, Me., and New Orleans
less than sixty-seven separate railroad companies in were at last at the ends of a connecting system,
the State of Pennsylvania alone. In this multiplic- In the West, prior to 1850, there were, broadly
ity of beginnings a general idea of the growth of speaking, no railroads. The first ones to be built
the railroads of the United States can best be derived on the farther side of the Alleghanies were, singu-
from the following figures, which give the total mile- larly enough, in the extreme Southern States of
age of the country by demi-decades from 1830: Louisiana and Mississippi. These roads were the
Clinton and Port Hudson, incorporated in 1833,
MILES OF RAILROAD^ IN^OPERATION FROM ^^^ the Bayou Sara and Woodville road, incorpo-
Y^^^ Miles IN rated as the West Feliciana Railroad Company in
1820. DERATION. 1 83 1 . They were operating before 1 840, and have
^^35 1.09I continued ever since, enjoying the distinction of
1840 2,818 . , ^
1845 4.633 bemg the pioneer Western railroads. For ten years
^ll° 9.021 thereafter no new ones entered the field, but by the
1855 18,374 ' ^
i860 30,626 middle of the next decade a network of them was
{3-^ t2 022 stretching across the face of the great central region.
1:875 74.096 A system of land grants did much to foster this
1885 ..............'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'..'.'..'.'.'.'. 12^)361 growth in the West. The general government
'890 166,706 allotted certain alternate sections of the public lands
1892 ..'................"..'....'.'.'.'...'.'.'.'. 174750 to the several States in the West, and these States
*f93 170,607 ceded them under certain conditions, in the nature
1094 . . 175,441 . . „
of a subsidy, to the railroads. The Illinois Central
Omitting for the present the consideration of the and the Mobile and Ohio were the first railroad
later figures, the proportionate importance of the corporations to gain the advantage of these grants.
AMERICAN RAILROADS
103
It was during this period that the far-reaching
effects of the railroads began to be appreciated in
the fuller significance to which their extension has
brought them to-day.
The intervention of the five years of war and
turmoil which came coincidently with this realization
prevented the immediate carrying out of the plans
then formed. Nevertheless men were planning all
through that dark and disturbed time, laying the
foundations of those gigantic undertakings the be-
ginnings of which were made almost before the
dawn of peace at Appomattox was saddened by the
death of Lincoln. By 1866 the spirit of railroad
extension was spinning the shining network of its
rails throughout the land; by 1869 it reached
dimensions wonderful to behold, 8000 miles in each
of the two succeeding years being the rate of in-
crease. Profits satisfying the grasping hopes of
avarice beckoned capital on, and, with small regard
for consequences to themselves, the railroad man-
agers plunged recklessly into competition. Existing
lines were paralleled ; territories already covered by
one system were invaded by rivals, and the great
war of competition began in earnest.
This weakness of unhmited competition, coupled
with the extreme sensitiveness of the railroad to
industrial and commercial changes, found it more
than vulnerable when the crash of 1873 came upon
the country. In view of the disastrous consequences
of the failure of Jay Cooke & Company, in the
troubles of that time, the railroad may fairly be said
to have aided in bringing about its own decline,
since it was in attempting to carry singly the enor-
mous financial burden of the Northern Pacific con-
struction that this great house went under. Within
the next two years railroad increase dropped off
seventy-five per cent. Then, responding to improved
conditions, it started again on the wonderful career
which ended early in the eighties, when enterprise,
having overdone itself in such follies as the Nickel
Plate and the West Shore bubbles, fell from sheer ex-
haustion. Recovering therefrom within the short
space of three years, a fresh start was taken, at a
pace that placed the record for annual railroad
extension at nearly 13,000 miles. This was between
1886 and 1887, and was followed by a normal
growth lasting until the financial troubles and indus-
trial depression of 1893, when for the first time in
the history of railroads in the United States the
number of miles of road operated decreased. The
discussion of this phase of the subject, bringing us
as it does to the present time, will properly come
later. Reverting, then, to the period immediately
following 1869, extending, with the brief interrup-
tion already noted, to 1883, we find an idea of the
pace at which the great systems of the country were
evolving in the figures for the single decade between
1869 and 1879.
INCREASE OF SELECTED SYSTEMS, 1869 to 1879.
Name of Road.
Mileage,
1869.
Mileage,
1879.
Pennsylvania R. R
593
1,150
839
4,000
2,500
2,158
2,250
N. Y. Central and H. R. R
Chicago and Northwestern
Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul . . .
This increase is not, of course, to be set down
wholly to structural extension, which was in fact
but one factor in the growth, and scarcely more
important than several others. Consolidation, or
acquirement by lease or purchase, has much to do
with the formation of great lines. This policy was
undoubtedly based in its conception upon the falla-
cious idea, generally held by railroad managers at
that time, that it was possible for a road, by exclu-
sive control of territories, to obtain advantages in
the dictation of rates and facilities that would enable
it to maintain itself upon the arbitrary basis of
charging "all that the traffic will bear." Under-
taken in this spirit, however, the great systems,
coming to understand more fully the limitations of
their power, have applied themselves to the problem
as it actually exists, and in the constantly decreasing
rates of transportation, made possible by the econo-
mies of concentration and latter-day improvements,
they have given that stimulation to trade which is
at once the encouragement of the merchant and the
advantage of the carrier. To illustrate the growth
that has resulted, the increased mileage of the fol-
lowing large systems in the period from 1883 to
1894 is given:
GROWTH OF SELECTED SYSTEMS, 1883 to 1894.
Name of Road.
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa F^ . . . .
Baltimore and Ohio
Central Pacific . . . .
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy . . .
Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific. . .
Illinois Central
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern.
New York, Lake Erie, and Western
Northern Pacific.
Southern Pacific
Union Pacific
Mileage,
Mileage,
1883.
1894.
2,510
9,345
1,554
2,907
1,213
1,428
3,322
5.730
1,381
3,572
1,927
4,296
i>339
1,476
1,02=;
2,061
2,546
4,457
990
6,651
1,820
4,469
104
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Sketching thus in outline the history of the rail-
roads down to recent times, one branch of the sub-
ject has been omitted until the last in order that its
importance might have the full consideration that it
deserves. This is the transcontinental system. Its
conception, its accomplishment, and its development
are the glory of American genius, and its union of
the most distant bounds of this great nation the
bond which makes one in material fact a nation
that must ever be one in sentiment and purpose.
So early as April i, 1850, there met at Philadelphia
a convention called to discuss the feasibility of a
railroad to the Pacific coast. The discovery of the
California gold-fields, and the rush thither in the
years preceding, had turned men's minds as they
had never been turned before toward that wonder-
ful country so lately won from Mexico by the
aggressive patriotism of Commodore Shubrick.
From a little-known region where traders bartered
for hides with the indolent and suspicious Mexicans,
California had become the El Dorado where hun-
dreds of thousands longed to go, and thousands
already there clamored for the supplies the East
would so willingly have furnished them. But there
were no means of getting there except by the long
sea- voyage, either crossing the Isthmus or around
Cape Horn, or by the equally slow and far more
perilous voyage in the prairie-schooner across the
plains and mountains, where hostile Indians, starva-
tion, thirst, — every danger, in short, that an unknown
and arid land could offer, — awaited the traveler.
Could a railroad but be built, these gentlemen who
gathered at Philadelphia in 1850 felt how great
would be its achievement and how instant its suc-
cess. They were ahead of their time, however, and
the project was too vast for immediate acceptance.
Man had not then become accustomed to working
miracles, as he has in these days, when no project
is too immense or chimerical to have its stock sub-
scribed for at some figure. Accordingly nothing
was done beyond the mere exploiting of a great
idea ; but perhaps that was the best thing that could
have been done, inasmuch as it familiarized men's
minds to the contemplation of the thing as possible.
The second great step in the preliminary endeavors
toward transcontinental railways was made during
the administration of President Pierce, The War
Department, at whose head was Jefferson Davis,
organized and carried out a great survey, laying out
several railroad routes across the continent. The
report of these governmental engineers still further
interested the country in the subject.
The idea first enunciated in 1850 was twenty
years in coming to its full fruition. The conditions
caused by the war, and the necessity, more strongly
felt than ever, for close communication with the
great Western regions and the Pacific slope, were
powerful motive forces in the direction of such an
undertaking. Cahfornia had built her first railroad
in 1856, and was as eager to reach the Atlantic as
the Eastern States were to arrive at the Golden
Gate. With a united sentiment in its favor, and a
government ready to aid by every means in its
power, the stupendous project was inaugurated on
July I, 1862, by the incorporation by Congress of
the Union Pacific, which in its junction, seven years
later, with the Central Pacific near Ogden, Utah,
completed the first railroad line across this or any
continent. The government, as its share in the
undertaking, granted subsidies of enormous value.
To the Union Pacific — the main line of which ran
from Omaha, a straggling frontier town, to Ogden,
Utah, a distance of 1033 miles — was granted a sub-
sidy in bonds of $16,000 per mile from the Missis-
sippi River to the base of the Rockies. Across this
almost impassable barrier the amount was raised to
$48,000 per mile, and between there and the Sierras
lowered again to $32,000 per mile. In all, 1038
miles were subsidized, at an expense to the govern-
ment in bonded indebtedness of $27,236,512. In
addition to this the company was granted, subject
to securing patent, no less than 12,000,000 acres of
land.
The Central Pacific, in its turn, with a subsidized
mileage of 737, cost the government in bonds issued
$25,885,120, and received land grants amounting to
90,000,000 acres. The first rail on the Union
Pacific was laid in July, 1865, and between then
and May 15, 1869, when the junction with the
Central Pacific was finally made, the work was car-
ried on amid difficulties such as can scarcely be
understood to-day. Surveying parties, cut off by
Indians, perished miserably; construction camps
harassed, stock driven off, stragglers cut down
almost within hearing of the clicking picks and strik-
ing shovels ; constant alarms and wearying watch-
fulness— all these things made up the price which
the white man paid the Indian for passage across
his lands. Nor were these the only difficulties.
Nature herself opposed her most formidable front
to the invaders of her solitudes — deserts parched and
alkaline, rivers rock-walled and turbulent, valleys to
be crossed, hills to be cut down, mountains to be
wound about in snake-like, tortuous cvirves. Now
clinging to the side of a sheer precipice, now span-
ning a fathomless chasm, now diving beneath some
Stuyvesant Fish.
AMERICAN RAILROADS
105
huge spur barring the way across the everlasting
heights, slowly the twin threads of steel crept on.
Men who had shriveled with fever on the sun-baked
levels shivered with the deadly cold on the cloud-girt
heights, and hundreds fell. But the Rockies were
crossed at last; to an altitude of 8205 feet above
sea-level the long roadway cHmbed, falling thence
slowly to the plateau beyond. It was the greatest
engineering feat man had ever achieved, and marks
an epoch in the progress which there began to
stretch beyond the accepted bounds of human lim-
itation. The Central Pacific crossed the Sierras in
a similar manner at an altitude of 7042 feet, and
dragged for hundreds of miles through the Hum-
boldt Desert, and the work was done. There is no
need to enlarge upon the importance of what is self-
evident. The correlation of Occidental development
and Eastern prosperity is too well understood to
require demonstration, and even if it were not, the
results which the brief quarter of a century of trans-
continental communication has effected speak far
beyond the power of either words or figures.
Others of the early transcontinental lines speedily
followed on the commencement just related. Long
before the first through train from East to West was
run, new companies had been chartered, and long
construction trains, laying their roads before them as
they went, were crawling across the continent. The
Northern Pacific, chartered in 1864, was organized to
construct a line from Lake Superior to Puget Sound,
a distance of 1800 miles, with a branch 200 miles
in length to Portland, Ore. The land grants ob-
tained by this company aggregated 47,000,000 acres.
The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, chartered in
1866, obtained grants of land based on mileage;
12,800 acres being allowed per mile in the States,
and 25,600 acres per mile in the Territories. This
line in connection with the Atchison, Topeka, and
Santa Fe, and the St. Louis and San Francisco
Railway, made practically two routes across the
continent. The Texas Pacific, which was incorpo-
rated in 1 87 1 to extend from New Orleans to Sierra
Blanca, a distance of 1068 miles, joined there the
Southern Pacific, which ran to San Francisco, and
the rail connection was opened on October 15,
1882, thus perfecting the union of the Pacific coast
with the country at large, and more fully binding it
in the following year by the further junction of the
Southern Pacific with the Galveston, Harrisburg,
and San Antonio road to the Gulf.
It would be impossible to trace further, even if
space allowed, the progress in detail of that most
complicated organism, the American railroad system,
toward its present condition. By just what steps
the advance, undeniably making toward homogene-
ity and a concentration of control, is to be brought
about is a question hard to answer, and admitting
of explanation based on varying opinions. It is
unquestionable that this potent force steadily work-
ing is the one in which the final solution of the so-
called " railroad problem " will be found. It is a
power best observed in the results following its
manifestations as railroad history knows them, and
therefore best studied in the abstract rather than in
the detailed enumeration of the absorption by the
XX line of the YZ road, and so on through all the
permutations of railroad evolution.
The constructive period of the railroad in the
United States may be said to have ended in 1869,
assuming our definition of this period as that diuring
which extension was purely on legitimate lines, with
new fields for all, and non-competing roads the rule.
This period, being naturally one of great prosperity
for existing lines, became through this very reason
the cause of their own undoing. It showed men
where money was to be made, and regardless of the
fact that where one man may live in plenty two
men may find but scanty rations, and four men
starve, they rushed into the new field. Thus was
inaugurated, almost imperceptibly at first, but more
and more impetuously as it went on, the era of un-
checked competition, through which it seems to have
been necessary that the railroads should pass. The
very swiftness with which it came on -only aggra-
vated the distemper. Industrial and commercial
conditions found it impossible to keep up with the
facilities that the railroads were offering. Manufac-
tories were only producing such an amount as trade
demanded, and trade, in its turn, was only of such
volume as consumption, regulated by existing con-
ditions, required. In the handling of this internal
commerce, transportation facilities as they then
existed sufficed.
Into this seemingly well-balanced order was sud-
denly injected the new element of vastly increased
transportation capacities. Competitors built rival
roads side by side with the old ones, and tapped
from opposing sides the tributary territories. Then,
that they might secure business, rates were lowered
and the war fairly begun. Where one railroad had
been able to handle the traffic of a given section,
two now divided between them the same traffic.
Commerce could not double itself at a bound ; it
had to grow. Furthermore, it saw its advantage in
this struggle of the railroads, and so in turn crowded
each of the competitors to a fresh concession, which
106
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
was at once used as the lever to screw down again
the rival. This state of affairs could not last, and
its effects were soon seen in the bankrupt roads that
began to appear. These only brought a fresh com-
plication to a condition of affairs that was fast be-
coming alarming to the longer heads who were
managing the great lines. Thus was demonstrated
the fallacy that competition, free and untrammeled,
could work no evil. With nothing in their treasuries
and profit earning impossible, the only resource of
the bankrupt roads was to secure business at any
price in order to live, and they did it, and kept on,
while the solvent lines became poorer.
From such a state of affairs there was but one
issue — natural, but distasteful to a degree to men
who were jealous of their company's exclusive sov-
ereignty, even to the extent of refusing joint traffic.
This issue was combination, and the lukewarm
manner of its early adoption made it but a poor
remedy. Furthermore, the public, ever ready to
view with alarm the harmony of great interests, saw
in this only a gigantic scheme of the railroads to
monopolize power. The very men and communi-
ties who had thrived by the discriminations forced
by a fierce competition were loudest in protesting
when a more equitable adjustment was proposed.
Towns fifty miles apart and connected by two or
more roads could exchange their goods at a less rate
of freight than was paid by the shipper in the small
half-way town who had only one road to depend
upon. By such a system as this the railroad man-
agers sought compensation for the slaughter of rates,
and the secretly favored shippers acquiesced silently.
From those who paid full rates in the less favored
towns, however, there was no such approbation.
They were undoubtedly discriminated against, and
instead of recognizing that it was the inevitable
result of that competition so universally applauded,
they regarded it as the deliberate persecution of
great corj^orate interests.
In the West this feeling was most intense, and the
Granger movement, which began in Illinois in 1870,
and attained the dimensions of a political power
three years later, attests its violence. Of the legis-
lation growing out of this agitation in the West there
is little need to speak. The railroad commissions,
as at first there organized, were too extreme in
their partisanship to exert great remedial influence.
Drastic laws enacted by the legislatures, scaling
arbitrarily all rates to the basis of the competitive
rate, nearly ruined the railroads. Taxes, wages, and
fixed charges had to be met, and rates on that basis
could not accomplish it. Capital became frightened
and withdrew, and development in those sections
was arrested to such an extent that even the legisla-
tures themselves became alarmed, and where the
Granger movement had flamed the fiercest it died
the soonest, and within three or four years less
arbitrary laws were passed, and the commissions
became less bitter in their antagonism.
Early commissions in the East were more fortu-
nate, owing to the fact that the resident ownership of
railway stocks and bonds made their spirit more
temperate and their powers less arbitrary. Of this
early appearance of the State regulation of railroads,
afterward developed in 1 886 to national proportions,
the scope of this article prevents extended mention,
the subject falling more strictly within the lines of
the chapter on " Interstate Commerce."
Adhering, then, to the original lines of railroad
discussion, we come in 1873 to that epoch-mark-
ing event, the Saratoga Conference. Competition
was verging on chaos. The solvent lines, having
competed until combination had been forced as the
alternative of ruin, now sought to present a united
front to the bankrupt and reckless roads, whose
motto was " business at any price." The five great
trunk-lines connecting the Eastern seaboard with
the interior were the Baltimore and Ohio, the Penn-
sylvania, the Erie, and the New York Central, and
north of all these the Grand Trunk, a Canadian line.
Agents from the first four of these lines had from
time to time met at regular intervals and published
agreed rates. In the summer of 1873, however.
Commodore Vanderbilt being at Saratoga, repre-
sentatives from the Erie and the Pennsylvania met
him there, and an arrangement was entered into by
which, in addition to agreeing upon tariffs, the roads
in question were to establish a board of arbitration
to adjust disputes. President Garrett, of the Balti-
more and Ohio, absent from the original conference,
but consulted later, was the only dissentient Ameri-
can. He refused to submit the independent action
of his road to any board of arbitration. A rate war
with his nearest neighbor in the combination, the
Pennsylvania, was therefore begun, which resulted
in the undoing of the work of the Saratoga Confer-
ence, and all four of the American lines going back
to the old arrangement of a mutually agreed-upon
freight tariff and independent action.
The Grand Trunk, cooperated with by numerous
small Western roads, started one of the most
momentous railroad wars ever known, and one that
bade fair for a time to transfer to Boston the com-
mercial supremacy previously enjoyed by New York.
The terminals of this line, by virtue of its connec-
AMERICAN RAILROADS
107
tions, were Milwaukee and Boston, and between
these points rates were fixed at a figure that was
shortly diverting from Chicago and New York the
great stream of traflSc, hitherto uninterrupted, be-
tween these great centers. Neither Milwaukee nor
Boston being competitive points for the other four
great trunk-lines, these roads were disinclined to
commence a ruinous rate war; but the divergence
of New York's trade to Boston became at length so
alarming, in the winter of 1875, that the New York
Central was forced to take action, which it did with
an initial and sweeping cut of sixty per cent. Fol-
lowing the invariable rule in such cases, the warring
parties soon reached the point when an agreement
was necessary, and a sort of truce was patched up
in December, which, after enduring a few weeks,
ended in a general melee, in which the Erie, the
New York Central, and the Grand Trunk were the
most prominent, although after about eight months
the entire five trunk-lines were ready for almost any
sort of an agreement.
The significance of this earliest rate war, by which
Boston had benefited so greatly, was not lost upon
Philadelphia and Baltimore, and all through the
succeeding struggles the underlying motive was
found in the desire of one of the three other great
seaboard cities to surpass New York. With the
exception of Boston, already sufl[iciently favored by
the Grand Trunk, both Philadelphia and Baltimore
had always been conceded a slight differential ad-
vantage in rates to neutralize the difference in ocean
freights their location imposed. New York found
herself unable to concede the advantage longer when
her rivals began their war for supremacy, and vari-
ous more equitable substitutes were proposed and
tried. Nothing availed, however, to avert one final
struggle between all the lines ; and after rates had
sunk to from 2.8 mills to 3.5 mills per ton per mile
between the East and West, the roads at length
wearied, and the joint or " pool " system was for the
first time adopted on the great trunk-lines in 1877 ;
Colonel Fink, who had originated and successfully
carried out this idea two years before in the South-
ern Railway and Steamship Association, being called
upon to take charge. Under the terms of this first
"pool" the Baltimore and Ohio received but nine
per cent., the Pennsylvania twenty-five per cent.,
and the New York Central and the Erie thirty-three
and a third per cent each.
The important relation which these four great
trunk-lines concerned in the East and West traffic
bear to the railroad system causes them to serve
most readily the purposes of illustration of the
tendency toward closer relations displayed by the
American railroads in their advance toward the
homogeneous, even if not united, system of the
future. Through wars almost numberless the out-
come has been seen in every case to have been the
assumption by the competitors of some mutual obli-
gation for the sake of peace. The " pooling " idea
thus traced to its first great manifestation has not
been, however, of such recent growth as might be
supposed. It was introduced into New England at
an early date, and quietly used for a long time.
The celebrated Chicago-Omaha pool of 1870 and
the Southern organizations also preceded the Trunk-
Line Association ; but all of these were largely ex-
perimental, and certainly lacked the coherence aris-
ing from the discipline of an actual central authority.
When, after years of the bitterest war, however, the
great trunk-lines finally came to adopt it, men real-
ized that it had been inevitable. To-day, while rate
wars and the tactics of competition are by no means
ended, nor ever will be so long as many interests
compete for similar ends, their effects are no longer
so ruinous as twenty years ago. With the great
corporate interests vested in the railroads joining
with one another for mutual protection and advan-
tage, that thing most vividly pictured by the dema-
gogues has never come to pass. Instead of a great
monopoly crushing the public rights underfoot is
found a condition of things so vastly improved since
1873 that it seems scarcely possible that railroad
science can have advanced so greatly in so short a
space of time. Rates have fallen to a point abso-
lutely impossible before the era of improvement, and
both freight and passengers are now transported for
less money, and with more safety, speed, and con-
venience, than in any other country on the face of
the earth. Freight rates, which in 1873 averaged
1.985 cents per ton mile on the great trunk-lines,
fell in the twenty years ending in June, 1893, to .8
of a cent per ton mile, a reduction of nearly sixty
per cent. In the West and in the South the reduc-
tion has been much greater. In order to better
understand the tremendous significance of this
decrease a further reference to the figures will be
useful. The shippers of the country paid in round
figures the sum of $808,000,000 for the transpor-
tation of their freight in 1893. Had the rates of
twenty years ago still prevailed, the sum of $2,020,-
000,000 would have been required to meet these
charges. Thus the people and the commercial in-
terests of the United States were saved an annual
amount of $1,212,000,000.
Such a tremendous falling off in rates has, of
108
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
course, only been withstood by the raiboads by the
exercise of the most rigid economies, the adoption
of every improvement tending to minimize the cost
of operation, and an adaptation to latter-day needs,
which, on the closest of profit margins, demand a
volume of business of gigantic proportions in order
to balance the long account of the fixed charges.
Nor has this wonderful change in railroad conditions
come about without injury to the corporations en-
gaged. No less than forty per cent, of the mileage,
representing about thirty-one per cent, of the prop-
erty valuation of the railroads, has been forced into
bankruptcy during this period. The lines that have
survived the strain have done so only by the ex-
penditure of millions in the improvement of their
properties.
One of the greatest, as it is perhaps the most
important, of all these changes has been the intro-
duction of steel rails in the place of the old iron
ones. In the twenty years following the adoption
of these rails on the New York Central the volume
of traffic increased from 400,000,000 ton miles to
2,000,000,000 ton miles. With the old iron rails
such an enormous traffic would have been practically
impossible, and its cost absolutely prohibitive. Be-
ginning with a rail but little heavier than the iron
ones then in use, the weight has been gradually
increased as its economy was appreciated. To-day
the I oo-pound rail is in not uncommon use on lines
of heavy traffic, especially on curves and grades,
and it has been found one of the most potent factors
in reducing cost both in draft-power required and in
diminishing wear and tear on rolling-stock. The
increased use of steel in place of iron for rails,
resulting in the practical displacement of the latter
by the former, is best shown in the figures giving the
annual production of railroad bars during the period
covered by the change.
PRODUCTION AND DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION
OF RAILROAD BARS.
Retained for
Year.
Iron.
Steel.
Total.
Domestic
Consumption.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
1873. . .
679,520
115,192
794,712
794.371
1880! '.
447,901
259.699
707,600
706,598
440,859
864,353
1,305,212
1,304,181
1885. . .
13.228
963,750
976,978
973.009
1890. . .
13,882
1,871,425
1,885,307
1,869,426
1892. . .
10437
1,541407
1,551.844
1,536,146
The tons in this table are figured at long weight,
2240 pounds.
A still clearer idea of the increase in the use of
steel rails, expressed in mileage, may be had from
the fact that where in 1880 there were 81,967 miles
of iron to 33,680 miles of steel rails, there were in
1892 only 38,641 miles of iron as against 182,858
miles of steel rails, an increased percentage of steel
from 29.1 to 82.6 of the total mileage.
The direct result of the introduction of steel rails
was an increased weight of rolling-stock, and an in-
crease in more than an arithmetical proportion of
the carrying capacity per car. The freight-car of
a capacity of 30,000 pounds, used a few years ago,
is obsolete and wasteful, while those of 60,000
pounds and of even greater capacity are now in
general use, and may be classed as standard. As
cars increased in weight so did the locomotives.
With the heavy steel rail came of necessity the
weightier and more compact road-bed, and stone-
ballasted ways succeeded the old dirt embankment.
Over this, immense weights can roll freely, and the
locomotive has become a mammoth. In place of
the little one-ton Tom Thumb of Cooper, or the
heavy seven-ton engines of the Stephensons, are
found to-day the sixty and seventy ton passenger-
fliers and the eighty and ninety ton freight-engines.
One giant of the modem rail is a ten-driver freight-
locomotive of the Lake Erie and Western, which
weighs, as it couples to its train, 115 tons, and could
draw the combined rolling-stock of every road exist-
ing in the United States in 1835.
Important as track and road-bed are to this de-
velopment, they are but a part ; and as the strength
of a chain is that of its weakest link, so would the
modern railway fail were it not for the improved
bridge construction which has also come during the
past quarter of a century. All bridges in the earlier
days of the railroad were of wood, and the long
trestleworks with which the old engineers crossed
uncomfortable swamps are still well remembered.
Apart, however, from the question of its structural
strength, the wooden span was dangerous from other
reasons : it would decay in the weather ; it would
bum if a hot coal dropped ; and it would warp and
shrink if the material used in its construction was
unseasoned. Even an improved truss, obviating to
a certain extent the latter fault, was insufficient to
make the wooden bridge either a safe or a profitable
feature of railway construction, and by 1870 it had
begun to retreat before the iron bridge. This latter
material has now so nearly superseded wood in the
bridges of the country that it is scarcely necessary
to discuss it. The many designs of truss and span
give wide variety in its appHcation, from great sus-
pension-bridges to lofty viaducts. One of the latest,
and perhaps the greatest achievement of the bridge
AMERICAN RAILROADS
109
builder's art, is the so-called cantilever, which may
fairly be claimed as an American invention, since
the first suggestion of it came from Thomas Pope,
who proposed in 1810 a cantilever bridge across the
East River. The first cantilever bridge built for
railroad traffic was across the Kentucky River,
C. Shaler Smith being the engineer. Since then there
have been some wonderful examples of this style of
construction.
The bridges and road-beds, improved as outlined
above, have constituted lines over which the enor-
mous traffic of to-day passes easily and cheaply.
Single locomotives now draw trains weighing 2500
tons. Huge palace-cars, weighing as much as a
whole train did in the earlier days, are now whirled
along at a rate that fifty years ago would have been
considered beyond mortal attainment. Still engi-
neers and railway officials are not satisfied, and there
is a never-ceasing endeavor on all sides to advance
still further. The introduction of electricity as a
motive power, already heralded by the Baltimore
and Ohio in their Baltimore subway, and by the
line at Nantasket, Mass., is the first step in what
many able engineers believe will be an advance to
speed in comparison with which that of to-day will
seem as little as already does the " frightful velo-
city " of forty years ago, when a traveler held his
breath if the speed was greater than thirty miles an
hour.
A very natural query raised by the discussion of
speed on the modern railway is how it has been
accomplished concurrently with perfect safety. That
traveling is nearly as safe as remaining at home is
generally conceded, and in the United States espe-
cially fewer deaths are placed against the railroads
in proportion to the miles traveled than in any other
nation. Even with this favorable showing the laws
are so rigid in holding railroad corporations to the
strictest liability that nearly $2,000,000 annually are
awarded in death-claims and damages against them.
Spurred on by the strictness with which they were
held to account, and, little as it may be believed,
actuated also by humane motives, the railroads have
adopted every new and improved appliance tending
to increased safety.
Since the first use of the telegraph on the line of
the Baltimore and Ohio, everything tending to place
hundreds of miles of road under central and system-
atized observation and control has been adopted as it
appeared. The train despatcher, with his numerous
assistants, in the great union station, now directs
the movements of every train. Not a driving-
wheel turns but by his orders, nor a moment of lost
time is noted that is not at once explained to him.
The great switch-towers, where scores of levers
concentrate the directing force of acres of steel
network, are the development of the interlocking-
switch system. Air-brakes, torpedoes, flags, lights,
semaphores, electric enunciators, derailment guards
and split-rail switches, safety-bolts, and, last and
greatest of all, the block system, guarding both ends
of the flying express at once, are some of the meth-
ods and devices by which safety has been secured.
Of these, next to the block system, the air-brake,
which was first applied to passenger-trains in 1868,
is perhaps one of the most notable advances.
The evolution of the rolling-stock of the railroads,
particularly as it is connected with the passenger
service, began almost with the introduction of train
service. The English compartment coach was
quickly superseded by the so-called American car,
with its central aisle, side-seats, and undivided space.
The first sleeping-car, which was simply an ordinary
passenger-car fitted with rude wooden berths, was
run on the Cumberland Valley Railroad of Pennsyl-
vania from Harrisbxu"g to Chambersburg in 1836.
Sleeping-cars continued of the same crude sort until
1864, when George M. Pullman built the first of his
modern coaches in the shops of the Chicago and
Alton road. This car, named the Pioneer, was both
too heavy and too wide for the roadways of that
day ; but a special car being required to convey the
body of President Lincoln after his assassination,
the Pioneer was taken, and the Chicago and Alton
altered its road to suit its dimensions. Later, when
President Grant traveled through the West, this car
was taken, and several of the other roads made the
changes necessary to its passage over their lines.
Thus the Pullman car was introduced, and the
Pullman Car Company was organized in 1867.
The Wagner palace-car was also early in the field,
especially on the Vanderbilt lines. The first hotel
or buffet car was built in 1867, and the Delmonico,
the first Pullman dinner-car, was run on the Chicago
and Alton road in the year following. The vesti-
bule, making a safe passageway between the cars
of a moving train, was first suggested by a sort of
canvas diaphragm used to connect cars on the
Naugatuck Railroad in Connecticut in 1857, but it
was not until 1887 that the first vestibuled Pullman
train was operated. To-day a vestibuled limited
express has several luxurious sleeping or chair cars,
a dining-car, smoking-saloon, library and writing-
room, with stenographers and type-writers in atten-
dance, bath-room, and barber-shop. The old-time
method of tickets issued by each hne separately,
no ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
involving change of cars and several payments of now loaded in a car at New York and not unloaded
fare, is now done away with by the system of until it reaches San Francisco. Each line over
coupon tickets, in regulation of which the passenger- which the car travels on its journey charges its own
agents department of the different railroads has rates and receives its due proportion of the total
assumed a complexity of detail second only to that charges. The road owning the car in which the
in the freight department. goods are shipped receives in addition from three
The government's use of the railroad for the con- eighths to three fourths of a cent per mile from the
veyance of the mails is too generally understood to other roads, for whatever distance the car may
require more than a brief mention. Congress, on travel on their lines. The theory is that the Eastern
July 7, 1838, constituted every railroad in the car, when it reaches San Francisco and is unloaded,
United States a post-route. For this service a stip- is to be returned to its home line as soon as pos-
ulated amount per pound has always been paid the sible. Unfortunately in practice this results but un-
railroads as common carriers of freight mail-matter, satisfactorily, despite the thorough organization of
A special compartment in the baggage-car served the modem car-accountant's department. Delays
for many years for the mail; but in 1864 Colonel in unloading, reloading for a point on the home-
Armstrong introduced the railway mail-car, as had ward journey, reloading consigned to order, and
been suggested two years before by W. A. Davis, a hundreds of other causes contribute to make more
clerk in the St. Joseph post-office. The first fast than problematical the date of return of a car that
mail-trains were run in 1874 by the New York has once got out of home territory. Plans to remedy
Central, and a little later by the Pennsylvania, the detention and "to order" abuses have been
The receipts from the mail service, together with proposed and tried in great number, the per diem
those from the express companies, etc., make up plan of demurrage or car rental, advocated by Mr.
about five per cent, of the revenues of the railroads, Fink, and introduced for a short time on the trunk-
and the passenger service contributes about twenty- line roads in 1 888, being about as successful as any.
five per cent. ; while the transportation of freight. The so-called fast freight lines are an important
which is the bulk of the business, adds seventy per feature of this branch of railroad transportation,
cent, to the incomes of the railroad corporations. They are of two kinds. The first is simply the
The rolling-stock necessary to the transaction of development carried a little further of the system
this business, as apportioned among the different already described — the application of the coopera-
branches, is as follows : tive principle among a number of roads. The sec-
^ ond is the operation of cars by a private corporation
Passenger-cars 27,909 ,... , , ., ,
Baggage, mail, and express cars 7,937 derivmg its revenue from the same mileage charge
TT with which the railroads compensate one another for
Freight-cars i,i9i',884 the use of their rolling-stock.
Total cars 1,227,730 Through all these various channels the great vol-
ume of the country's traffic flows steadily back and
como IV s 3 , 93 forth. If our system is not the best in point of
The freight service being, therefore, the most im- routine detail and administration, it is still easily first
portant function, financially and commercially, of the in that far more important consideration of cost,
railroads, it has attained an economic importance Nowhere in the world is freight hauled so cheaply
of the first magnitude. In this phase it has already as it is in the United States. The average cost of
been considered, but in its practical working there transportation per ton mile is, as has already been
has been developed a system of such far-reaching stated, .8 cent. In Europe it is two and one half
scope and immense potentiality that it deserves de- times as much, or two cents per ton mile. The
scription. The days when no road allowed its difference amounts in the annual aggregate to mil-
freight-cars to leave its own tracks have long since lions of dollars, the greater part of which represents
passed. The expense and delay incident to the an actual saving to the people of the country on the
frequent transhipment of through freight became standard articles of consumption and necessaries of
insupportable, and the commercial world rebelled, life. The actual value in dollars and cents which
The adoption of a standard gauge and the accep- this saving represents can easily be figured from the
tance of the principles of joint traffic began directly totals given by "Poor's Manual" for 1895: the
after the Civil War, and have extended until they number of tons of freight moved was 675,129,747,
have reached the present conditions. Freight is and the average length of haul 121.89 miles, giving
AMERICAN RAILROADS
111
82,289,400,498 ton miles. Estimating the average
difference between American and European rates at
1.2 cents, the difference in total charges, accruing
as a clear saving to the public, is $987,472,805.97.
The strikes and labor troubles from which the
railroads have ever suffered are scarcely to be dis-
cussed within the limits of this article. The first
great strike appears to have been that on the Balti-
more and Ohio in 1857, and the last was the
uncalled-for and disastrous Chicago riot of 1894.
It is scarcely possible to measure in money the
damage done, since, apart from the losses sustained
by either party to the dispute, is the loss to the
business interests of the country through impeded
transportation and obstruction of the mails. Any
one branch of business that employs, as the railroads
do, 2,000,000 people is, of course, liable to labor
troubles; but in view of the relations held by the
railroads to the general interests of the country, it
is scarcely reasonable that the conveniences and
necessities of nearly 70,000,000 should be disre-
garded, even if the interests of the other 2,000,000
were being thereby advanced, which is by no means
so certain as labor leaders would make others think.
The growth of the railroads of this country, coin-
cident as it has been with Western development,
has witnessed a steady march of the mileage center
in the direction popularly supposed to be taken by
the star of empire. This advance, together with the
relative growth of railroad mileage of the different
groups of States, is shown by the following tables :
MILEAGE CENTERS.
1840 25 miles west of Mauch Chunk, Pa.
1850 25 miles northwest of Williamsport, Pa.
i860 60 miles south of Mansfield, O.
1870 Paulding, O.
1880 30 miles northwest of Logansport, Ind.
1888 90 miles south-southwest of Chicago, 111.
MILEAGE INCREASE BY GROUPS OF STATES.
1850.
i860.
1870.
1880.
1890.
New England. . . .
2,507
3,660
4.494
5,982
6,831
Middle States
3,202
6,705
10,964
15,872
21,536
Southern States . .
2,036
8,838
11,192
14,778
29,209
Western States and
Territories ....
1,276
11,400
24,587
52,589
62,394
Pacific States and
Territories ....
23
1,677
4,080
9,804
The last subject to be taken up in the discussion
of the American railroad falls more properly within
the domain of the financier. When it is remembered
that $5,075,629,070 capital stock and $5,665,734,-
249 of bonded indebtedness are represented by rail-
roads in this country, the importance of the financial
interests involved becomes readily apparent. Financ-
ing has come to be as essential a department of railway
management as any other, and is, generally speaking,
more complicated and less capable of explanation.
Historically considered, railroad securities, which
have been for years the most prominent feature of the
money market, have had numerous ups and downs.
In the very earliest days, when all roads made
money freely, and the field had not yet become
overcrowded, investors subscribed for railroad stock
almost as fast as it could be issued. The crisis of
1857, with its demonstration of the liabilities of
stock under the bondholders' mortgage, caused a
sudden and violent reversion of public sentiment in
favor of the latter class of securities. Here again
the pendulum swung too far in the opposite direc-
tion. It was a simple matter for unscrupulous men
to organize a company and pay in a small fraction
of the stock and float their bonds. The bonds once
floated, some favored construction company would
be given the contract to build the road at a price
from ten to forty per cent, in advance of its real
cost. Then the first reverse threw the road into
bankruptcy, and under their mortgage the bond-
holders would take possession, thus securing a road
worth far less than the face value of its bonds, and,
as shown, from ten to forty per cent, less than the
investment made at the price for which these bonds
had been floated.
The crisis of 1873 brought the abuses under the
bond system home to many, but the bitter days
during 1885 were necessary to fully impress the
lesson upon the public mind. Since then a better
understanding of conditions has prevailed, and under
responsible managements the securities of the rail-
roads have come to represent intrinsic values, reliable
and stable, except so far as all great interests are
subject to prevailing national conditions.
The present condition of the railroads of the
United States is thus summarized in a statement of
their revenues and expenditures in " Poor's Manual "
for 1895 :
STATEMENT OF RAILROAD CONDITION AND
REVENUES.
Capital stock $5,075,629,070
Funded debt 5,665,734,249
Unfunded debt 383,567,232
Current debt 440,669,656
Total liabilities $1 1,565,600,207
Cost railroad and equipment $9,789,543,001
Real estate, stocks, bonds, and other invest's. 1,167,879,162
Other assets 240,526,350
Current accounts 226,502,371
Total assets $1 1,924,450,884
Excess assets over liabilities $358,850,677
112 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Statement of Railroad Condition and Revenues. — Pacific coast roads were the heaviest sufferers. Con-
Conttnued. sumption had almost ceased in the articles which
Passenger-traffic earnings $276,031,571 were superfluous, or purely for ornament, and the
Freight-traffic earnings 700,477,409 , j r ^t. ^- ^ j r
Other traffic earnings 9i»i34»533 demand for other articles ceased as far as was pos-
Elevated roads (New York) 12,661,502 gible. Under these circumstances manufacturers had
All other receipts, including rentals received by , . , , , . , , j j , , ■.
lessor companies 96,477,443 httle to deliver, and merchants and dealers found
~I 'T~ ~ it impossible to pay for more than a moiety of what
they had required in previous years. In the face of
Othe'r lnt°ere^t"^' '^^^754,971 ^his tremendous decline in receipts the railroads set
Operating expenses 757. 76^,739 themselves to a retrenchment of expenses that re-
RenSs.^tolls, etc! \ '. '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. '. '. '.'.'.'. '. '. '. '. '. (^'S>o'^4 suited in reducing the net loss in earnings to a point
Miscellaneous 38,220492 where, in some few notable cases, the net income
Payments $1,187,250,692 increased. How vast these economies were is best
^ , ^ , , , . „ shown in the following table, including a selected
Excess of fixed charges and miscellaneous pay- , , , , , ,
ments revenue $10,468,234 number of the larger and better-known roads :
ECONOMIES OF RAILROADS, 1894.
Railroads.
Decrease in Gross
Earnings.
Decrease in Net
Earnings.
Economies.
Pennsylvania (three roads)
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa F^ (four roads)
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy
Philadelphia and Reading C. and I
Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western (three roads)
Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul
New York Central and Hudson River
New York, Lake Erie, and Western
Chicago and Northwestern
Union Pacific (eight roads)
Illinois Central
Southern Pacific (six roads)
Baltimore and Ohio (two roads)
Michigan Central and Canada Southern
Northern Pacific
Delaware and Hudson (four roads)
Chicago and Alton
Manhattan Elevated
$12,794499
7.965,956
6,841,605
6,083,823
5,732,111
5,386,656
4,913,080
4,888,272
4,680,638
4,607,006
3,695,638
3.571,791
3,485,692
3,478,000
3,046,726
2,604,099
1,274,604
1,149,659
$2,445,129
5,706,743
1,453,723
1,742,612
1,203,734
1,453.355
704,562
2,572,317
2,491,366
3,477,057
2,311,809
2,092,716
1,245,263
363,000
1,520,518
1,083,515
247,202
1,021,711
$10,349,370
2,259,213
5,387,882
4,341,211
4.528,377
3,933,301
4,208,518
2,315,955
2,189,272
1,129,949
1,383,829
1 ,479,075
2,240429
3,115,000
1,526,208
1,520,584
1,027402
127,948
The financial and commercial troubles of 1893
developed in the railroads a new phase of adminis-
trative excellence that is the highest tribute that can
be paid, in closing this article, to the men who are
in practical charge of the great railroads of the
country. By the report of the Interstate Commerce
Commission, the year ending June 30, 1894, wit-
nessed a shrinkage of $840 per mile in the gross
revenues of 570 roads, representing a total mileage
of 149,559. Dividends on these roads fell off
$3,999,169, and there was a total deficit in their
accounts of $28,255,121. The Southeastern and
To treat the vast subject of the history of Ameri-
can railroads exhaustively in an article the limits of
which are circumscribed by the exigencies of space
would be manifestly impossible. If I have succeeded
in conveying a picture to the mind, although set in
a small frame ; if I have succeeded in demonstrating
the importance of our railroad system as a matter in
which every patriotic and intelligent citizen is deeply
concerned ; and if I have, by telling what has been
done, foreshadowed the unlimited possibilities of the
future, I shall feel satisfied with my effort to cover the
ground of American railway history, however briefly.
(^.(^.(^(^.(^(^.(^.(^
CHAPTER XVII
AMERICAN CAR BUILDING
THE memory of men still living is sufficiently
elastic to stretch back to the beginnings of
steam-railroads in this country, and to com-
prehend the various changes by which the modem
railway has become a highly organized and elabo-
rately equipped mechanism. We borrowed the rail-
way from England, but developed it on our own
lines. The invention of the locomotive at first
simply furnished a mechanical power to transport
freight in cars that had formerly been hauled by
horses. Tramways were in use in the Hungarian
mines during the sixteenth century; and Ralph
Allen's English stone-car of 1734, with its flanged
wheels and its hand-brake, is clearly the forerunner
of the freight-cars of to-day.
The term "railway" was invented in 1775, when
it was first used in Smeaton's reports on English
transportation, a quarter of a century before steam
was applied to locomotion. Thanks to the recent
researches of Mr. Clement E. Stretton, we now
know that the first persons ever conveyed by a
locomotive on rails traveled, on February 24, 1804,
behind Trevethick's locomotive on the Pennydarran
cast-iron plateway or tramroad to Merthyr-Tydvil,
in Wales, a distance of nine miles. In order to
transport long bars of iron and timber, the cars were
made in pairs, coupled together by an iron draw-bar
having a joint at either end. The cars had no
sides, but in the middle of each was fixed a center-
pin upon which worked a cross-beam or bolster, and
upon this cross-beam the timber or bars of iron were
placed. On the occasion adverted to the trucks
were loaded with ten tons of iron bars, and seventy
persons stood on the iron. Here we have the origin
of the bogie or truck, the invention of which has
been claimed for this country, as we shall see here-
after. Also the capacity of the freight-car, fixed at
the beginning at ten tons, remained at that figure
for half a century or more.
In 181 2, John Blenkinsop, of Leeds, had a pri-
vate car built to carry himself and his managers to
his Middleton colliery, while the workmen rode on
the coal-cars. On July 27, 1814, George Stephen-
son's first locomotive, Blucher, drew over the Kenil-
worth colliery line a passenger-car made by placing
the body of Lord Ravensworth's four-in-hand coach
on a wooden frame fitted with flanged wheels.
This car was used for twenty years. On Septem-
ber 27, 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway
was opened, and trains of coal-cars were run, with
one passenger-coach, named the Experiment. This
was the first passenger-car to be run regularly for
the use of the public. It was placed on four
wheels, and had a door at each end, with a row of
seats along either side and a long deal table in the
center. This car was operated ten days, until the
novelty was worn off; and then the faster stage-
coaches carried the passengers. It was not until
September 15, 1830, that the Liverpool and Man-
chester Railway opened its line with a train carrying
600 passengers, and immediately thereafter began to
run the first regular passenger-trains.
It is a striking fact in the history of car construc-
tion that the English invented both the truck and
the long passenger-car with the door at each end ;
and that these forms, once invented, were almost
immediately discarded in England, so that it was
left for this country to reinvent them and to make
them the distinguishing features of American car
building as contrasted with English construction.
Indeed, it has been with great reluctance that we
have ceased to claim them as original discoveries.
The fact that passenger-trains, by displacing
stages, threw out of use many of those vehicles,
coupled with the other fact that the stage owners,
submitting to the inevitable, often became railroad
promoters, furnishes a reason why the early masters
of transportation both used the stage-coach body as
a matter of economy, and also built their new cars
on the model in which the conveniences of travel
113
114
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
had been most highly developed. The first passen-
ger-coach used in Pennsylvania in 1832 was a stage-
coach slightly enlarged. To be sure, the early prints
show that in 1830 Peter Cooper's first locomotive
hauled an open boat-shaped car from Baltimore to
Ellicott's Mills, on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road ; but this model must have been adopted for
economy's sake, because in 1833 that railroad placed
in service the Ohio, a stage-coach in shape, with seats
on top as well as inside.
As President Mendes Cohen well observed in his
address before the American Society of Civil Engi-
neers in 1892, the first important modifications in
car building were called forth by the speed devel-
oped in the locomotive. Naturally the wheels first
demanded attention. The names of four men
are connected with early wheel improvement. Mr.
Knight improved the shape of the tread and flange ;
John Edgar and Ross Winans developed the chilled
features ; and Phineas Davis further improved and
perfected the wheel by altering the disposition of
the metal in the tread and the angle of the flange,
and by introducing within the cast-iron wheel a
wTOUght-iron ring of five eighths or three quarters
of an inch round iron, which both perfected the chill
and also added strength to the wheel. Mr. Winans's
shops turned out thousands of these wheels for use
not only in this country, but also in Germany and
Switzerland. From 30,000 to 50,000 miles repre-
sented the capabilities of a Winans wheel.
With increased speed came the need for increased
steadiness, and it occurred to Ross Winans that by
adopting the device of the bogie, or swiveling truck
used in the transportation of freight, he could build
an easy-riding passenger-car. In 1833 Mr. Winans
constructed three long houses on wheels, each capa-
ble of seating sixty passengers. Having patented
his invention, he was confronted by the fact that the
principle he had used was one that had been utilized
frequently on tramways, and particularly on the
famous Quincy granite railroad, built to transport
stone for the Bunker Hill Monument. At the end
of protracted litigation the courts annulled the
patent.
We now know that prior to 1830 England had
three bogie-engines at work ; that in 1 83 1 Stephen-
son's John Bull, built for the Camden and Amboy
road, was made into a bogie after it reached this
country — a fact made patent by the famous run of
that engine from New York to Chicago in 1893;
that Horatio Allen used a bogie-engine on the South
Carolina Railroad in 1832, the same year in which
the bogie-locomotive Experiment was built for the
Mohawk and Hudson Railroad. Moreover, the
bogie principle was patented in England in 181 2.
Yet, whatever may be the legal aspects of the case,
it is certain that the American passenger-car of to-
day originated with the three passenger-coaches
built in Ross Winans's shops in 1833. England
discarded the bogie principle for engines in 1830,
and did not return to it until 1876 ; and that coun-
try to this day has not adopted the bogie for passen-
ger or freight cars. In 1889, the Paris, Lyons and
Mediterranean Railway adopted the bogie for cer-
tain passenger-cars; and this year (1895) the Great
Western Railway of England has begun to experi-
ment with the bogie-truck. In America the Winans
passenger-coach almost immediately supplanted
everywhere the stage-coach form, which England
still retains in a modified shape, excepting only on
the Pullman cars, introduced into that country in
1874. With us not only the passenger-cars, but the
baggage, mail, and freight cars, all were placed on
swiveling trucks.
That the early railroads of this country were
designed to carry passengers rather than freight is
to be seen by their reports. The Baltimore and
Ohio road, from January i, 1831, to October ist,
carried over its thirteen miles of track 5931 tons of
freight and 81,905 passengers; and so late as 1839
the Camden and Amboy carried only 13,520 tons
of merchandise as against 181,479 passengers. In
fact, the railways as freight carriers could not com-
pete with the canals, which in those days were the
traffic routes. In 1831 the Tuscarora and Port
Carbon Railroad could not meet canal rates by
thirty-nine and one quarter cents per ton, the railway
charges being forty cents, plus a toll of fifteen cents
per ton, while the canal rates were ten and three
quarter cents, plus five cents toll.
Mr. John Kirby, describing from memory the
freight-car of 1848, says that it was the same square
box it is to-day ; its capacity was from six to ten
tons ; the roof was covered with cotton duck painted
and sanded. The hot sun cracked this covering and
let the water in on the freight, an annoyance com-
mon also to passenger-coaches of that day. Few
freight-cars were used in New York State at that
date, the Erie Canal being sufficient for summer
freight. Wood was the universal fuel, so there was
no coal transportation. Wooden brake-heads were
used, and it required three men to turn the screw
that pressed the wheels on and off the axles. The
ripping of planks was done by hand, as was also the
dressing up ; and when one man had tools to grind,
a fellow-workman turned the stone. Carpenters
AMERICAN CAR BUILDING
115
and car builders of six years' experience commanded
$i.i2j4 a day wages.
Viewed from the standpoint of to-day, the passen-
ger-car of the early fifties, built at a cost of about
$2000, was a combination of inconveniences. The
cast-iron stove in the center of the car broiled those
who sat immediately around it, while the unfortu-
nates one seat removed from its satanic glare shivered
and froze. In summer the dust was intolerable, and,
notwithstanding elaborate devices for ventilation,
the dust problem did not begin to be solved before
the appearance of the monitor roof in i860. Hot-
water heating and the abolition of the deadly car-
stove came with the Pullmans.
In 1856, Captain (now Sir) Douglas Galton,of the
Royal Engineers, was sent to America to investigate
our railways. His report to the Lords of the Privy
Council for Trade gives a straightforward and un-
biased account of his investigations. Perhaps there
is extant no other report which so comprehensively
discusses the railway situation in the United States
about that date.
" The practice of constructing railways [in Amer-
ica] in a hasty and imperfect manner," says Captain
Galton, " has led to the adoption of a form of roll-
ing stock capable of adapting itself to the inequalities
of the road ; it is also constructed on the principle
of diminishing the useless weight carried in a train.
The principle is that the body of the car is carried
on two four-wheeled trucks, to which the body is
attached by means of a pintle in the center, the
weight resting on small rollers at each side. The
framing of the truck is supported on springs resting
on the axles, and the pintle and rollers are fixed to
a cross-beam, which is attached by springs to the
main framing ; so that between the body of the car
and the axles are a double set of springs. India-
rubber springs are in general use, but they often
become hard ; consequently sometimes steel springs
are used, with great advantage. Any side move-
ment which might result from the slight play allowed
to the cross-beam is counteracted by springs placed
between its ends and the framing. An iron hoop
attached to the framing passes under the axle on
each side, so as to support the axle in case it should
break."
The bearings Captain Galton found not unlike
those used in England, but the use of oil as a lubri-
cator was novel. He was told that under favorable
circumstances the oil in an axle-box needed to be
renewed but once a month ; but that it was difficult
to obtain good oil. The wheels were of cast-iron,
with chilled tires ; they were from thirty to thirty-six
inches in diameter, weighed rather more than 500
pounds, and were without spokes. When made by
the best makers they would run from 60,000 to
80,000 miles before the tires were worn, and they
cost from ^3 to ^3 los. each. The iron used in
making wheels was of very superior quality ; and so
great was the practical skill required that but three
firms in the United States could be relied on to
furnish wheels of the first grade.
The most approved form of draw-bar was contin-
uous under the car, and was attached to the eUiptic
springs, acting in both directions. The iron shackle
was in general use, but some railways preferred an
oak shackle eighteen inches long, two inches thick,
and six inches broad. This block was bound with
an iron band divided on each side at the center, so
that a car on leaving the rails would break the
shackle transversely.
Already the automatic coupler for freight-cars
was prefigured in a device by which the pin in the
bumper of one of the cars was supported by means
of a ball, so that the shackle of the on-coming car
pushed back this ball and let the pin fall into its
place. All passenger-cars and most freight-cars
were supplied with brakes; and the Philadelphia
and Reading Railroad was endeavoring to anticipate
the day of train-brakes by an invention whereby
a sudden check in the speed of the engine applied
the brakes to the wheels of all the cars. The
saloon, the car-stove, and the ice-water tank all had
established themselves in the best cars, and were
novelties to the visiting Englishman.
On the Illinois Central, between Cairo and
Dubuque, some of the cars were filled with com-
partments in which the backs of seats turned up and
so formed two tiers of berths or sofas, for the
accommodation of persons who might wish to lie
down and were willing to pay for the privilege.
The passenger-car had attained a length of sixty
feet, though the thirty and forty-five foot cars were
more common ; the baggage-cars, with their com-
partments for mail and express, were thirty feet long,
and the freight-cars from twenty-eight to thirty feet.
In those days the freight-cars were constructed more
strongly than were the passenger-coaches ; a Balti-
more and Ohio freight-car twenty-eight feet long,
and with a capacity of nine tons, itself weighed six
tons.
In summing up the result of his observations as
to the rolling stock in this country, Captain Galton
notes that the Americans appear to have taken their
ideas more from a ship than from an ordinary car-
riage, and to have adopted the form best calculated
116
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
to accommodate large masses, with a minimum of
outlay for first cost ; and that while the cars had
been designed with a view to avoid every appear-
ance of privilege or exclusiveness, or of superiority
of one traveler over another, they had been con-
structed so as to secure to every traveler substantial
comfort and even privacy.
" There is but one class," he said ; " but as the
cars are designed with more regard to comfort than
English railway carriages, this class is much superior
to our second and third classes, and is inferior only
to the best first-class English carriages. Notwith-
standing the superior comfort of the American rail-
ways, the rates of fare averaged lower than the
second and sometimes even the third-class fares in
England."
Of necessity progress in car building had to wait
for the development of the railroads. The original
roads were not constructed as through lines between
the larger cities, but as the connecting-links between
natural waterways, answering to the portages or
carrying places of the old days when commerce was
conducted in canoes. Often built as the result of
local or State enterprise, a short line was sufficient
to use up the scanty capital available, or to exhaust
the willingness of the people to be taxed for public
improvements. The great systems of to-day repre-
sent survivals of the fittest early ventures, and de-
velopment according to environment. Thus the
various small roads which traversed the present
main line of the New York Central were not con-
solidated until 1853, and the same year the roads
between Philadelphia and Pittsburg came under one
control. So late as 1862 there were five separate
companies operating the lines between Lake Erie
and Lake Michigan ; and as each road had a gauge
of its own, it was regarded as a triumph in car con-
struction when freight-cars of compromise gauge
were built to run over all five roads. In 1869,
however, the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern
lines came under a single head.
When, in October, 1865, a combination was
formed among eight railroads to establish a fast
freight line between New York and Boston and
Chicago, the maximum difference in the gauges of
the several lines was one inch ; and this was com-
pensated for by a broad tread-wheel. Each com-
pany contributed a number of cars proportionate to
its mileage, one car for every three (afterward in-
creased to one for every two) miles. In 1865 the
quota of the Lake Shore and Northern Indiana was
179 cars; while in 1894 that road's quota of Red
Line cars was 2200.
In 1862 the United States government conducted
the greatest railroad business known up to that time.
With headquarters at Nashville, the government
operated 1500 miles of road with 18,000 men,
whose monthly wages amounted to $2,200,000.
The rolling stock consisted of 271 engines and 3000
cars. No entirely new locomotives were built, but
the 3000 men employed in the locomotive repair-
shops pieced out fully equipped engines founded on
a serviceable boiler or a pair of sound driving-
wheels.i Among the triumphs of the national car-
shops were, first, a headquarters car for General
Thomas, the car being fifty feet long, iron-plated,
and provided with a kitchen, a dining-room, a sleep-
ing apartment, and an office ; and, secondly, the
hospital-trains, in which the jars and jolts were
reduced to a minimum. It was dimng the year
1864 that General McCallum and Colonel Wyman
came to Detroit and summoned the managers of the
Michigan Car Company to stop all building then in
progress and to work solely for the government.
They gave a contract for a number of box and flat
cars to be operated on Southern roads; and inas-
much as the gauge differed from that of the North-
ern roads, the new cars were loaded on flat cars and
sent to Cincinnati. The government officials fixed
the price of the cars and made payment in certifi-
cates, some of which the company exchanged for
materials, and the remainder were held until money
could be obtained for them.
The enormous transportation business developed
by the war, together with the labor conditions and
the paper-money issues, combined to raise the price
of cars; so that the standard freight-car of 1864, a
car twenty-eight feet long and with a capacity of
ten tons, cost $1000 or more. To-day a car thirty-
foiu" feet long, with a capacity of thirty tons, and
provided with automatic couplers, air-brakes, and
other improvements, can be purchased for about
$500.
When the war ended the managers of railways
were called on to face a heavy decline in both
freight and passenger traflRc, due to the disbanding
of the armies. Money was not plenty, cars were
very expensive, and the mania for extending lines
into new territory had begun. Under these condi-
tions the roads began a system of borrowing cars
from the builders or from car-trust companies. My
impression is that the Michigan Car Company was
the first to make contracts on a car-loaning basis;
be that as it may, this company had at one time
1 " Development of Transportation Systems in the United
States," by J. L. Ringwalt (1888), p. 210.
James McMillan.
AMERICAN CAR BUILDING
117
loaned to railroads between 6000 and 7000 cars,
payment being made according to the car's mileage.
With better times and better credit the roads began
to buy cars for cash or on long time, as was most
convenient ; and loaning freight-cars to railroads on
a mileage basis practically has been discontinued.
A majority of the refrigerator-cars, however, are still
owned by private parties, and are run on a mileage
basis. The recent reduction in the mileage rate from
three fourths to three fifths of a cent has practically
killed the business of private ownership, since the
new rate does not much more than pay for the re-
pairs.
The sleeping-car had its beginnings as early as
1838. The Baltimore "Chronicle" for October
31st of that year described one such car that had
been put on the line between Baltimore and Phila-
delphia. The enthusiastic reporter related that the
car had berths for twenty-four persons, and that for
a small consideration the wearj'^ passenger might
spend the six hours of travel between those cities
as pleasantly as if he were asleep in his own bed.
Nothing then seemed to be wanting except dining-
cars, and those were promised for the near future — a
promise, alas! not fulfilled for many a long year.
Twenty years later, in 1858, George B. Gates
invested $5000 in two sleeping-cars to run between
Cleveland and BuiTalo ; but passengers could not be
persuaded to use them. The same year the Hne
between Toledo and Chicago was equipped with
two sleeping-cars built by the Wason Company,
of Springfield, Mass., and owned by Mr. Bates,
of Utica, N. Y. These cars were fifty feet long,
with sixteen sections in summer and fourteen in
winter. When not in use, the bedding and curtains
were stored in an end section ; and a single wash-
basin and one saloon furnished the toilet conve-
niences for the forty- eight persons the car was
expected to carry. A sofa along the side of the car
formed the lower berth, the middle one was hinged
to the window-casing, and the upper berth rested
on cleats fastened to permanent cross-partitions.
It was while traveling in one of these cars, in 1858,
that Mr. George M. Pullman began to plan the
sleeping-cars that have revolutionized railway travel
in this country, and are making their way in Europe,
where comfort is less an essential to the traveler
than it is in America.
In 1859 Mr. Pullman transformed two Chicago
and Alton coaches into better sleeping-cars than any
others; but it was not until 1863 that the Pioneer,
the first Pullman, was placed on the road. The car
cost $18,000 — an astounding price in those days.
It was higher and wider than most roads could admit,
and it was not until President Lincoln's funeral that
the roads between Chicago and Springfield nar-
rowed their platforms and adapted their bridges so
as to allow the Pioneer, carrying the funeral party,
to pass over their lines. Shortly afterward General
Grant's trip from Detroit to Galena, 111., in the
same car, opened those lines to the Pioneer. After
that time progress was rapid. The Pullman Com-
pany was organized in 1867, and its success is too
well known to need comment here. From the
palace sleeping-car to the parlor and the dining-
room car is a short step. But a long jump was
taken in the vestibule, invented by Mr. Pullman in
1887, by which trains are made solid and the plat-
form is robbed of the last of its terrors.
In the winter of 1868-69 the first Westinghouse
air-brake was used on the Steubenville accommoda-
tion train running on the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and
St. Louis Railroad. The Pennsylvania road adopted
it, and since the automatic feature was added, in
1873, it has come into almost universal use on pas-
senger-trains, while by far the larger proportion of
new freight-cars built are equipped with it.^ In 1887
a train of fifty freight-cars made a triumphal tour of
the great lines, and by repeated tests, under varying
conditions, proved that the Westinghouse brake can
stop a train in one tenth the space required by the
hand-brake. In 1867 Colonel Miller placed his pat-
ent platform, buffer, and coupler on three cars build-
ing in the shops at Adrian, Mich. ; and with great
rapidity the dangerous old platform, with its loose
link-coupling, disappeared. In i860 the Post-Ofiice
Department began to demand more room from the
railroad companies, and year by year the mail-cars
were increased from seventeen to twenty feet in
length, then to thirty-five, and finally to sixty feet.
The " Fast White Mail " now requires two trains
each way between New York and Chicago. Each
train is made up of six mail-cars, and the second
train leaves New York three hours before the first
train reaches Chicago.
The interchange of cars among the various roads
made it necessary to adopt standards in car con-
struction, in order to facilitate repairs to cars when
away from the home road. Some authority, too,
was needed to settle disputes between roads, arising
from charges for repairs ; to investigate new brakes
and couplers; and, in general, to keep the work of
construction fully abreast of the times. The Master
Car Builders' Association, organized in 1867, amply
1 Out of 331,094 freight-cars fitted with train-brakes up to
June 30, 1894, 315,729 had the Westinghouse brake.
118
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
fills this need ; and the reports of its annual meetings
contain the latest word on all subjects relating to
car building. Its arbitration committee also acts as
a court of conciliation for the various roads.
Few railroads in this country build their own cars,
most roads finding it cheaper to buy of car com-
panies, and to confine their own work to repairs.
There are some exceptions. The Pennsylvania Com-
pany, which is a large purchaser, in 1894 built 1963
cars to replace its worn-out and damaged equipment,
besides repairing 66,437. The maximum capacity
of the Pennsylvania shops is twenty-eight cars a day,
or about one half that of the largest works not con-
ducted by a railway company.^ In June, 1 894, there
were in the United States 33,018 passenger and i,-
205,169 freight cars, besides 39,891 cars used in the
service of the roads, and also the privately owned
cars. Of the freight-cars, 25.20 per cent, are fitted
with train-brakes, and 27.23 per cent, with auto-
matic couplers.
Prior to the panic of 1873 all the car- works were
busy. That panic caused the failure of a large
number of new railroads, which, in turn, forced into
bankruptcy and eventual reorganization many car
companies. From 1873 to 1879 the car-shops
throughout the country were practically idle; but
with the revival of business in 1878-79 the car- works
again became busy, and, with the exception of a
slight dullness in 1883-84, did a large and profitable
business until 1893. The effect of the recent busi-
1 " Railway Car Journal," March, 1895.
■^ These figures are only for cars built by companies re-
porting their output, and the statements, therefore, are com-
parative.
ness depression on car building may easily be seen
from the fact that in 1890, 103,000 freight-cars were
built by fifty companies ; in 1893 the output of forty-
three companies was only 51,216 cars; and in 1894
the twenty-seven companies operating their plants
turned out 17,029 cars. Fifteen companies that
built 3000 freight and 300 passenger cars in 1893
built not a single car in 1 894.2 The seventh annual
report of the Inter-State Commerce Commission is
authority for the statement that the increase in the
total number of cars during the fiscal year 1 894 was
but 4132, as against 58,854 in 1893. With the re-
vival of business the car companies are again start-
ing up. The average life of a freight-car being from
fourteen to twenty years, at least 75,000 cars must
be built each year to repair the ravages of time ; be-
sides the cars required to make good the losses by
accidents and for the increase in mileage and busi-
ness.
The transportation of various kinds of products,
such as live-stock, dressed meat, oil, and timber,
has called into being cars especially adapted to each
class of freight, so that scores of different kinds of
cars are now constructed to answer the demands of
the shippers. Within the past year electricity has
been used as a motive power for both freight and
passenger cars, and possibly in the future each
freight-car will be equipped with an overhead trolley
whereby it can move independently of the train on
branch roads and for switching purposes. At all
events, if the future is to be judged by the past,
great changes in transportation are likely to come
suddenly, and to seciu-e wide-spread adoption in the
minimum of time.
CHAPTER XVIII
AMERICAN SHIP BUILDING
THE revival of American shipping has been
scarcely more than a hope of the American
people for more than thirty years. By a
revival of this industry is meant the reappearance,
in frequent and constantly increasing numbers, of
American-built ships for our commerce with other
nations, rather than for our own internal or coast-
wise trade. This has been a theme, and more or
less a dream, for statesmen, capitalists, manufactur-
ers, and all patriotic citizens. All have recognized
that complete national independence without a mer-
chant marine proportionate to our standing as a
nation is impossible. All thoughtful citizens under-
stand that, so far as our foreign commerce is con-
cerned, we are to-day, as we have been for a long
time, practically in subjection to the trade impulses
of Great Britain. If England should place an em-
bargo upon us we should be practically helpless —
for a considerable time, at least — in our trade with
other nations. All agree that American shipping
should be revived. It is as to the best method of
reviving it that we disagree. There can be no
doubt that this disagreement has been a national
misfortune.
The creation of a new navy, or, strictly speaking,
the beginning of a new navy, and the recent build-
ing of two notable specimens of marine architecture
for the transatlantic trade, have caused many per-
sons to think, and a few to assert, that the revival has
come already. Every one wishes that this were
true. The fact is, these are simply indications of a
revival of this splendid art and trade. We have
shown most emphatically in the last ten years that
we can not only build ships equal to the best of
foreign construction, but actually superior to them,
ship for ship, in finish and in results. Moreover,
we have so wonderfully progressed in these ten
years that we can now actually build ships at only
a trifle more in first cost than the most progressive
of foreign ship builders.
Nevertheless we cannot say truthfully that Amer-
ican ship building has revived. As a people we
have risen to a height from which we can see the
promised land. We have yet to enter into it. Ex-
cept for the creation of this new navy, and for the
insistence of such men as Secretaries Whitney and
Tracy, of our Navy Department, that our war-ships
should be entirely of American make, notwithstand-
ing that at first they would cost more than if we had
them built in England, the ship-building industry of
this country for foreign trade would be practically
paralyzed to-day. The most, therefore, that can be
said is that we can now build our own ships, and
that manufacturers are ready at any minute to enter
upon the work. This of itself is a tremendous gain,
and is the first step — the one of greatest importance,
perhaps — toward the completion of our indepen-
dence of all other nations. The situation is, there-
fore, one of promise.
Ship building began in this country in the earliest
colonial times. It was fairly well established in
New England in 1640. It began on the Delaware
in 1683. The conflicts in Europe made it neces-
sary for the early Americans to build their own ves-
sels. The industry had its vicissitudes, like the col-
onists themselves, for a century. In 1 740, however.
New England had no less than 1000 sail in the
fishing trade. In 1770 Massachusetts built nearly
one half of the American ships. At the beginning
of the Revolution the American tonnage amounted
to 398,000. It comprised nearly one third of Great
Britain's entire tonnage. Philadelphia had then
come to be the leading center of the industry here.
The trade of this country was then largely with the
West Indies, and Philadelphia was a most accessible
port for the products of those islands.
In 1793 Philadelphia built double the number of
ships that any other place in the United States fur-
nished. In 1800 the tonnage of American shipping
was put down at 669,921. The War of 1812 caused
119
120
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
a sharp decline, but in 1815 there came a great re-
vival. It dropped in 1 820, and recovered somewhat
in 1830. In 1835 it went lower than for any other
year of the century, but forthwith there came the
greatest time of prosperity in the industry, which
culminated in 1855. The tonnage for representative
years of these periods is recorded: 1820, 47,784;
1830,58,094; 1835,46,238; 1845,146,018; 1850,
272,218; 1855, 583,450.
Then carrie the decline for twenty years. It was
about as rapid as the increase for twenty years had
been. In 1855 we built 381 ships and barks, and
126 brigs. In 1875 we built 114 ships and barks,
and 22 brigs. In 1885 we built 11 ships and
barks, and no brigs. We built no steamers for for-
eign trade. The last census showed that there were
more than 1000 ship-building plants in the United
States. Most of them were small affairs. They
were occupied in building all sorts of craft for our
own waters, chiefly for the large landlocked com-
merce of our lakes, and, of course, scarcely enter,
so far as their product is concerned, into a consid-
eration of the revival of American shipping as it is
commonly understood.
There should be little need to recount the causes
for the decline in this country of this noble indus-
try. Nature intended us to be a seafaring people,
and for eighty years we were such. In the begin-
ning of this century we not only surpassed other
nations in the quality of our ships, but we could
build them cheaper than England could build her
vessels. We had splendid forests and hardy, fear-
less sailors. Year by year we increased our output
in this industry, so that when the decade from 1850
to i860 was reached we were second in rank in this
industry, and in i860 so close to England that there
was practically no difference between the two
nations. Soon after the year 1840, however, Eng-
land's forests had begun to show serious depletion.
It becanie necessary, after a time, for her to import
the greater part of her materials for building ships.
Tools were then invented for the working of iron
for ship building. She had plenty of iron in her
hills, and forthwith the iron ships began to appear,
slowly at first, but none the less surely and steadily.
There was no such incentive in this country for
iron ships, the feasibility of which had been demon-
strated for forty years or more. Our forests were
still plentiful and close at hand. Our experience
with wooden ships had been profitable. The indus-
try was increasing all the time. There was little
need for a drastic change in our system of manu-
facture. The gold fever was upon us, and the tide
of immigration was sweeping to our shores in a
mighty current. There was no time for any change
in our methods, even had we been inchned to make
one. From a fleet of 201,562 tonnage in 1789, we
had grown to a fleet of 5,353,868 tonnage in i860.
In the latter year, the entire tonnage of the whole
British empire was only 5,710,968. Truly an im-
pressive showing was ours.
The Civil War came. For a time our shipping
showed no marked decline. Then it began to go
down. The Confederate privateers, built in Eng-
land, began to sweep the seas. American ships
with hundreds of thousands of tonnage sought the
English flag for protection. Year by year we built
fewer ships. When the war ended we had practi-
cally ceased to be a maritime nation. We were at
the threshold of a magnificent interior development
of oiu own country. Otu* capitalists could not begin
to furnish the money needed in this work. We
had to go to England, even as we have been doing
in recent years, to borrow money to build the in-
tricate and amazing network of our railroads. New
methods had come into the ship-building industry.
The business had become revolutionized. Eng-
land had taken full advantage of her opportunity.
She had fostered the industry by placing her govern-
ment work in private yards. Her plants had been
established on a broad scale, and a resulting cheap-
ening in cost of production had followed. The
United States was out of the race. Her forests
near the coasts were depleted. When we built our
first battle-ship, the New Ironsides, in 1863, the tim-
bers used in her were cut within twenty-five miles
of Philadelphia. The great interior development of
the country had swept all such forest supplies away.
Labor was costly. This made the product of oiu-
iron-mines most expensive, and as a people we found
that one of the results of the great Civil War was
the destruction of oiu* shipping industry, and, de-
plorable as it well may seem, and not yet fully
understood by all our people, we were commercially
dependent once more upon Great Britain. The ris-
ing cloud of our internal prosperity hid this from the
eyes of most of our people, but fact it was and is
nevertheless.
England had become mistress of the seas. With
an eye single to her commercial interests — at once
the explanation of all her statecraft — she resolved to
maintain her supremacy. To-day she is as resolute
in her purpose as she was thirty years ago. Her
shipping is the sign whereby she conquers in the
mercantile world. It is the standing proof of her
national prowess and independence. With keen
AMERICAN SHIP BUILDING
121
foresight she resolved that this conquering industry
should not become stagnant. She enrolled certain
of the steam-craft in the reserve force of her navy,
paying the yearly rate of twenty shillings per ton to
their owners. She established liberal subsidies for
carrying the mails. She recognized that a ship
carrying the British flag was something more than
the private property of the individual owner. The
nation had a share of ownership in every such
vessel.
Recognizing that this country could never have
complete national independence without a merchant
marine, American capitalists in 1870 decided to
make a start in bringing about a revival. Four
vessels were built for the transatlantic trade in the
Cramp shipyard. They were the Ohio, Indiana,
Pennsylvania, and IIli?wis. They were equal to any
vessels of their day, and a credit to the industry and
to the nation. England met their advent with in
creased subsidies. The American vessels had no
such aid, and had to fight their way in commercial
rivalry. It was not a winning fight. Ship building
here was confined thereafter to building coastwise
vessels. The industry sank to such a low stage that
when, in 1882, we started to build a new navy, the
English newspapers scoffed at the idea that we could
produce either hulls or engines. They finally ad-
mitted that we could build the hulls, but for us to
make the complex modern marine engine was out of
the question. Congress gave the Secretary of the
Navy power to get abroad what he wanted in this
respect, but Messrs. Whitney and Tracy resolutely
refused to take advantage of the privilege.
When we started in this work of building a navy
we had no mills in which to roll the plates, no
foundries to make the great castings, no forges to
fashion the shafts and gun forgings, no plants to
supply our armor. It had taken England thirty
years or more to equip herself with these appliances.
What have we done? In ten years, practically, we
have gone to the front. Our marine engines and
boilers are and for years have been confessedly the
best in the world. Not one of our new war-ships
has broken down when put to a test of four hours'
work at its maximum power, and none has been in-
jured in the slightest by such an enormous trial of
endurance. On the contrary, no English war-ship
has been equal to such a task. The English experts
freely admit that we have won supremacy in this re-
spect. Our ships are acknowledged to be superior
in finish. There is one simple explanation for this :
workmen in American shipyards get nearly double
the wages of workmen in English shipyards, and a
better-paid man always does better work. Our
designers have made distinct advances over their
English competitors. The Indiana class of battle-
ships proves this. With vessels only two thirds the
size of the English Royal Sovereign class, the Indiana
class has a greater fighting capacity and as much
speed and endurance. Moreover, the recent trial of
Xht Indiana herself demonstrated that she was a signal
success in the one respect where English ships fail
oftenest, the matter of stability. Lack of stability
has been the crowning fault of foreign battle-ships.
No steadier ships will float than these new battle-
ships of ours.
In addition to all this, we have produced the two
fastest war-ships of large size in the world, the Co-
lumbia and Minneapolis. England became aroused
by their appearance, and she answered our success
by ordering two vessels of stupendous dimensions,
the Powerful and Terrible, for the sole purpose of
outclassing them. The creation of this new navy
has stimulated ship building in many yards. On the
Pacific coast, in New England, in Maryland, even
on the Mississippi River, as well as on the historic
Delaware, we have proved our ability to compete
with all the world in the making of ships of every
kind. Our mills and forges and foundries cannot be
surpassed anywhere, and a striking triumph of our
skill is shown by the fact that Russia has recently
placed two orders for armor in this country, to the
exclusion of all the plants of Europe.
Our skill had become so thoroughly demonstrated
that three years ago American capital, encouraged
by legislation providing for a moderate compensa-
tion for carrying the mails, — much less than that
which England pays for the same work, — decided to
make another start in the revival of our merchant
marine. We admitted two vessels to American
register, — the JVew York and Paris, of the Inter-
national Navigation Company's line, — upon the ex-
press condition that two more vessels equal to them
in size and capabilities should be built in American
yards. Congress guaranteed a payment of $4 a
mile to these ships for carrying the mails to foreign
countries, upon the condition that they should show
themselves capable of maintaining a sustained speed
of twenty knots an hour. As a result of this the
St. Louis and St. Paul were built, and in October,
1895, the mail-carrying contract went into effect.
The St. Louis and St. Paul have shown, in the short
time they have been in service, their splendid worth ;
and the hearty reception given to them by the entire
country speaks well for the patriotism of the Ameri-
can people, and is of itself a most hopeful sign. The
122
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Sf. Louis, on her official trial in Great Britain, made
an average of twenty-two knots an hour.
This, then, is the condition of our ship building
to-day. In ten years we have built, in round num-
bers, fifty most creditable vessels for the new navy,
and two fine specimens of ocean-going passenger-
craft. The reports of the Navigation Commissioner
show, as is pointed out by Mr. Chamberlain in an-
other chapter of this work, that, of the ten leading
countries of the globe, Italy and the United States
alone show a decHne in this industry since 1875.
The tonnage of Great Britain for 1895 is placed at
27,885,806. That of Germany, now the second
maritime power, is 4,065,282. The United States
comes next, with a tonnage of 3,261,982, a decline
in twenty years of nearly 1,000,000 tons. In twenty
years Germany has increased her tonnage nearly
3,000,000 tons. Perhaps an incident in the experi-
ence of a young woman who several years ago made
a spectacular trip around the world for a New York
newspaper will illustrate the extent of the decline of
American shipping better than any set of figures.
The last instructions given to. this young woman
were to make note of the number of times and the
occasions on which she might see the American flag
on vessels during her journey. When she came
back she reported that not once did she see a vessel
flying the American flag from the time she left New
York until she reached San Francisco. Nothing
more need be said, therefore, to show the complete
prostration of this industry, notwithstanding the fact
that we have built the nucleus of a new navy in ten
years, and are now in a position to build ships of any
kind and any speed within the limits of recognized
possibilities.
The great question, therefore, is. How shall our
merchant marine be restored? With no desire to
manifest a controversial spirit in these pages, I think
every one who has studied this question agrees that
national . legislation of some kind is necessary. On
the one hand, some assert that the repeal of the navi-
gation law passed December 31, 1792, is necessary.
This act specifically closed American registry to
foreign-built ships, except those taken as prizes in
war. Its repeal would give us free ships. We could
buy vessels, if this act were removed from the statute-
books, at English prices. On the other hand, those
who oppose the repeal of this act assert that what
is needed is government aid similar to that which
England and most other nations give to their ship-
ping industries. These advocate the adoption of
one or all of three kinds of government assistance.
The first is special compensation to special lines of
steamships ; the next is a general bounty on tonnage
to all ships ; the third is a liberal compensation to
oiu: vessels, according to size and grade, for carrying
the United States mails.
Now, ehminating any question of partisanship in
discussing this matter, I think that no one will dis-
pute that probably the most powerful incentive to the
growth of the shipping of Great Britain has been this
matter of government aid. It will also be admitted
by all those who have examined the question histor-
ically that our law of 1792 was intended to promote
our national independence rather than to foster an
industry by a protective system. In those days the
industry needed no protection, because it was ad-
mitted, and had been proved beyond any doubt, that
we could build ships cheaper than any of our rivals.
In 1789, James Madison, then a member of the
House of Representatives, said that our capacity
for increasing the tonnage of our ships " gives us
a favorable presage of our future independence."
Moreover, there is conclusive proof that this navi-
gation law did not interfere with the growth of our
shipping. It has been in effect from the day it was
passed until now. When we were at the height of
otu" prosperity in shipping the law was in actual
operation, just as it is to-day, in the time of the
prostration of this industry.
It would seem, also, that we all ought to agree
that if this law were repealed these things would
happen : England, under our natural desire to buy
as cheaply as possible, would unload her poorest
vessels on us, and her shipyards would reap a bene-
fit in an enormous activity in building new vessels
for her own use. A new market would be opened
for the relief of the over-developed Enghsh ship-
yards, now sorely languishing because other nations
are beginning to build their own vessels. It ought
also to be admitted that in time of war England
would be able, by a series of sales easy to accom-
plish, to transfer her merchant marine to the Ameri-
can flag, and thus escape the terrible penalty that
must befall her in case she should enter into conflict
with any other nation. Her immense shipping is a
perpetual bond upon her not to engage in warfare.
If she could make an asylum of the American flag
temporarily she could resume control of her shipping
when hostilities were at an end.
As to the effect on the shipping industry of this
country, it is generally conceded that the repeal of
the navigation law would wreck the industry as at
present organized here. Those who favor this plan
see no reason why the government should foster any
single industry. Such vessels as England produces
AMERICAN SHIP BUILDING
123
she could build cheaper than we could build them.
The argument that our yards would be kept busy
with repair-work and building ships for the coast-
wise trade would fail, because repair-plants are of an
entirely different character from constructing plants.
If we could import ships for the foreign trade we
ought to have the same privilege for our coastwise
trade. A discrimination between the two kinds of
trade would be absolutely unjust to our mercantile
interests. Again, if we could get our ships at Eng-
lish prices, we should be confronted by the fact that
England, to retain her supremacy, would doubtless
continue to insist on her liberal policy of govern-
ment aid to her ships, and to hold her own would
probably increase that aid at once. It is difficult
to see how, under these circumstances, we could
compete with her in the commerce of the world.
By unloading her least desirable vessels on us she
would have better ships, and these, with favoring
legislation, would place us at once under a disad-
vantage.
It is for this reason that the advocates of govern-
ment aid have declared for a so-called bounty system
in this country. We use this system in our inland
commerce extensively. We pay large sums every
year to the railroads for carrying the mails. In that
case we call it a compensation. It is called a
" bounty " when we give such aid to ships. Why
should subsidies of land be given to the great
railroads and not to the ship-building interests ?
Enormous grants of land have been allotted by the
government to the great railway companies, and
these very roads, fattened on government patronage,
are now giving the preference of business at their
terminals to foreign bottoms, to the exclusion of
American ships, as is the case at Pensacola, New-
port News, New Orleans, and on the Paciiic coast.
All the advocates of a general tonnage bounty, if
such a term is to be used, declare that within ten
years after the passage of such a law we should be
practically independent of every nation in the matter
of ships. Many such bills have been introduced in
Congress, but there seems little prospect at present
that any such law will be passed. Three years ago
we did adopt a scale of compensation for American
vessels carrying the mails to foreign countries. The
contract has just gone into effect. It requires from
two to three years to build ships such as the Sf. Louis
and St. Paul. The post-office authorities at first re-
ported that the new law seemed to have little effect.
By special legislation the New York and Paris were
admitted to American register, and now, for the first
time in our history, we are to have an actual trial of
the effect of this kind of government encouragement
of our shipping industry.
The system is to run for ten years. What the re-
sult will be time alone will tell, but this much can
already be said : it has added to our naval reserve
fleet four magnificent specimens of marine archi-
tecture, capable of immense use in time of war as
commerce destroyers. The money paid to them for
carrying the mails is much less than it would cost
us to keep actual war-ships of that grade in commis-
sion. It would take only a short time to equip them
as war-ships, and plans for that purpose have already
been drawn. If a general tonnage law cannot be
passed, we are assured of a fair trial of the mail-
carrying compensation system. Already in the build-
ing of the St. Louis and St. Paul it has had some
effect. It is doubtful if this system of itself will be
sufficient to restore the ship-building industry. The
fact that our capitalists are willing to try the experi-
ment is most encouraging.
If, however, the matter of government aid, as now
constituted, should fail, the future is not entirely
without hope. The period of enormous internal
development of our country seems to be ending.
Our railroads are practically built ; our mines are
developed. The time for amassing great fortunes
may be said to be past. Only in the line of the
development of real estate do opportunities for
making large fortunes seem to remain. In all
grades of mercantile interests there will be close com-
petition. Nevertheless the country has accumulated
a vast amount of wealth, and it is beginning to seek
investment. The fact of the appearance of the
St. Louis and St. Paul is proof of this. As time
goes on it must be that our wealth will increase.
As the margin of profits on present investments
grows less, new fields will be opened. If it can be
shown that a reasonable profit will follow investments
in ships, slowly but surely the industry will revive
without the stimulus of government assistance. This
must needs be a matter of extremely slow growth.
By the creation of a new navy our shipyards may
be kept in condition to build this new merchant
marine, if it shall come within a reasonable time.
Naval work alone, however, is not sufficient to re-
store our shipyards to complete efficiency. At best
there is very little profit in government work. It is
surrounded by such a system of slow and intricate
inspection and approval, of rigid rules and regula-
tions, that rapid work is impeded, and freedom to
make changes in the legitimate hne of develop-
ment of the industry is prevented. Then, too, gov-
ernment work is intermittent in character. Although
124
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
it is inadvisable to fix a set program of naval develop-
ment, owing to vast and constant changes that are
being made in this branch of warfare, it is a fact
that to keep the ship-building industry as at present
constituted at its fullest capability there should be
a steady and comprehensive advance movement in
adding to our fleets. The argument that it is not
the province of the government to stimulate any
single industry to the exclusion of another and to the
private benefit of individuals loses its force when
we consider that a merchant marine is necessary to
the commercial independence of any country with
extended sea-coasts.
It is a fact that cannot be disputed that so timid
is capital that it will not invest in ships unless the
flag they carry is assured of complete protection by
a navy. England's naval policy is to be interpreted
alone on these lines. A navy capable of maintain-
ing the dignity of a nation is not a constant menace
to peace. It is the best guaranty to the develop-
ment of commerce that any nation can give. It
means, under proper conditions, the prophecy of a
merchant marine. The steady development of a
well-defined policy in naval construction, therefore,
means the maintenance to a certain extent of ship-
yards which will be ready to build a merchant
marine as soon as there are war-ships in sufficient
quantity to protect it, and money and government
aid sufficient to start it.
Under present conditions, therefore, the future is
one of promise. It may be several decades before
our flag is even partially restored to the high seas.
The revival of our merchant marine must surely
come in time if we continue in the rate of prosperity
that has marked our development for the last thirty
years. It will come sooner if liberal aid is given
by the government. So complex are the subsidiary
industries in the present condition of building ships
that the revival will affect not only capitalists along
the coasts and elsewhere, but will employ a vast
army of men in the interior as well as along the
seaboard. The probable completion of the Nica-
ragua Canal will cause, undoubtedly, an immense
stimulus to American commerce. Whether those
who oppose the system of government aid on gen-
eral principles, owing to their views as to the proper
function of a nation, are right or not, is it not worth
considering if it would not be well for especial rea-
sons to be ready to carry this coming commerce of
the United States in American ships? Once started
on the road to prosperity, who that knows the char-
acter of the American people can doubt the result?
A fine specimen of marine architecture is always
a standing lesson in patriotism. It is required to
display the flag of its country. As it passes from
port to port it is more than a mere floating vehicle
for commerce. It is a bit of its nation's soil.
Around its existence and its journey ings the ro-
mance of travel and the dignity of nationality center.
No other manufactured thing is so complex or
delicate. It tells a story of national progress such
as nothing else can tell. It speaks of home to the
citizen in foreign lands. It means prosperity for
those at home and abroad ; for every vessel added
to the fleet of any nation means more commerce,
more trade. No patriotic citizen should relax his
efforts to secure a revival of this industry in this
country in some form or other. We have the mills,
we have the men, we are just beginning to have the
money, and we have the materials in rare abundance.
The situation calls for the wisest statesmanship, the
loftiest patriotism, the noblest effort.
rr^^&a
Charles H. Cramp.
CHAPTER XIX
THE TELEGRAPH
THE first real manifestation of telegraphy as
an applied art dates from just one hundred
and one years ago, and to Claude Chappe, a
Frenchman, is due the discovery of it and its possi-
bilities. It was a visual telegraph or semaphore
that Chappe invented, and for the better part of
a half-century afterward it was the only quick mode
for communicating at a distance that Europe knew.
An ingeniously contrived signal-code and perfected
mechanical appliances made this semaphore-tele-
graph not only most useful, but very rapid, a des-
patch traveling at the rate of from fifteen to twenty
miles a minute on the main lines. It was introduced
in France in 1 794, and, after the populace had de-
stroyed the signal-towers several times, it was finally
completed in time for the first message sent over it
to be the thrilling news of a French victory. " Conde
is taken from the Austrians," came the signaled
words from the frontier within three or four hours
after the event, and Paris went wild. Chappe was
as great an idol as he had before been an object of
hatred, and his telegraph became the wonder of the
day. Europe followed France in 1802 in introduc-
ing Chappe's idea, and England shortly afterward,
in 1823, made use of it at home and in India. It
was, in fact, the common telegraphic system of the
world up to the time when the invention of the
electric telegraph upset all previous ideas of human
limitations.
The germ of the idea which came, in Chappe's
hands, to full development was first seen in the sig-
nal used by the Americans during the Revolutionary
War. This consisted of a barrel on the top of a
high pole or mast, on which was, furthermore, a
movable yard or arm to which a basket was attached.
To each of the different positions of this arm a
meaning was given, and signals could be sent many
miles by these means. While it is certain that
Chappe never saw this contrivance, the similarity of
its elementary design with that of his telegraph gives
them a direct connection. The semaphore-telegraph
was in use, with an elaborate system of signals, in
this country for many years prior to 1850. It was
the means for communicating news of incoming
ships from the Highlands of New Jersey to New
York, where the signal-tower was located in the
dome of the old Merchants' Exchange, now the
custom-house.
Before entering upon the detailed history of the
modern telegraph, a brief diversion will be necessary.
No fitting idea of the glorious successes it has at-
tained could be conveyed were the earlier discover-
ies and experiments in electrical phenomena to be
omitted. Electricity is to the telegraph as steam
to the motive engine or gravity to the universe — the
force that makes it possible. The discovery that
amber (from the Greek name of which the word
" electricity " is derived) became electrified under
friction is an old one, but the reduction of this dis-
covery to anything like scientific analysis or classifi-
cation only dates from about the middle of the last
century. In the list of those whose discoveries have
borne the most important relation to the develop-
ment of this wonderful science the names of Ameri-
cans are at the head. Europe reverences the glory
of Galvani, Volta, Oersted, Arago, Ampere, and
Steinheil, while England vaunts her Cooke, Wheat-
stone, and Bain; but above them all are written
the names of Frankhn, Henry, and Morse.
It was in 1747, the year after the discoveries
which developed the Leyden jar and the principle
of the restoration of electric equilibrium, that Ben-
jamin Franklin first interested himself in the phe-
nomena of electricity. A letter from Peter Collinson,
fellow of the Royal Society of London, to the
Literary Society of Philadelphia, of which Franklin
was a member, interested the latter, and he then
began by his reply that interesting series of letters,
continuing for many years, in which he laid down,
and later proved, so many propositions, since be-
125
126
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
come axiomatic, but totally at variance with the
accepted European theories of that day. In 1749
he declared electricity and lightning identical, and
in June, 1752, proved it by the celebrated kite sent
up during a thunder-storm. Franklin was succeeded
in America by Professor Joseph Henry, in after
years connected so prominently with the Smithsonian
Institute. At the time when this distinguished sa-
vant was commencing his researches, and just be
fore, great discoveries were being made in Europe.
Coulomb in 1785 laid the foundation of electrostat-
ics. Galvani, of Bologna, in 1790 discovered by
accident that metallic connection between the crural
nerve and the legs of a frog caused convulsive
action. He ascribed it to animal electricity, and
all the physiologists of Europe adopted his theory.
The electricians, however, doubted, and in 1800
Professor Volta, of Pavia, demonstrated beyond a
doubt that the effect produced was through elec-
tricity generated chemically. In proving this he
brought out the voltaic pile, which was the first the
scientific world knew of any electricity other than
static or frictional. On this discovery of Volta,
affording, as it did, a current electricity, together
with the subsequent discovery of electro-magnetism
by Professor Christian Oersted, of Copenhagen, in
1819, is based the electric telegraph of to-day. The
voltaic pile, to which improvements were early
made by Cruikshank, Daniell, Smee, Bunsen, Grove,
Chester, and by many others since, is the battery
of to-day ; and Oersted's electro-magnetism, in the
hands of Schweigger, Arago, Ampere, Sturgeon, and
finally Henry, has afforded the electro-magnets,
giving the principle on which were based the old
English deflecting-needle telegraphs and the present
Morse instruments.
These discoveries in electrical science, the latest
of which was in 1825, left the field free for the pio-
neer who should carry forth the telegraph. Many
had already essayed this honor, but the man and the
time were not yet in conjunction. So early as 1749
Franklin had sent a current through a long wire
across the Schuylkill, and in 1753 Charles Marshall,
of Paisley, Scotland, had proposed a telegraph with
a wire for each letter.
Among the many who have originated forms of
electric telegraph are an Englishman named Lo-
mond, who in 1787 is said to have operated a short
telegraph line on his front lawn ; Reizen, who in
1794 invented the illuminated-letter telegraph by
the application of the broken current ; Salva, a
Spaniard, in 1798, who used electrified pith-balls;
Samuel Thomas Sommering, who in 1809 first
applied the current from the voltaic pile to tele-
graphing; Ronald, in 18 16; Gauss and Weber, of
Gottingen, who brought out the magnetic-movement
mirror and glass in 1 833 ; and Steinheil, who in
1838 discovered the " earth-circuit," which did away
with the previously supposed indispensable return-
wire to bring the current back to the battery.
Steinheil also invented a system of telegraphy, and
ran his wires on poles with insulated attachments.
Across the Channel, William Fothergill Cooke, hav-
ing invented a magnetic-needle telegraph in 1836,
associated himself with Professor Wheatstone the
succeeding year, and introduced his invention to
general use. The needle -telegraph in various and
improved forms, and Bain's electro-chemical tele-
graph, continued to be the ones used in England up
to a late date, and were supplanted by the Morse
system only when the latter became practically
universal.
Of the early telegraphers there is one whose
name, too nearly forgotten, had almost been written
before that of Morse on the roll of fame. This
man was Harrison Gray Dyar, and the evidence is
strong that so early as 1827 he had erected and
operated, upon a certain Long Island race-track, a
telegraph line strung upon poles with glass insula-
tors. This telegraph communicated signals by the
discoloration produced by the electric ciurent upon
a piece of moving litmus-paper, which had been
previously moistened. Dyar used only frictional
electricity, and was therefore unable to attain
results so eminently successful as those of inven-
tors after 1835, who could apply the wonderfully
improved device of the Daniell cell in supplying
their current. An attempt made by Dyar to intro-
duce his telegraph to general use encountered intense
prejudice, and, becoming frightened at some of the
manifestations of this feeling, he left the country.
Meantime, while all these claims were advancing,
the one preeminently great invention was rapidly
maturing on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. In
1832 the transatlantic packet Sully, bound for New
York from Havre, had on board among her passen-
gers a distinguished historical painter named Samuel
Finley Breese Morse. In the long evening talks in
the passengers' cabin the subject of electricity and
the electric current was brought up one night. A
well-known professor of sciences. Dr. Jackson, made
the statement that an electric current would manifest
itself at the distant end of a conducting wire in-
stantaneously. The remark, made in the course
of conversation, impressed Professor Morse deeply,
and going to his state-room, he commenced work on
THE TELEGRAPH
127
the application of this space-annihilating current to
the transmission of intelligence. Before the Sully
reached her dock the thing was accomphshed — in
the inventor's mind, at least ; and certain drawings
and explanations made by him at that time, and
sworn to by the captain, were later produced before
the Supreme Court during the suits by which the
validity, scope, and priority of the Morse patents
were fully confirmed.
On landing, Professor Morse constructed his first
machine, making the type himself for his famous
alphabet, which stands to-day as the most wonder-
ful piece of cryptography ever devised. Lack of
funds was a great drawback to the inventor, both
at this time and for many years to come ; but in
November, 1835, he successfully exhibited his tele-
graph in a large room of the New York City Uni-
versity, transmitting a message through a long wire.
Among those who witnessed this first exhibition of
the electric telegraph were Leonard D, Gale, D.
Huntington, O. Loomis, and Robert Rankin. The
following year the invention was on public exhibi-
tion in New York, and in February, 1837, when
Congress passed a resolution requesting the Secre-
tary of the Treasury to report upon some method
of electric telegraphing, the claims of Morse were
strongly presented, and in April, 1838, the Commit-
tee of Commerce of Congress made a unanimous
report of the most favorable tenor upon the Morse
invention. The chairman of this committee, Hon.
Francis O. J. Smith, characterized Morse's telegraph
as the " most wondrous birth of this wonder-teeming
age." So impressed was Mr. Smith with the great
possibilities of the telegraph that he resigned his
seat as a member of Congress and purchased a
quarter interest in the Morse rights. The other
members of Mr. Smith's committee, whose names
appear signed to the unanimous and earliest indorse-
ment of the value of Professor Morse's discovery,
were S. C. Phillips, Samuel Cushman, John I. de
Graff, Edward Curtis, James M. Mason, John T. H.
Worthington, William H. Hunter, and George W.
Toland.
The recommendation of this committee to the
contrary notwithstanding. Congress refused to ap-
propriate the $30,000 asked by Morse to construct
an experimental line. Mr. Smith and Professor
Morse accordingly sailed for Eiu-ope to attempt its
introduction there. Their mission proved a failure,
patents being refused them in England on the
ground that a partial description of the Morse
system had been published. In France a patent
was issued, only to be withdrawn. Returning to
this country, Professor Morse received his letters
patent in June, 1840, based on the specifications of
his application in April, 1838. In 1842 he again
presented his invention before Congress, asking an
appropriation of $30,000. The House promptly
passed it (see report on the debate, p. 461 of Prime),
but the session dragged along and the traditional
delay of the Senate kept the bill from reaching a
hearing. On the last night of the last day of the
session, March 3, 1843, Professor Morse waited in
the Senate corridors until late in the evening, when,
believing his cause hopeless, he returned to his hotel
almost broken-hearted. Had he but known it, one
of the last acts of the Senate during the very last
hour was to take up the Morse appropriation.
Singularly enough, no dignified questioner arose to
ask for information concerning the bill, which would
have required time and so proved fatal to it, but it
was straightway passed, and early the next morning
the news was brought to Professor Morse by Miss
Annie Ellsworth, to whom the overjoyed inventor
then and there promised the honor, which she
afterward enjoyed, of sending the first message when
the line should be completed.
The condition under which Professor Morse
received the $30,000 was that he should use it in
the construction of a line of electric telegraph from
Baltimore to Washington. He immediately com-
menced work on this line ; but his early efforts were
wholly useless, owing to a serious mistake in his
plans. He projected a subterranean line, and for
this purpose two copper wires covered with cotton
and gum lac were drawn through a lead tube. A
deep furrow was then made with a heavy plow, and
the pipe laid as far as the relay-house, nine miles
from Baltimore. (See Cornell's account in the
" Biography of E. Cornell.") It was then discov-
ered that an earth-circuit was formed and the wires
refused to work. The greater part of the appropri-
ation having been thus unsuccessfully expended,
Professor Morse was in great trouble ; but finally,
by withdrawing all the wire from the miles of lead
pipe and stringing it on poles above-ground, the
line was completed in May, 1844, and on the 27th
of that month the first despatch, " What hath God
wrought!" flashed over the wires from Washington
to Baltimore, being sent by Miss Annie Ellsworth,
as long before agreed. Professor Morse's manipu-
lating as.sistants at this trial were Mr. Alfred Vail,
who in 1837 had invented and patented a printing-
telegraph, and Mr. L. F. Zantzinger. The electro-
magnets used on this line weighed 185 pounds, and
for some time after this Professor Morse believed
128
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
that the wire used in winding them had to be of the
same size as that on the line itself. The present
fine-wired, compact, and portable electro-magnets,
weighing less than a pound, and allowing a man to
carry a telegraph office in his pocket, so to speak,
were not dreamed of at that early day. This line
was also opened with the primitive system of com-
bined circuits, as first proposed by Professor Morse
in obviating the difficulties arising from lost strength
in the current on long distances. He speedily saw
a better way to accompHsh this result, however, and
in that same year began the experiments which in
1 846 were crowned with success, and developed the
short circuits and relays which made possible the
great main lines and uninterrupted communication
of to-day. In 1844 he also invented the "key"
which is still in use. Without attempting the purely
scientific and technical aspects of telegraphy, we
will study at more length the practical and utihtarian
application of it to the world of American business
and every-day affairs.
The experimental line opened from Washington
to Baltimore with the $30,000 appropriated by
Congress having proved practical, it was declared
ready for public business on April i, 1845. Alfred
Vail was the Washington operator, and Henry J.
Rogers occupied a similar position at Baltimore.
The tariff was one cent for four characters, and the
first four days saw just one message transmitted.
Thus did the American people welcome the facilities
of the electric telegraph. About this time Profes-
sor Morse offered his interest in the invention to
the government for the ridiculously low price of
$100,000. A brilliant Postmaster-General, how-
ever, who saw no value in the invention, saved
Morse the loss he was so willing to incur ; so other
means had to be resorted to in bringing it before
the pubHc. The proprietors of the patent at this
time were Morse, Vail, L. D. Gale, and F. O. J.
Smith.. The latter struck out alone, taking the New
England States for his field, while the other three,
having selected Amos Kendall, formerly Postmaster-
General under President Jackson, as their agent, took
the remainder of the country. Kendall devoted
himself particularly to the South and Southwest,
although it was early decided to have the first line
run from Washington to New York. In carrying
out this plan it was decided further that the first
link should be constructed from New York to Phil-
adelphia. The excitation of the public interest in
the undertaking, and the consequent raising of cap-
ital, were intrusted to Ezra Cornell and his brother-
in-law, O. S. Wood, These two opened a small
office on Broadway, where they set up their instru-
ments; and having obtained with great difficulty
permission to run a short wire over the neighboring
roofs, they began exhibiting the telegraph. Interest
was roused but slowly, however, and capital was
apathetic.
The sum needed for the construction of the hue
from New York to Philadelphia was $15,000, and
it was only after the greatest difficulty, and the
granting of two shares for every one paid for, that
it was finally raised. There were about twenty-five
subscribers, and to them was issued $30,000 in
stock, while another $30,000 went to the patentees,
making the total capital stock $60,000. The com-
pany was organized under the name of the Magnetic
Telegraph Company, and its Hne was completed
from Philadelphia to Fort Lee on January 20, 1846.
Th*e first New York office was at 16 Wall Street,
and later it was moved to Post's Building, behind
the Merchants' Exchange. The first clerk was
Charles S. Bulkley, and messages had to be sent
across the river by messengers, either for delivery or
transmission. The attempt to cross the North River
by cable failed in this year. Later a detour of 105
miles, by which the line went up the Hudson and
crossed on high masts at Anthony's Nose, proved a
failure. Various attempts to lay a cable were made,
but success was not achieved until February 12,
1856, when S. C. Bishop, the New York manufac-
turer, provided an armored cable insulated with
gutta-percha. The Magnetic Telegraph Company
formally organized on January 14, 1846, by the
election of Amos Kendall, president; T. M. Clark,
secretary ; A. Sidney Doane, treasurer ; and B. B.
French, John J. Haley, John W. Norton, John O.
Stems, William M. Swain, and J. R. Trimble,
directors. The hne was extended to Baltimore,
June 5, 1846, on an issue of $10,000 more stock,
and later to Washington. Its cash receipts during
the year 1846 amounted to $4,228.77. Six years
later, even with the handicap of competing lines, its
annual receipts amounted to $103,641.42, which
indicates the increasing public favor shown to the
telegraph.
In the decade that followed 1845 ^"^ ^^^ ^^^^
telegraph, companies started and wires ran over the
country at an almost magical rate. Henry O'Reilly,
one of the most energetic promoters and builders
this continent ever produced, started westward,
leaving his lines of wires behind to mark his course.
From Philadelphia to Pittsburg he ran the Atlan-
tic and Ohio Telegraph Company, capitaHzed at
$300,000, and completed December 29, 1846.
Thomas T. Eckert.
THE TELEGRAPH
129
From Pittsburg to Louisville he built, in 1847, ^^^
Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and Louisville Telegraph
Company's line. It was over this wire that, in 1847,
using a House machine, O'Reilly sent the first
despatch ever transmitted by the printing system.
Still further did O'Reilly go, notwithstanding the
fact that a bitter legal battle was raging between
himself and F. O. J. Smith for the Morse patentees,
who claimed O'Reilly had infringed on their rights.
From Louisville he boldly struck out for New
Orleans via Nashville, and with a branch to Mem-
phis. This line was incorporated as the People's
Line, and was completed in 1 849 ; but it was unsuc-
cessful from the start, and nearly ruined O'Reilly.
It was later consolidated with the Ohio and New
Orleans Telegraph Company; the two organized,
January 6, i860, as the Southwestern Telegraph
Com.pany, which was absorbed by the American
prior to that company itself being taken in by the
Western Union. Among the other early telegraph
lines were the following :
EARLY AMERICAN TELEGRAPH COMPANIES.
Name.
Date of
Organization.
New York and Boston Magnetic Telegraph Co .
New York, Albany, and Buffalo Electro-MagneticCo.
Lake Erie Telegraph Co
New York State Printing Co. (House line)
Ohio and Mississippi Telegraph Co
St. Louis and New Orleans Telegraph Co
New York State Telegraph Co. (Bain line)
New York and New England Telegraph Co
American Telegraph Co
Illinois and Mississippi Telegraph Co
Erie and Michigan Telegraph Co
New York and Erie Telegraph Co
Cleveland and Cincinnati Co
Maine State Telegraph Co
Vermont and Boston Telegraph Co
New York and Washington Printing Telegraph Co. .
North American Telegraph Co. (Bain Hne)
Washington and New Orleans Telegraph Co
Western Telegraph Co
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois Telegraph Co
St. Louis and Missouri River Telegraph Co
Northwestern Telegraph Co
Western Union Telegraph Co
845
847
848
849
849
848
849
847
846
850
856
851
These companies, with the branch lines repre-
sented by them, comprised the bulk of the capital
invested in the telegraph of the United States prior
to 1855. The Magnetic Telegraph Company, as
the oldest and for many years one of the most suc-
cessful, was the first to perceive how essential uni-
formity was to an economical and at the same time
improved service. Under President William M.
Swain this company made many advances and also
many concessions to other companies to bring about
this condition of affairs. To several of the Western
and Southern lines it leased wires, thus allowing
them to compete for through business. To give
9
itself equal opportunities it leased the Washington
and New Orleans lines in 1856, the Western Tele-
graph Company's Hues, including the Marietta and
Cincinnati branch, in 1858, and, under the Supreme
Court decision upholding the Morse patent rights as
against the Bain electro-chemical telegraph, it ab-
sorbed the North American Company.
The second great seaboard line and power for con-
solidation was the American Telegraph Company,
with the history of which the greatest telegraphic
undertaking ever known — the transatlantic cable —
is connected. In 1850 some thoughtful writer
pointed out that St. Johns, Newfoundland, being
the port for the speediest arrival of European steam-
ships, ought to be the center for the telegraphs of
America, in order that the earliest foreign news
should be obtained. Acting on this hint, Mr. F. N.
Gisborne in 1851 incorporated the Newfoundland
Electric Telegraph Company. A short cable was
brought from England, but the attempt to lay and
operate it was unsuccessful. In 1854, Mr. Gisborne,
having sunk all his property in the venture, came to
New York seeking capital. He was introduced to
Cyrus Field and laid the proposition before him.
Field not only grasped the idea, but he carried it
further — to its very end, in fact ; and then and there
he determined that the transatlantic cable should be
laid. He interested in the project his friends Peter
Cooper, Marshall O. Roberts, Chandler White, and
Moses Taylor, and on May 6, 1856, the New York,
Newfoundland, and London Electric Telegraph
Company was incorporated, with a capital of
$1,500,000. Both this government and that of
England made valuable concessions and grants to
the company.
In 1856 the cable to Newfoundland was success-
fully laid, and October 31st of that same year the
first transatlantic cable was ordered from Messrs.
Newall & Company, and Glass, Elliott & Company,
of London. This cable was composed of seven
small twisted copper wires, surrounded by gutta-
percha covered with tarred hemp, and inclosed in
an iron armor of eighteen cords of small wire.
During this year the U. S. S. Arctic and H. M. S.
Cyclops took soundings along the proposed route for
the cable. The United States and England each
placed two vessels at the disposal of the company
for the purpose of laying the cable. The United
States ships were the Niagara, carrying one half the
length of cable, and the Susquehanna, which acted
as a tender. The English ships were the Agamenmon,
having the other half of the cable, and her consort,
the Leopard, acting as a tender. The shore end of
130
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the great cable was landed from the Niagara at
Ballycarberry Strand, in Valentia Bay, Ireland,
August 5, 1857, and two days later the fleet started
slowly away for the distant shores of Newfoundland.
The first three days all went well; but on the nth,
late at night, there was a sudden jar and shock, and
the cable was found to be broken. Three hundred
and eighty miles of it had been laid. The fleet
returned to England, and the remainder of the cable
was stored at Keyham docks for the winter. More
cable was provided, and on the loth of June the
succeeding summer the same little fleet left Plym-
outh, this time for mid-ocean, it having been deter-
mined to start both ships, paying out simultane-
ously. This plan was tried, and twice the cable
parted before more than a short distance had been
traversed. The third time 142 miles were paid out
before a break finally occurred. This time the ves-
sels failed to meet each other, and so returned to
Plymouth. Having thus got together again, a last
attempt was determined upon, and on July 29th it
was made and was successful. Almost simultane-
ously the two vessels reached the shore and landed
the cable, on the afternoon of August 5th, the
Niagara at Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and the
Agamemnon at Valentia Bay, on the Irish coast.
Two thousand and thirty-six miles of cable had been
laid, and on August i6th the first message was
flashed under the ocean, from the Queen to the
President of the United States. From the first this
cable suffered from defective insulation, and amid
world-wide grief it finally gave out, September ist,
after having grown steadily weaker from the moment
it was first tested.
The connection of this the first transatlantic cable
with the inception of the American Telegraph Com-
pany may not at first be seen ; but it is direct,
nevertheless, and to one who knew the late Cyrus
Field and his character, it should be clear. Mr.
Field from the first believed fully in his cable pro-
ject, and, so believing, he was far-sighted enough to
recognize the importance of a system of land tele-
graphs connecting the cable with the great centers.
For this reason, when David E. Hughes, who had
just invented an excellent printing-telegraph, was
introduced to Mr. Field's notice, that gentleman
was easily induced to purchase the idea, and despite
the fact that the transatlantic cable was still high
and dry ashore, he secured the incorporation of the
Boston and New York Printing-Telegraph Company.
Besides this company others were organized at this
time, notably the East and West and the Troy and
Boston. The Commercial Printing-Telegraph Com-
pany gradually replaced these, and when the Amer-
ican Telegraph was incorporated. May 30, 1858,
with $200,000 capital, it had no difficulty in leasing
this latter, together with other Eastern lines, such
as the Maine State Telegraph Company. The ex-
tension of the American Telegraph Company from
this time was rapid, and in 1865, when the Great
Eastern made the third, and unfortunately fruitless,
attempt to lay a cable, this company controlled
nearly every line on the seaboard east of the Hud-
son. On July I, 1866, its $4,000,000 capitalization
being replaced by an issue of $12,000,000 of West-
ern Union stock, the American was quietly absorbed
into that company.
Scarcely a month and a half later, on August
1 6th, the Anglo-American Telegraph Company, the
successor of the various other cable companies, suc-
ceeded in laying a cable from the Great Eastern
which has worked ever since. The failure of the
attempt made by the same ship the previous year
was also mitigated shortly after this by the suppos-
edly lost cable being found, grappled, brought up,
spliced, and successfully laid.
These momentous events in the story of trans-
oceanic telegraphy were being duplicated on land,
however. Five years before the cable of 1866 was
even wet by salt water a transcontinental telegraph
line was flashing the stirring news of that warlike
time from Washington to San Francisco. Hiram
Sibley is the man to whom much of the credit for
the accomplishment of this great feat is due. So
long before as 1857 he had become possessed by
the idea of the feasibility of this undertaking, and
had proposed it to the directors of the Western
Union Company. They were conservative, and a
transcontinental telegraph was no light thing in those
days. Nothing discouraged, Mr. Sibley laid his idea
before Congress, and obtained from that body in
i860 not only indorsement, but liberal concessions
as well. Armed with these, Mr. Sibley secured the
cooperation of the Western Union, and the Pacific
Telegraph Company was organized. The California
State Telegraph Company, learning of the plan,
agreed to take a share in it, and a company was
organized there to build the line as far as Salt Lake
City, which was to be the Western end of the East-
ern constructors. Everything seemed propitious, and
work was begun.
The public fully expected that two years was the
minimum time in which the line could be completed,
and many well-informed people beheved it would
take longer. The surprise of the country can be
imagined, therefore, when just four months and
THE TELEGRAPH
131
eleven days from the time work was commenced the
Hnes met and were joined at Salt Lake City, and
the first through message sent. This was November
15, 1 86 1. Since then the telegraph across, around,
lengthwise, or breadthwise of the land has stretched
its threads of steel. The blank refusal with which
the New Jersey Transportation Company met the
request of grim old Amos Kendall to run the first
wires of the Magnetic Telegraph Company along
their roadway was modified a year or two later,
when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad granted the
first of such permissions ; and to-day the railroad
and the telegraph are seen to be inseparable. The
insignificant sum — less than $5,000 — which repre-
sented the first year's receipts of the old Magnetic
Company has grown to dimensions where even mil-
hons have to be reckoned in hundreds.
Prior to 1866, the year that saw the transconti-
nental line opened, the many companies and small
Hnes divided the business of the country into so
many channels that the totals are not obtainable.
The advance of system and uniformity through
consolidation brought comparative order out of this
confusion, and in 1866 figures were made up giving
the total wire mileage of the American telegraphs as
75,686, covering an actual line distance of 37,380
mated for the country at large. There were 22,909
people employed in the telegraph business by all the
companies.
In the year ending June 30, 1895, the figures for
the Western Union Company had reached dimen-
sions scarcely conceivable as the result of a single
half-century's improvement. From a total wire
mileage in 1883 of 462,283, it had increased nearly
100 per cent., the total in 1895 being 802,651 miles.
These wires represented a line length of poles and
cables of 189,714 miles, joining in one complete and
organized system of communication 21,360 offices.
The number of messages transmitted during the year
was 58,307,315, or forty per cent, more than in
1883. The expenses of the company in transacting
this business were $16,076,629, leaving a profit of
$6,141,389. This return for one year's business is a
wonderful contrast to that modest little sheet which
set forth the first annual balance of the old Magnetic
Telegraph Company. The gradual advance by
which this tremendous volume of business has been
rendered possible is best shown in the following
table, giving the mileage of lines operated, number
of offices, number of messages sent, receipts, ex-
penses, profits, and average tolls and cost per mes-
sage, for selected years since 1866.
WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH COMPANY, 1866 to 1895.
Miles of
Miles of
Wire.
Average
Average
Year.
Poles and
Offices.
Messages.
Receipts.
Expenses.
Profits.
Tolls per
Cost to Co.
Cables.
Message.
OF Message.
1866...
37,880
54,109
75,686
112,191
2,250
3,972
1870....
9.157,746
$7,138,737-96
$4,910,772.42
$2,227,965.54
75-5
51.2
I875--.
72,833
179,496
6,565
17,153.710
9,564,574.60
6,335,414.77
3,229,157.83
54
35-2
1880....
85,645
233,534
9,077
29,215,509
12,782,894.53
6,948,956.74
5.833.937-79
38.5
25.4
1885 ....
147,500
462,283
14,184
42,096,583
17.706,833.71
12,005,909.58
5,700,924.13
32.1
24.9
1889...
178,754
647,697
18,470
54,108,326
20,783,194.07
14,565,152.61
6,218,041.46
31.2
22.4
1895 ...
189,714
802,651
21,360
58,307.315
22,218,019.18
16,076,629.97
6,141,389.21
30.7
23-3
miles. There were 2250 telegraph offices open. By
1870 the figures had increased to 112,191 miles of
wire, 54,109 miles of hne, and 3972 offices, which were
doing a business annually of 9,157,646 messages.
The year 1880 found an equally marked gain. There
were 253,534 miles of wire, 85,645 miles of line, and
9077 offices, while the number of messages annually
transmitted had increased to 29,216,509. Six years
later and the growth was astounding in its rapidity :
217 telegraph companies existed throughout the
country, 20,899 offices were ready to receive or
transmit messages, and 671,002 miles of wire, cov-
ering 226,308 miles of line, were at the service of
the operators. Of this great total the Western
Union Company was the chief quantity; 462,283
miles of its wires were included in the 671,002 esti-
The aggregate assets of this company are $125,-
966,171, and the capital stock outstanding is $95,-
370,000, of which ,$550,000 was added during the
last year for the purchase of the lines and property
of the American Rapid Telegraph Company.
To these statistics, in estimating the whole im-
portance of the telegraph in the United States,
must be added the business done by the Postal Tele-
graph-Cable Company, and a few small telegraph
systems in various parts of the country. I have at
hand no particulars of the amount of that business,
but it would, perhaps, be fair to say that the total
telegraph receipts in the United States for the year
1895 amounted to about $25,000,000.
The important part played by the telegraph in the
development of the world's commerce is so self-
132 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
evident as to need little demonstration. Facilities These figures, significant though they are, still fail
for rapid transit such as we have to-day both on to show the greatest benefit accruing from the tele-
land and water would of themselves have accom- graph. This is in the money it saves. Every cause
plished much, it is true, but they would suffer a serious and every happening that affect the community, its
diminution of their usefulness were the vastly more business, its crops, its affairs, are instantly communi-
rapid transmission of intelligence impossible. A cated to the farthest comer of the earth. Nothing
grain broker in Chicago who had only the railroads need come as a surprise. The distant dealer is as
and the Atlantic liners as carriers for his queries well posted as the trader on the ground, and he oper-
and the return information would be obliged to ates accordingly, with an intelligence that saves mil-
wait two weeks at the very least before he could lions every month. All this is in addition to the
hear from London. Business methods to-day pro- advantages obtained in social and family life through
hibit such delays. The buyer in California must it, as well as in those occupations which are not
have instant communication with his New York primarily commercial.
house, which in turn must be equally well aware of Twenty-five billion dollars are to-day represented
what its foreign agents are doing. The telegraph by the internal commerce of this great nation;
and the cable permit this. In 1840 the total exports $1,500,000,000 more are included in our trade with
and imports of the United States amounted to but foreign lands ; a merchant marine with a carrying ca-
$221,927,638. The year the first telegraph line pacity of 3,261,982 tons now flies our flag; railways
was built, and a year later, showed the totals even with a mileage of nearly 180,000, or one half the total
less, $219,224,433 being their estimated amount, mileage of the world, gridiron our continent ; and a
Since then, while each decade has seen improvement population more prosperous and more enterprising
except the one which included the disastrous Civil than that of any other country or time is pushing
War, the subjoined summary, will show the added steadily onward. All these have come to fruition
impetus given to commercial enterprise, first in the since the birth of the telegraph. With their advent
decade between 1845 and 1855, when the telegraph and growth that of the great telegraph system of
lines of the country sprang into prominence, and the United States is inseparably linked by the inter-
secondly in the period between 1865 and 1875, when dependence of a common cause and effect. Each
the transatlantic cable became of every-day use. has rendered the other possible. The end, however,
is far from being reached; and when the wonders
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS, 1845 to 1895. ... t, f . 1. , j -j
which one short century has worked are consid-
"^"A"- Tnd ''imports.^ ered, the futility of setting limits to the progress of
^^45 $219,224433 the future is but too apparent. The movement is
i8s5 476,718,211 „ . , , , ., .
1865 404,774,883 a^ll in advance, and daily improvements testify to
^oP 1,046448,147 its earnestness ; but its ultimate results I must leave
>88s 1,319,717,084 '
1894 1,547,135,194 to others the chronicle.
CHAPTER XX
THE TELEPHONE
THE word " telephone " in its original use was
not applied to the transmission of speech by
the use of the electric current. The word is
much older than the art to which it is now exclu-
sively applied. To an exhibition of the transmission
of musical vibrations through solids, given by Wheat-
stone as early as 1821, he gave the name of "tele-
phone concerts," and certain kinds of trumpets for
signaling, used as early as 1845, were called tele-
phones. Indeed, the name was at one time applied
by the Germans to the common speaking-tube.
The effort to transmit sounds, and especially musi-
cal sounds, suggested the possibility, and perhaps
encouraged the hope, of the transmission of articu-
late speech beyond the Hmits to which it may be
transmitted through the natural medium of its
propagation, the air ; but the hope was not realized
until the invention of Bell, described in his patent
of March 7, 1876. In that patent were described
and claimed a method of, and apparatus for, trans-
mitting sound by means of an undulatory current
of electricity. " This invention solved the problem,
long labored upon by inventors and scientific men,
of the transmission of human speech by the use of
the electric current, and laid the foundation of the
art of speaking-telephony, since widely introduced
throughout the world."
In 1836, Dr. Charles G. Page, of Salem, Mass.,
an examiner in the Patent Office and an electrical
inventor of note, while employing a rapidly inter-
rupted electrical current produced by the ordinary
vibrating spring-tongue circuit-breaker, found that
if this intermittent current was passed through the
coils of an electromagnet the latter gave forth a
musical note the pitch of which corresponded to the
rapidity of the interruptions; the law of acoustics
being that after air-vibrations have become rapid
enough to blend together as a continuous musical
sound, an increase in their number per second raises
the pitch of the sound. He published this discovery
under the name of " Galvanic Music." Although
not utilized in the speaking-telephone, this served to
attract the attention of many experimenters to the
electrical production of sound.
In 1854, Charles Bourseul, of the French tele-
graphic service, suggested that the circuit-breaking
tongue or plate might perhaps be vibrated by the
air-waves produced by the voice of a speaker.
Would the resulting sound at the distant receiver be
articulation? He inclined to doubt it; but he said
that our knowledge of the precise nature of articulate
sound was too meager to enable us to answer that
question a priori, and the subject was worth experi-
ment. In the same year, " Didaskalia," a periodical
of Frankfort-on-the-Main, published an abstract of
Bourseul's article, and Philip Reis, a schoolmaster
who lived at Frankfort-on-the-Main, then took up
the subject. For his circuit-breaking transmitter he
used the membrane diaphragm of the old lover's
telegraph or string-telephone, so mounted as to make
and break the circuit once at each vibration. For
his receiver he employed Dr. Page's singing-magnet.
He hoped to transmit speech, and his efforts at-
tracted much attention. But he found that musical
sounds or confused noises were all that came from
his receiver, and in 1863, having perfected his in-
strument, he put it on the market as a musical
telephone.
Reis's discoveries contributed nothing toward the
speaking-telephone, unless it be the suggestion that
the diaphragm of the lover's telegraph might be em-
ployed as a part of an electrical apparatus. Reis
attracted attention to the subject, however, though,
on the other hand, the failure of both Bourseul and
himself after ten years of experiment must have been
very discouraging to others. In 1862 Helmholtz
published his great work on sound. In this he
showed, by direct experimental proof, that each
articulate sound was a composite, made up of a
fundamental or principal tone which gave volume
9*
133
134
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
and pitch to the whole, while the peculiar character,
or, as it is technically called, " quality " or " form,"
which distinguishes one articulate sound and its air-
vibrations from another, is due to the admixture of
a considerable number of much feebler tones, called
" overtones," of successively higher and higher pitch.
These materials — namely, the discovery by Helm-
holtz of what articulation is, and the proof by the
experience of Reis that the only plan thought of for
its transmission was a failure — were needed for the
creation of the speaking-telephone. But they had
been widely known for a dozen years without lead-
ing to that invention, when Alexander Graham Bell,
son of an Edinburgh professor of articulation, and
himself a teacher in Boston of articulation to deaf-
mutes, brought them to bear with success on this
problem. In his patent of March 7, 1876, Mr. Bell
stated the well-known fact that an intermittent cur-
rent, such as would be produced by a circuit-breaker,
would reproduce musical pitch. Then he showed
that a current which, instead of being interrupted,
was caused to vary as sound-waves vary, could
transmit and reproduce every kind of sound which
sound-waves could convey, including vocal sounds
and the utterances of the human voice. He defined
this current as a current consisting of " electrical un-
dulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air
accompanying said vocal or other sounds," whence
it took the short name " undulatory current."
An early and noteworthy public exhibition of
Bell's telephone was made shortly after the granting
of the patent, before the judges at the Centennial
Exhibition. One of these judges, a man of the
highest scientific repute. Sir William Thomson, now
Lord Kelvin, speaking to a fellow-scientist on
the evening of that day, said of Professor Bell's
invention, " What yesterday I should have declared
impossible I have to-day seen reaUzed." And
later, addressing the British Association, after de-
scribing the telephone, he said, " Who can but
admire the hardihood of invention which devised
such very slight means to realize the mathematical
conception that, if electricity is to convey all the
delicacies of quality which distinguish articulate
speech, the strength of the current must vary con-
tinuously, and, as nearly as may be, in simple pro-
portion to the velocity of a particle of air engaged
in constituting the sound?"
Bell's improved instrument, which was put into
commercial use early in 1877, still remains the most
perfect articulator in the world. But as all the
electricity employed in it is such as the mere force
of the voice itself generates,— the current so pro-
duced is usually reckoned as not over ^ 0 p^o ^ ^ part
of that employed on an ordinary telegraph line, — its
sounds are feeble, its effects easily drowned out by
disturbances, and the instrument is therefore not
well fitted for ordinary commercial use as a trans-
mitting-telephone, where the listener is in a noisy
place, and the earth below and a network of neigh-
boring wires are full of other and more powerful
ctu"rents.
On April 14, 1877, Mr. Emile Berliner filed in
the Patent Office a caveat, and on July 20, 1877,
Mr. Edison filed an application, each of which de-
scribed what we now know as the speaking-micro-
phone. In this instrument the voice, acting to vary
the pressure between two electrodes in contact with
each other, molds the flow of electricity from a
battery into Bell's undulatory, speech-bearing cur-
rent. The microphone of Berliner, with the addi-
tion of carbon contacts, the value of which, as dis-
tinguished from metal contacts, was first discovered
by Edison, has become the universal transmitter of
the world. These inventions have been chiefly used
in the United States in the form of the Blake trans-
mitter, an instrument of beautiful organization and
construction, devised in the summer of 1878 by
Mr. Francis Blake, then, or not long before, in
charge of the electrical determination of longitudes
for the government. The receiving-telephone, made
by Mr. Bell in 1877, still remains the preferred in-
strument for that piu-pose.
The telephone was natvurally first used over a sin-
gle wire connecting two stations ; but the possibility
of a wider use was immediately perceived, wherein
a number of such wires, practically unlimited, should
be so connected together that a person at any station
of such a system could hold conversation with per-
sons at any other station, and the " exchange " arose.
The exchange was, naturally, at first confined, or sub-
stantially confined, to the municipal limits of single
cities or towns. It spread rapidly, until in 1884
there was an exchange in every town or city of
10,000 inhabitants or over in the United States,
and of course in many towns of smaller population.
The connection of neighboring exchanges with one
another by trunk-lines, whereby the subscribers in
either exchange could talk with the subscribers in
any other exchange of the group, naturally followed,
and this in an ever-widening circle, until in 1892 it
had become possible for the subscribers to the ex-
changes in the city of New York to talk with the
subscribers to the exchanges in Chicago, and a little
later the system of exchanges in New England was
connected with New York, and thence to Chicago.
John E, Hudson.
THE TELEPHONE
135
The line from New York to Chicago was formally
opened to the public on the i8th of October, 1892.
The connecting of these cities, and the furnishing of
apparatus for personal conversation between them,
was such an addition to the facilities of business as,
by a sort of common consent, to be recognized as a
matter of public concern, and the formal opening
was made by a conversation between the mayors of
the respective cities.
As exchanges have grown and lines have been
extended, new questions have suggested them-
selves and new difficulties have arisen. At the out-
set, and for a considerable time thereafter, one wire
only extended from the central office to the premises
of each subscriber, the ground being used to com-
plete the electrical circuit, as in telegraphy. But
this opened the door to an amount of interference
from other currents, — the earth-currents, so called,
and currents like those from electric cars, discharged
into the earth, — which, owing to the extreme delicacy
and sensitiveness of the telephone, seriously impaired
the service, and often rendered conversation impos-
sible. This difficulty has been overcome by the use
of metallic circuits; that is, by using two wires to
connect the central office with each subscriber's prem-
ises, and ceasing to use the ground as a "return."
It was found, however, especially in the longer
lines, that when a number of wires were strung on
the same poles, or when such wires were paralleled
by wires carrying electric light or power currents,
there were produced — by a subtle sympathetic effect
called induction — certain disturbances which con-
fused the speech and often rendered it unintelligible.
This was overcome by changing the relative posi-
tion of the wires in different parts of the line. As
has been explained, each circuit consists of two
wires. On each line of poles are a number of cir-
cuits. At certain measured distances, determined in
accordance with rules deduced from theory and
from experiment, each wire crosses over and changes
places with the others. The plan is that just as
much as one line influences another to generate
these counter-currents on one part of the route, just
so much shall another part of the same line influence
another part of that same other line to generate
counter-currents, but in a different direction, so that
these " induced " currents shall exactly neutralize
and destroy one another. If one will endeavor to
think out how, in a long Hne of fifty or a hundred
wires (for some of the larger routes carry that
greater number on the poles), each wire can at fre-
quent intervals be so transposed that each line shall
thus, by balancing, protect every other one, and
shall be itself protected from every other, some idea
of the difficulty of hitting upon a perfect plan will
be realized. When wires are made up into cables
the same result is obtained by twisting each pair of
wires together, and then " laying up " these twisted
pairs according to a rule which has been carefully
studied out to accomplish the desired result.
There was still another difficulty, experienced on
long lines especially. The telephone transmitter
produces in that part of the line where it is situated
Bell's speech-carrying variations of current. These
consist of alternate increases and decreases of cur-
rent exactly corresponding to the ever- varying sound-
waves; and when these act upon the receiver the
spoken word is reproduced. These changes, neces-
sary for articulation, corresponding to what are called
overtones, succeed one another, in telephony, at the
rate of, say, 2000 to the second. Now it is found
in a long line that this change of electrical con-
dition takes place at the distant end with a cer-
tain sluggishness, so that before there has been time
for an increase to fully manifest itself there, the suc-
ceeding diminution comes along. Thus the rise and
fall of current at the end of a long line becomes so
insufficient or so inaccurate that the spoken words
are not clearly heard. This difficulty, which is due
in part to other causes, is known as " retardation."
In underground lines, as formerly constructed, the
difficulties from both induction and retardation are
increased from fifty to one hundred fold for equal
distances. To meet the trouble from retardation
the character of the lines must be changed, and
this has been done.
What the change should be was by no means a
simple matter to determine. Diminishing the sur-
face area of the wire per unit of length lessened the
evil of retardation, other things being equal. But
when a smaller wire was used other things did not
remain equal, because the smaller wire would not
carry as much electricity per unit of time, and this
aggravated the trouble. Proximity of the wires of
one circuit to other wires increases the evil ; close
proximity of the wires to the earth enormously in-
creases it. Wrapping the wires with any of the
usual insulating coverings increases it. But the
wires cannot be far apart on pole lines, and in a
cable the wires must be embedded in an insulator,
must be packed closely together, and must be laid
under water or underground. The capacity of iron
to become magnetized also unfitted it for use in
telephony. Balancing all these evils, advantages,
and necessities, the plan adopted has been to em-
ploy metallic circuits, — that is, two wires for each
136
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
set of instruments, — to use copper as the material,
and to take very large wire for aerial or overhead pole
lines, but, on the other hand, decidedly small wire
for cables. The size of the wire for overhead lines
varies with the length of the line. Thus, while the
copper wire used between New York and Boston
weighs 172 pounds to the mile, wire weighing 435
pounds to the mile is used between New York
and Chicago, so that each of the several metallic
circuits uniting Boston with Chicago contains more
than a million pounds of copper.
As wires have multiplied there has been a strong
public demand that they should go underground, at
least in the more thickly settled portions of the larger
cities. A beginning on underground work was made
in 1884. On the ist of January, 1885, there were
1225 miles of wire underground, and on the ist of
January, 1895, 149,592 miles of underground wire,
in some sixty cities. As already stated, the diffi-
culties experienced from retardation and induction
are greatly increased in underground work, and
hence the length of buried conductor that can be
used is limited.
Experience having made manifest the difficulties
which have been detailed, and the remedies having
been learned, they were at once applied. But before
they were learned much work had been done, and to
bring this up to the proper standard a very general
rebuilding was entered upon, not only of lines, which
had to be changed from iron to copper and con-
verted into metallic circuits, but also of switchboards
and other apparatus.
As there has been improvement of lines, there has
also been a steady improvement of apparatus, and
the result is that it is now possible from any properly
appointed station to talk north and east to Augusta,
Me., north to Concord, N. H., Buffalo, and Mil-
waukee, west to Chicago, and south to Washington,
Cincinnati, Nashville, and Memphis ; and of course
to the principal cities intermediate. This system of
telephonic intercommunication is by far the most ex-
tensive in the world. It may be interesting to note
that within that territory live and do business some-
thing more than one half of the whole population
of the United States, so that it is hardly a figure of
speech to say that one half the people of the country
are within talking distance of one another.
The development and present extent of the tele-
phone business are clearly shown by an examination
of its statistics. On January i, 1881, there were in
use in the United States, for telephone purposes,
29,714 miles of wire. Ten years later, January i,
1 89 1, the wire mileage had reached 331,642; and
on January ist of the present year it had grown to
577,231. During the current year there has been a
further increase, bringing the total above 600,000
miles.
It will be remembered that the electric speaking-
telephone became known in the spring of 1876.
On December 20, 1877, 5187 had gone into use in
the United States. Ten years later the number had
increased to 380,277. The number in use October
20, 1895, was, approximately, 660,817.
On January i, 1881, the total number of exchange
subscribers was 47,880. On the same date in 1891
this number had grown to 202,931, and on January
ist of the present year it had still further increased
to 243,432.
Statistics as to the number of connections or
conversations by telephone between exchange sub-
scribers date back to 1884 only. During 1884 it
was 215,280,000, the yearly rate being based on
daily use. January i, 1895, the estimated number
of exchange connections daily in the United States,
made up from actual count in most of the ex-
changes, was 2,088,152, or at the rate of about
670,000,000 per annum. Not only has there been
an increase in the number of subscribers to the
telephone, but there has also been a steady increase
in the average daily use by each subscriber. The
average number of calls per subscriber per day
was, in 1885, five and one half; in 1895, eight
and one half.
With these statistics it will be interesting to com-
pare the statistics of the larger features of the busi-
ness as it has been established in the principal foreign
countries. There are in the United States about
250,000 subscribers. The British Isles, with more
than half our population, have less than 75,000.
France, with a population of 38,000,000, has but
25,000 subscribers, or about as many as New York
and Boston combined. Germany makes a better
showing, having 90,000 subscribers in a population
of 50,000,000 ; but this is less than one half the num-
ber she should have to bring her up to our standard.
Austro-Hungary, with 40,000,000 people, has but
20,000 subscribers; and Russia, with over 108,000,-
000 inhabitants, only 9000.
^^^-^«fg: %^,
0a*
CHAPTER XXI
THE EXPRESS
THE familiar picture of the old-fashioned
stage-coach and horses standing in front of
an ancient tavern, ready to transport pas-
sengers and merchandise to some distant place,
with the driver perched high on the first seat, and
seemingly conscious of his individual prominence as
the conductor of a very essential method of convey-
ance, quite clearly brings to view the manner in
which the general intercourse of this country was
chiefly transacted during its early years ; and it par-
ticularly suggests, through the personality of the
driver, the means by which small parcels were sent,
and the various errands or commissions he performed,
for they were then customarily intrusted to that
channel of communication between locahties. The
vessels then engaged in the carrying trade along the
coast and on the lakes, rivers, and canals likewise
afforded a further method of transportation between
districts which were more readily accessible by water
than by land, and to the masters of such vessels
were confided duties similar to those required of the
stage drivers.
Such methods sufficed until there came into oper-
ation a series of railways, which, with their greater
speed and convenience, necessarily displaced the
stage-coach lines ; and the obligations theretofore
assumed by the stage drivers were naturally trans-
ferred to the conductors of the railway trains.
Many of those conductors had been stage drivers,
and they were employed by the railways because of
their general acquaintance with the people, and their
familiarity with traffic between the cities and towns.
The advent of the railways had given an unusual
impetus to the commercial relations of the country,
so that, on the opening of a through route by water
and rail from New York to Boston, the merchants,
bankers, or others who wished to send small parcels
enlisted the services of not alone the railway and
steamboat employees, but the assistance of their
friends traveling between those cities ; for New
York and Boston were then two of the most impor-
tant places in the country, their interchange of busi-
ness was large, and no opportunity was neglected to
secure its prompt transaction. The general demand
thus made upon the time of the railway and steam-
boat employees ultimately necessitated a division of
their labors ; and eventually they were required to
make a choice between acting as agents of the pub-
lic or as servants of their respective companies.
One of the earliest railways to enforce this distinc-
tion was the Boston and Worcester Railway, of
Massachusetts. That road had in its service a con-
ductor by the name of William F. Harnden, who
was one among the many conductors employed by
it and the public as agents in the transaction of their
various interests. Harnden thought best to sever
his relations with the railway, came to New York in
1838, and met James W. Hale, then proprietor of
a reading-room in Wall Street, which was largely at-
tended by merchants and travelers. With him Harn-
den discussed the advisabihty of separating from
the general railway traffic the business of carrying
parcels and fulfiUing orders, and converting it into
an individual enterprise. Harnden's previous expe-
rience in a similar respect enabled him to perceive a
fair opening for his own benefit and for that of the
public in the establishment of an independent ser-
vice between New York and Boston ; and, with the
encouragement of Hale, the express business, as
now conducted, then and there had its conception.
Acting on that determination, Harnden promptly
effected arrangements with the railroad and steam-
boat companies forming the through line via Provi-
dence, and on February 23, 1839, published adver-
tisements in the New York and Boston newspapers
announcing that on March 4th ensuing he would
begin personally to conduct an " express " service
between the two cities, which service would embrace
the purchasing of goods, collection of drafts, notes,
and bills, and the carriage of small parcels. The
137
138
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
trip was made from Boston to New York as out-
lined, and was then followed by a regular service
three or four times a week.
Thus the first express, actually known by that
name, had its birth. And here it should be stated
that, although Harnden was first to start an express
between Boston and New York, there were at the
same time others engaged in a similar occupation
throughout New England, having been attracted to
that new field of industry by the opening and ex-
tension of railway lines. Among those who then
embarked in the business was Alvin Adams, who
came from Vermont to Boston early in 1840, and
shortly afterward determined upon the introduction
of a route between Boston and New York, via the
Norwich line. Adams duly advertised his purpose,
and on May 4th in that year began the express which,
under his name, has since become so widely known.
In a short time the express routes between New
York and Boston had attracted considerable atten-
tion, their facilities were regularly utilized by the
general public, including the financial institutions of
both cities, and the transportation companies cheer-
fully assisted in their operations, for the enterprise
had relieved their employees of extra labor, and
materially added to their revenues, besides taking
from them a large amount of responsibility. The
readiness with which the services offered by Harn-
den and Adams had been accepted, and the confi-
dence displayed in intrusting to them valuable
packages and large sums of money for transmission,
are particularly noteworthy facts, as those men at
the inauguration of the business were almost un-
known in mercantile affairs. It was evident they
had no financial resources with which to meet losses
to property in their care, and their only stock in
trade consisted of the special privileges which each
had obtained from the railroad and steamboat com-
panies for the transaction of their business ; but they
soon earned a reputation for efficiency and integrity
that was aptly described in the proverbial phrase,
" with the promptness and fidelity of an expressman."
The success of those lines naturally led to the
formation of others, and from 1840 to 1845 express
routes were opened from New York to Albany,
Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalo, Pitts-
burg, Detroit, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, St.
Louis, and New Orleans, connected with which were
such other expressmen as William B. Dinsmore,
Henry Wells, Edwards S. Sanford, Samuel M. Shoe-
maker, Johnston Livingston, and William G. Fargo.
At that time there were few railroads in the East,
and none beyond Pittsburg ; and transportation be-
tween prominent localities in the West was almost
wholly conducted over the great waterways of the
Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers, with their
tributaries, which included canals then recently
completed in several of the States to connect those
rivers with the lakes. These formed the most
frequently traveled routes of communication between
the West and the East, and the express was duly
established thereon. Within the next few years rail-
road lines were rapidly constructed throughout the
country, and by them the express was likewise car-
ried, so that its scope was thus steadily enlarged in
all directions. The great trunk-lines which now
cover the United States had not then been projected,
and such railroads as were at that time in operation
consisted of local and independent routes, widely
scattered, and without connection except that which
might be had by steamboat or stage. The express-
men, observing the necessity for through and contin-
uous facilities from point to point, however distant,
arranged to give the public that very essential ser-
vice ; and in bridging these intervals they for a time
called themselves " forwarders," in analogy to the
forwarding business as theretofore conducted, and
which had been the receipt and delivery of merchan-
dise between two carriers not otherwise connected.
The important manufacturing interests, as well as
the largest firms, principally located in the Eastern
and Middle States, were during this period forward-
ing supplies for the country in general by railroad
freight and by vessel — such supplies being most
frequently sent to large cities, particularly in the
South and West, for further distribution ; but with
the inauguration by the express of continuous lines,
those shipments were made directly from point to
point, so that the outlying sections of the country,
which had not theretofore had any considerable
business relations with the important cities, were
brought into close touch with them. In then
endeavoring to increase its business the express
naturally became not only solicitor, purchasing
agent, and forwarder, but was, in a degree, respon-
sible for any commercial credit that might thus be
extended through its influences. The express also
undertook the carriage of letters; and the public,
quick to appreciate such service, very promptly
availed of it in preference to that of the mail ; but
the venture met with opposition on the part of the
government, and was ultimately abandoned.
Soon after the discovery of gold in California in
1848, when great numbers of people went there to
assist in developing the resources of that region, — in
which the whole country was interested, — the express
Levi C. Weir.
THE EXPRESS
139
readily anticipated their necessities for prompt and
reliable commercial intercourse with the East by-
opening agencies in San Francisco, and at the vari-
ous mining camps on the Pacific coast, for the trans-
mission of packages, money, and gold-dust, and for
the transaction of a banking business.
For several years just previous to 1854, the tend-
ency of the principal expresses had been toward
consolidation of interests, as it was beheved that
much better, more prompt, and less expensive service
could be rendered by such association. Accord-
ingly, in that year, through the efforts of Adams,
Dinsmore, Sanford, and others, the routes of Harn-
den's Express, the lines of several minor concerns in
the Eastern States, and those on the steamers run-
ning from New York to Charleston, Savannah,
Mobile, and New Orleans were combined with the
express of Adams & Company, under the title of
the Adams Express Company. Alvin Adams be-
came president, William B. Dinsmore vice-president,
and a board of directors was formed, of which
Edwards S. Sanford, Samuel M. Shoemaker, Johns-
ton Livingston, and others were members. In this
year, also. Wells, Livingston, Fargo, and Butterfield,
through a similar incorporation of lines extending
from the East, via Albany, Buffalo, and the lakes,
to the far West, organized the American Express
Company, with Henry Wells as president, John
Butterfield vice-president, William G. Fargo secre-
tary, Johnston Livingston and Alexander Holland
directors, and Daniel Butterfield, James C. Fargo,
and Charles Fargo superintendents. Likewise in
1854 the United States Express Company was
formed by Kip, Barney, and Marsh, to operate an
express over the then recently completed line of the
New York and Erie Railway, and other routes
extending farther into the West. D. N. Barney
was made president, H. Kip became superintendent,
and T. B. Marsh tre§,surer. About that time, also.
Wells, Livingston, Fargo, Barney, and others intro-
duced another express on the Pacific coast, under
the title of Wells, Fargo & Company, to form a
through connection, both overland and by water,
with the East. During the next few years several
expresses operated stage lines, and the famous
" Pony Express," between St. Louis and San Fran-
cisco, Wells, Fargo & Company, however, being the
most prominent among them ; and in 1858 that con-
cern, through an association with such lines, formed
the Overland Mail Company, which until the comple-
tion of the Union Pacific Railroad exclusively carried
the United States mails between the Missouri River
and the Pacific coast. In 1855, under the title of the
National Express Company, there were organized
several express routes which had been operated be-
tween New York, Albany, Troy, Saratoga, White-
hall, Rutland, and Montreal. D. N. Barney was
made president, J. A. Pullen general manager, and
E. H. Virgil superintendent. Some time thereafter,
Johnston Livingston and L. W. Winchester, previ-
ously identified with other companies, became active
in its management.
These consoUdations of routes, which connected
the principal sections of the country and brought
together in a common enterprise such bright and
energetic men as those mentioned were known to
be, laid the foundation for the thoroughly organized
service of the express as it exists to-day. The
express had then become a recognized necessity in
the commercial and individual transactions of the
country; its lines had ramified in every direction,
until nearly the whole United States was traversed
by them ; it had attracted to itself sufficient capital
to place it on a firm financial basis, and obhgations
to insure the safe and speedy transmission of mer-
chandise, valuables, and money were readily as-
sumed, so that when loss or damage did occur, due
reparation was promptly made ; and it is current
history, extending from that time until to-day, that
whenever goods or valuables in the care of the
express have been tampered with or stolen, it has
been swift, sure, and untiring in its pursuit of the
offenders until adequate punishment was effected.
In 1 86 1 the Southern Express Company was
organized to operate in the Southern States, and
Henry B. Plant became its president.
Upon the breaking out of the War of the Rebel-
lion the express was the only means of communi-
cation between the soldiers in the field and their
friends at home. For certain of the States it acted
as the gatherer of the soldiers' votes, and transmitted
them to the capitals of such States. The new
securities of the government, which were so largely
purchased by our people, were forwarded by the
government through the express — a choice made
with full knowledge of the fact that the express
afforded greater safety than the mail. The inter-
course thus established was, at the solicitation of
the government, continued after the war had ceased,
and at its further request a contract was made with
the Adams Express Company, acting for itself and
the other express companies, by which the trans-
mission of all the securities and moneys of the gov-
ernment was confided to the express. This function
of the express was especially noted in the award
which was made at the Columbian Exposition to the
140
ONE! HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Adams Express Company, and the testimonial con-
cluded thus : " The Adams Express Company has,
by the faithful performance of every trust reposed
in it, and the discharge of duties devolving upon it,
enlarged its business to the grand dimensions it now
enjoys, and has achieved the enviable position of a
pattern and guide for all similar corporations."
The further development of the express is remark-
able for the introduction and perfection of a number
of facilities necessary to meet the constantly increas-
ing demands of our 70,000,000 people, — features
of transportation and attendant services that are
peculiarly its own, — and chief among which may be
mentioned its wagon service, now to be found on
almost every avenue or street of our cities, towns,
and villages ; and, in conjunction therewith, its em-
ployment of special cars or trains for transportation
of express matter at high speed between the princi-
pal cities. It has to a great extent created the busi-
ness of transporting varieties of game, poultry, fish,
oysters, fruit, and vegetables to localities where they
are not usually obtainable ; it has originated a novel
method of selling goods for merchants, by collecting
on delivery the amount of the invoice and returning
the cash to the shipper ; it has improved the methods
of collecting the proceeds of negotiable paper, and
assumes therewith the responsibility of an indorser ;
it has created and affords the only efficient means
for the safe transportation of moneys and valuables
intrusted to it by the general public, the banks, the
railroads, and the government, and, as indicating
the general recognition of this specially important
feature, it may be stated that during a recent year
there were sent through the express $2,500,000,000,
and similarly shipped by the government $1,500,-
000,000, making a total carriage of $4,000,000,000
in money, no part of which was lost in transit ; it
has introduced at 40,000 agencies the express money-
order system, which thus meets almost every citizen
of the United States at his residence or place of
business, and there affords him a handy and safe
means for transmitting his money to any locality,
such money-orders being universally convertible into
cash — a convenience not otherwise obtainable, for
postal money-orders are only purchasable and
redeemable at large and important offices. This is
an accommodation also impossible for the banks to
render, as they are located at less than 8000 points.
The express has improved the facilities for immedi-
ate transportation of foreign goods from the port of
entry to destination, by accepting and carrying them
under heavy bonds to the government.
These are some of the features of the express
which distinguish its services from mere acts of
transportation, and indicate that its facilities cover a
much wider range of operations than originally de-
signed, particularly such as are not afforded by any
common carrier, and which necessitate the assump-
tion of obligations and liabilities not contemplated
by any other agency of commerce.
The great lines of railway communication are a
necessary adjunct to the successful conduct of the
express business, but they are an adjunct only.
Were the express dissolved the railway lines could
not supply the needs of the pubHc. There is an
interval between the act of transportation and the
demands of the public which railway companies do
not fill, and were not organized to fill, and which
renders the express so essential to the general wel-
fare of the community. The express, in its turn, is
among the most efficient supporters of the railway
systems ; it purchases the right of transportation at
wholesale, and sells it at retail to the public, at prices
fairly remunerative and universally accepted.
In round numbers, the routes of the express now
cover 200,000 miles of railroad, steamboat, and
stage lines ; the number of packages of merchandise
annually carried is over 100,000,000; the number
of money packages transported is 20,000,000 ; the
number of money-orders issued is 7,000,000 ; it em-
ploys 50,000 men at 40,000 agencies, uses 15,000
horses and 6000 vehicles, and it has an aggregate
capital of over $60,000,000.
And now, when consideration is given to the
prominence achieved by the express in the history
of this country through the services it has rendered,
not alone to the people at large, but to the United
States government, there will be no hesitation in
acknowledging that its usefulness may not be mea-
sured by any ordinary standard of comparison ; it has
constantly aided commerce by opening new markets
for the sale, purchase, and distribution of the pro-
ducts and manufactures of the country, and has
promoted individual communications and financial
transactions to an extent not attainable by any other
means; it is distinctively of American birth, and
not elsewhere are there similar instrumentaUties so
combined in one efficient and complete system.
CHAPTER XXII
THE STREET-RAILWAYS OF AMERICA
IT is not necessary to turn back the pages of his-
tory a century to present a complete account of
the inception and development of street-railways
in the United States or the world. The first horse-car
ever known appeared upon the street in New York
as late as 1832, but the idea of conveying people in
vehicles over iron rails was put to very little practi-
cal use until nearly twenty years later. The history
of street-railways in America, therefore, is practi-
cally confined to the last half-century; and yet there
are now in the United States nearly 1000 street-rail-
way systems, with a total mileage of nearly 14,000,
and a capitalization exceeding the enormous sum
of $1,300,000,000. These simple figures, of such
magnitude as to be almost impossible of compre-
hension, are sufficient to indicate the growth and
extent of the street-railway service of this country.
This extraordinary development of the idea, con-
ceived by John Stephenson, of placing the wheels
of an omnibus upon iron rails instead of dragging
them over cobblestones, may be divided into three
parts : First, street-railways operated with horses as
separate organizations; second, the substitution of
mechanical traction by means of a cable ; third, the
inauguration of electricity as a motive power, with
all that the adaptation of this wonderful agency to
practical uses conveys both for the present and the
future.
Sixty-five years ago, there Hved in New York a
man who had served his apprenticeship and begun
work for himself as a builder of carriages. He was
only twenty-four years old. His name was John
Stephenson. That he built strong and handsome
coaches while engaged in that occupation is evi-
denced by the world-wide reputation which he
subsequently acquired. That he was not content to
pursue that occupation in the stereotyped manner of
his predecessors is shown by the fact that before
reaching the age of twenty-five he conceived the
idea of transporting passengers, as millions are
transported to-day, over rails laid upon the pave-
ments of city thoroughfares.
The immediate development of this conception
was the inauguration, in 1 831, of the New York and
Harlem Railroad, which obtained a charter to oper-
ate a street-car line through Fourth Avenue in the
city of New York. This road was constructed and
opened in November, 1832, Stephenson building the
first car drawn over the track. If a duplicate of that
car should be made to-day, and placed upon the
street of any city in the Union, it would attract no
less attention than a Roman chariot. Prior to that
time there had existed only two forms of public con-
veyance. One was the English railway-coach ; the
other was the American omnibus. Stephenson's car
was a combination of the two. Outwardly it resem-
bled the omnibuses used on Broadway until a few
years ago, when they succumbed to the more con-
venient and comfortable street-cars. Its exterior was
divided into three compartments, after the English
idea, and it accommodated, when full, thirty passen-
gers, or ten in each compartment, besides affording
seats to perhaps a dozen more upon the roof. Over
the second door was painted the name of the car,
"John Mason," after the gentleman of that name,
who was then the president of the new railroad, as
well as of the Chemical Bank. Upon the panel of
the first door appeared the words " New York " ; upon
the second, " Yorkville " ; and upon the third, " Har-
laem," then spelled in the good old Dutch way ; and
in very modest letters, upon one of the steps be-
tween the wheels of this extraordinary vehicle,
" Stephenson Patent."
Although this first of all street-cars would proba-
bly seem to-day quite as ridiculous as the famous
" one-hoss shay," it would be unjust to assert that it
was not an exceptionally good beginning. Judging
from the picture now before me, there certainly was
141
142
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
a dearth of springs ; but it must be borne in mind that
springs were not so common in those days as they
are now, and that passengers were far less exacting.
Moreover, the outward appearance of the car, al-
though cumbersome, was certainly handsome. The
upholsterings were also said to be of the finest ma-
terial, and conducive to a sense of luxury. Alto-
gether, therefore, it must be admitted that John
Stephenson's first car, considered by itself, was a
success. Practically, however, it proved a failure
for the time being. Steam had just then begun to
be used as a motive power, and all other agencies,
including this wonderful car, were superseded by it
wherever it could be employed to advantage.
In 1837 horse-car service on Fourth Avenue was
abandoned for steam-cars, and was not resumed un-
til 1845, and then in a very tentative and unsatis-
factory manner. In 1852 a French engineer, named
Loubat, revived the idea in New York city, and a
road was constructed upon a portion of Sixth Ave-
nue. During the next eight years about thirty roads
for horse- car service were constructed in the United
States. Of these probably the most important was
the one built from Boston to Cambridge. The com-
pany which undertook this project made use of the
old omnibus cars that had been used on Fourth Ave-
nue in New York. As the traffic increased they af-
forded additional facilities by placing upon tracks the
omnibuses which they had formerly used upon the
road from Boston to Cambridge. It soon became
apparent that the new form of conveyance was
destined to achieve general popularity, and one im-
provement after another was adopted until there
were produced really very comfortable and attrac-
tive cars, exactly balanced upon the best of springs
and handsomely finished, such as are in use in all
of the large cities of to-day.
Aside from the personality of the inventor there is
little that is not commonplace in the history of street-
cars operated with horses. They served their pur-
pose as a process of development, but that was all.
As a rule, they were operated by separate companies
over short lines, and afforded comparatively little
convenience to the public. The transfer system,
which has since attained such great importance in
the large cities, was unknown, because of the sepa-
ration and, in many cases, antagonism of the various
companies. The owners of the roads were not pro-
gressive, and instead of endeavoring to afford the
public the best possible accommodation, they exerted
every effort to obtain the largest revenue from their
properties. This short-sighted policy produced the
inevitable result of popular dissatisfaction. Never-
theless, there soon appeared in New York a striking
illustration of the fact that street-cars had become,
and would continue to be, a most important factor
in municipal life.
When the elevated railroads were built in this city,
many people beUeved that the end of the surface car
had come, but in reahty the companies operating lines
directly under the elevated structures suffered com-
paratively little loss even at the beginning, and within
a few years they had regained their former traffic,
which has since increased, year by year, until it is now
larger than ever before in their history. The chief
cause of this was undoubtedly the increase in popu-
lation, but another, hardly less potent, lies in the im-
provement of service, the change of motive power,
and a natural tendency of the public to prefer sur-
face transportation to any other method, above or
below. The first great change, and the first really
progressive step in street-car service, however, came
with the substitution of mechanical traction for
horses, and this brings us to the second chapter of
our history.
The first cable railroad in the United States was a
direct result of physical conditions in the city where
it was constructed. If all cities in the country had
been built upon marshes and bogs like Chicago, St.
Louis, and New Orleans, or even upon moderately
level ground, like New York, Philadelphia, and Bos-
ton, it is entirely within the range of probability that
strands of wire would never have been used for the
purpose of drawing street-cars. But there existed in
San Francisco a physical configuration of ground
which made it impossible to transport people from
one part of the city to another, from the wharves to
Nob Hill, by means of horses. Necessity, therefore,
became the mother of this invention, as of most
others, and the native Californians, being both quick-
witted and enterprising, were not slow in the exercise
of ingenuity.
To Andrew S. Hallidie belongs the credit of adapt-
ing the theory of cable traction to successful practical
use. In 1872 he obtained a patent upon a cable grip.
Meanwhile he had prepared plans for the building of
a cable road, and far-seeing capitalists of San Fran-
cisco had pledged the requisite financial support for
its construction. The work was pushed forward with
the energy characteristic of the far West, and in Sep-
tember, 1873, the pioneer cable railroad of the world
was put into operation on Clay Street, San Francisco.
Many doubted the success of this new method, and
more questioned its safety. The road was only about
a mile in length, and yet rose from a low level ter-
minus to a height of nearly 300 feet. It is said the
THE STREET-RAILWAYS OF AMERICA
143
first gripman who operated a car over this road
ahghted at one stage in its descent and insisted that
he could not, in justice to his family, proceed further
unless there should be attached to the car a steel rope
above the surface of the ground which he could actu-
ally see and rely upon to save a corporation from the
payment of his Hfe-insurance. This difficulty having
been overcome, either by the attachment of the rope
or by persuasion and threats — upon which the his-
tory of California is less specific than might be de-
sired— the car continued without accident, and after
a few days a service was given of sufficient regularity
to make certain the success of the experiment.
This result accomplished one immediate effect. It
proved beyond a question that heavy cars loaded
with people could be drawn by cable up and down
the steepest grades, without the expenditure of an ex-
traordinary amount of money, and without menace
to the lives of passengers. Unfortunately for the
quick development of the new idea, this was the
only problem solved by this first cable road. It was
a perfectly straight track, containing none of the
curves, depressions, and tortuous routes necessarily
used or followed by street-car lines in the majority
of large cities. For this reason the experiment at-
tracted no more interest than that which for several
years naturally attaches to a novelty ; but the people
of San Francisco, daily seeing and understanding the
merits of the new system, appreciated its advantages
over the old, and in 1876 supplemented the Clay
Street road with another on Sutter Street, and three
years later with one on Union Street.
In 1882 Chicago, either from jealousy of another
western city winning the laurels of a first effort in any
direction, or from the reputed far-sightedness of its
capitalists in taking advantage of public needs, in-
augurated a cable railroad considerably more pre-
tentious than the one which had been built in San
Francisco. Charles T. Yerkes was the leading spirit
in this enterprise, achieving not only a success for
the city, but a fortune for himself. A year later,
slow-going Philadelphia followed the lead of Chi-
cago and built a cable railroad two and one half
miles in length, which has since given way to the in-
vincible power of harnessed electricity.
New York, more conservative than any of its sister
cities, and notoriously jealous of experiments upon its
streets, finally accepted the tests in San Francisco,
Chicago, and Philadelphia as satisfactory, and au-
thorized the construction of the present cable rail-
roads on Broadway and Third Avenue. Here, for
the first time, was introduced the duplicate system
which has since become a practical necessity upon
lines where traffic is heavy, and where an interrup-
tion, even for the fraction of an hour, is extremely
costly to the operating company.
Other cable railroads were built in every section of
the country except New England^ and there are now
in operation in the Eastern States, 157 miles; in the
Central States, 252 miles; in the Southern States, 6
miles ; and in the Western States, 217 miles ; — making
a total of 632 miles of cable railroad now in opera-
tion, although soon, in my judgment, to be super-
seded by the more tractable, more economical, and
less objectionable electricity. If this prediction should
prove to be correct, it is obvious that the invention and
use of the cable as a motive power deserves no more
attention than it has received, for the reason that it
will have been only tentative and a filling of the gap
between the quadruped and the magic fluid.
Far more important than the success, however
great or small, of this method of traction, was the
fact that its discovery led directly to the consolida-
tion of distinct street-railroad companies in such a
way as to enlist more capital, more brains, and more
energy in the development of street-car service. Just
as the primary credit for introducing the cable-system
belongs to Mr. HaUidie,so does the yet greater credit,
so far as practical results are concerned, of working
out the idea of efficient consolidation, belong to
Henry M. Whitney.
There were at that time innumerable street-car
lines in Boston, operated, as in all other cities, as sepa-
rate organizations, and affording accommodations
wholly inadequate to the demands of the public. Mr.
Whitney conceived the idea of a general consolida-
tion of all these companies in such a way as to make
possible the substitution of a better form of motive
power, more direct routes, and a general improve-
ment in every direction. His first intention, when
he had accomplished the great work of uniting the
many adverse interests involved, was to introduce
the cable, but before he had fully succeeded in his
primary undertaking to such an extent as to warrant
reconstruction, the most important event in the his-
tory of street-railroads took place.
Electricians had believed and asserted for years
that the wonderful power to the adaptation of which
to practical uses they had given much intelligent
study, could be utilized directly in the drawing of
heavy loads. Edison built the first electric road in
America at Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1880, and
three years later the same great inventor, cooperating
with Stephen B. Field, built a similar road for tem-
porary use at the Chicago Exposition in 1883. Leo
Daft at the same time was making similar experiments
144
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
in Baltimore, Pittsburg, and other places; and Charles
J. Vandepole was doing likewise in Toronto. None
of these, however, had reached such a point that its
practical value was demonstrated beyond a doubt
at the time when Mr. Whitney engaged in his work
of consolidation in Boston. But, in 1888, Frank J.
Sprague, first among the younger electricians of
America, obtained sufficient capital to make an actual
test upon a street in the city of Richmond, Virginia.
He brought together the best features of all the sys-
tems which had then been devised, applied to motive-
power the fundamental principles which he had
learned in building electric-Ught plants and estab-
lishing stationary motors; added new and simple,
but effective, methods of motor-control and suspen-
sion, and in general worked out a well-defined system,
the essential features of which have not been changed
in the seven years which have elapsed since he in-
stalled the first practical electric railroad in the
United States.
His work in Richmond naturally attracted the at-
tention of men engaged in the street-railway business,
and scores visited the famous old Virginia capital to
behold its actual operation. Among these were Mr.
Whitney and Messrs. Widener and Elkins of Phila-
delphia. They appreciated at a glance the possibil-
ities of the new invention, and after making most
thorough examinations personally, as well as through
expert engineers and electricians, did not hesitate to
adopt, expand, and improve it in every possible direc-
tion. Mr. Whitney at once abandoned the idea of
laying a cable under the streets of Boston, and began
forthwith to lay the foundations of the great West
End system, which is now the largest in the world in
point of carrying capacity and revenue. Mr. Widener
and Colonel Elkins proceeded with no less vigor to
consolidate and electrify the principal lines of Phila-
delphia, and within three years after the Richmond
road was inaugurated, there were hundreds of miles
of overhead trolley-lines in successful operation in
the streets of nearly every large city in the Union.
Since that time the work of changing old horse-car
lines into modem electric railways by the overhead
system has progressed so rapidly that there are now
in actual operation in New England 1392 miles; in
the Eastern States, 3189 miles ; in the Central States,
3578 miles; in the Southern States, 743 miles; and
in the Western States, 146 1 miles ; making a total of
more than 10,000 miles of overhead trolley-lines now
in actual operation, against less than 2000 operated
by horses.
It will thus be seen that the development of the
overhead trolley system has been one of the most
rapid ever known, in a change so radical and in-
volving so many untried elements. This has been
due no less to a spirit of competition among rival
electrical companies than to the public demand for
improved facilities for local transportation. The
two or three large companies engaged in the busi-
ness of furnishing electrical supplies so thoroughly
appreciated the possibilities of the new method, that
they invested millions of dollars, not merely in the
building of extensive plants, but in the perfecting of
their individual systems. The inevitable result has
been the concentration of an abundance of ability
and energy in solving the difficult problems involved
in the adaptation of electrical power to this most
practical of uses.
Under this stimulus improvement has followed
improvement so rapidly that Uttle apparently re-
mains to be achieved. Cars are now run in hun-
dreds of cities by devices so simple that skilled labor
is no longer essential to their operation, and they
are both lighted and heated by the same current
which propels them. Moreover, all this is done far
more economically than was ever possible through
operation with horses or by cable. Chief among
the important effects of electrical operation has been
the building of roads of a very few miles in length,
which, despite their limitations of both district and
patronage, can be and are conducted at so small a
percentage of gross receipts, as to produce a fair
profit upon the investment.
It was formerly supposed — and the supposition,
while horses and cables afforded the only means of
motive power, was correct — that street-car service
could be used to advantage only within the limits of
a city or village. But since the introduction of elec-
tricity has widened the possibilities and increased
the diversity of such traffic, it has been found
distinctly profitable to connect municipalities and
towns having common interests by the new sys-
tem. A notable illustration of this fact is afforded
by the great success of the trolley road connecting
Minneapolis and St. Paul. Before this line was es-
tablished the steam railroads operated scores of
trains of cars between the two cities daily, for the
sole purpose of accommodating the local traffic. As
soon, however, as the trolley road was put into suc-
cessful operation, the demands upon the steam rail-
road decreased rapidly, and have gradually been
reduced to such a point that nearly, if not quite, all
of the steam-railroad trains formerly operated for
this purpose have been taken off. A more recent
but hardly less striking illustration of the same tend-
ency is afforded by the new trolley lines connecting
Herbert H. Vreeland.
THE STREET-RAILWAYS OF AMERICA
145
Newark, Elizabeth, and Jersey City. Indeed, it is
now an established fact, that on distances not ex-
ceeding ten miles, the steam-road cannot compete
with the trolley because of the more frequent, more
cleanly, cheaper, and more pleasant accommoda-
tions offered by the latter.
The most recent development of the trolley idea
has been the creation of an entirely new traffic,
namely, that of riding upon street cars for mere
pleasure. Few people appreciate the extent of the
demand for this branch of street-car service; but
an instance is afforded by the fact that so-called
" trolley parties " during the past summer added
more than seventy thousand dollars to the receipts
of Philadelphia companies alone. Street-car man-
agers themselves have only begun to appreciate the
magnitude of business which may be created by
offering exceptional accommodations for pleasure-
seekers, and the development of the idea has, con-
sequently, only begun. That it will become a de-
cided factor in the operation of trolley lines, espe-
cially in suburban districts, is now beyond question.
There have been, and always will be, objections
to the overhead trolley. Some are founded upon
reason, but more upon fancy, and it is a fact that
in the great majority of cases, where the introduc-
tion of the system was most bitterly opposed, its
removal now could by no possibility obtain the as-
sent of the pubhc. Only in the largest cities, where
overhead wires of any description are objectionable
because of the density of population and the serious-
ness of placing any obstacle in the way of extin-
guishment of fires, is there any good reason for
opposing its introduction and use. These objec-
tions, and the natural conservatism of the commu-
nity, have prevented the adoption of the new
method in New York city. The direct result of
this condition of affairs has been the inauguration,
during the past few months, of an experimental
railroad, operated by electricity, conveyed through
wires strung in a conduit beneath the surface of the
ground. For this experiment, which now bids fair
to achieve success, the far-sighted directors of the
Metropolitan Traction Company are entitled to full
credit. They saw the necessity of overcoming the
objections to the overhead system, and at the same
time of superseding both horses and cables.
With this object in view they sent to Budapest,
where an underground system had been in opera-
tion for several years, Mr. F. S. Pearson, one of the
most capable and resourceful electrical engineers in
the country. Mr. Pearson made a careful examina-
tion of the system there in use, studied the condi-
tions, climatic and otherwise, which would make
necessary certain changes, and finally worked out
a plan which he submitted to the directors of the
Traction Company, with an assertion of his belief
that, if tried properly, without an attempt to save
money in making the experiment, it would prove
successful. The road was constructed upon the
lines thus suggested, and has been in operation
several months under my direction. During this
time no accident of any kind has taken place, and
no money has been required or expended for main-
tenance or changes. Although far more expensive
in construction than the overhead trolley, it is also
far more satisfactory in operation when once built.
It only remains to be seen whether this system, the
success of which in fair weather has already been
demonstrated, will be found capable of defying the
severe storms of the winter and spring months in
northern American cities. If so, it will undoubt-
edly become the favorite system in large cities, as
it comprises all the advantages, with none of the
disadvantages, of the overhead trolley over cables
and horses. Storage-battery systems have been
tried at various times in various places, but so far
have met with so little success that, although afford-
ing apparently the ideal system, they have not yet
reached the point of efficiency which warrants se-
rious consideration.
It is not of the future, however, that I am sup-
posed or would presume to write, and regarding
the past, all has been said in detail that can be said
within limits which would not trespass upon the
patience of the reader. In summarizing, I can only
add that there have been four great events in the
history of the street-railways of America during the
past seventy years. The first was the invention of
the primitive street-car by John Stephenson. The
second was the use of the cable by Andrew S. Hal-
lidie. The third was the harnessing of electricity
to the street-car service by Frank J. Sprague. The
fourth, and most important of all in actual result,
has been the outgrowth of Henry M. Whitney's
idea of consolidation, which has resulted in a benefit
to the American people so vast as to be incalcu-
lable, and in the investment of hundreds of millions
of dollars in an industry which could never have
been created or imagined in any age other than that
in which we live. As an interesting and valuable
summary of the magnitude of the street-railway busi-
ness of the country, I present the following tables,
obtained from the census reports of 1890 and from
other equally rehable sources of a much later
date:
146
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
COMPARISON OF STREET AND STEAM-RAILWAYS IN 1890:
Strekt-Railwavs.
Stbam- Railways.
Pkr Cent, of
Total Steam-
Railways.
Length of line (miles) ....
5.783-47
32,505.00
70,764.00
2,023,010,202.00
Length of line (miles)
Passenger cars
157.758.83
25,665.00
704,743.00
472,171,343.00
3-67
126.55
10.04
428.45
Employees
Passengers carried
Passengers carried
DIVISION OF THE MOTIVE POWERS OF STREET-RAILWAYS IN 1890:
Items.
All Motive Powers.
Distribution.
Animal.
Electric.
Cable.
Steam.
Length of line (miles) . . .
Length of all tracks (miles)
Passenger cars
5.783.47
8,123.02
32,505
70,764
2,023,010,202
$389,357,288.87
4,061.47
5,661.44
22,408
44.314
1,227,756,815
$195,121,682.50
914.25
1,261.44
6,619
134,905,994 ^
$35,830,949-63
283.22
488.31
5,089
11.673
373,492,708
$76,346,618.23
524.06
711.30
2,113
Employees
Passengers carried
Total cost
8,158
286,854,685
$82,058,038.51
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CARRIED BY STREET-RAILWAYS IN SIXTEEN OF THE PRINCIPAL
CITIES OF THE COUNTRY IN 1890 :
Baltimore, Md
Boston (including Lynn and Cambridge), Mass
Brooklyn, N. Y
Buffalo, N. Y
Chicago, Ills
Cincinnati, Ohio
Denver, Col
Kansas City, Mo
Ivouisville, Ky
New Orleans, La
New York, N. Y
Philadelphia, Pa
Pittsburgh, Pa
St. Louis, Mo
San Francisco, Cal
Washington, D. C
Population.
434,439
574.232
806,343
255,664
,099,850
296,908
106,713
132,716
161,129
242,039
.515.301
,046,964
343.904
451,770
298.997
230,392
Passengers Carried.
40,659,982
129,038,563
147,500,399
16,685,983
180,326,470
37,905,370
21,281,584
38,000,978
21,535,735
3o,5io,b62
449,647,853
165,117,627
46,099,227
67,800,252
80,619,005
31,032,187
Average Number
OF Rides per
Inhabitant.
94
225
'l^
183
164
128
202
286
132
126
297
158
134
150
270
135
COST OF CONSTRUCTION PER MILE OF LINE OF STREET-RAILWAYS IN 1890:
Items.
Animal.
Electric.
■Cable.
Steam.
Mixed and
Inseparable.
Total cost of construction and real estate . . .
Miles of line to which this cost pertains . . . .
Cost of construction and real estate per mile.
Total cost of equipment
Miles of line to which this cost pertains ....
Cost of equipment per mile
$99,812,886.27
2,388.48
$41,789.29
$22,344,285.14
^2,473-56
$9,033.25
$50,822.50
$14,074,049.13
463.70
^ $30,35 '.63
$3,873,544-21
464.93
$8,331.46
$38,683.09
$33,374,627.39
166.48
$200,472.29
$3,827,436.62
167.13
$22,900.96
$223,373.25
$35,777,187.08
350.31
$102,130.08
$4,348,511.10
. 361.83
$12,018.11
$114,148.19
$65,583,242.72
7H.I2
$89,335.86
$12,022,289.^4
^55-43
$i4,o<;4.09
Total cost per mile
$103.3^.95
The above table gives a comparative summary
of the cost of each five classes of roads making
completed reports. It will be noticed in this table
that cost of road is given in two principal items,
viz., "Total cost of construction and real estate,"
and " total cost of equipment."
THE STREET-RAILWAYS OF AMERICA
147
THE CAPITAL STOCK, FUNDED DEBT, AND ACCRUED INTEREST OF THE STREET-RAILWAYS
OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1890:
Items.
Capital Stock
Issued and
Outstanding.
Dividends
Declared.
Rate of Divi-
dends Declared
(Per Cent.).
Funded Debt
Issued and
Outstanding.
Interest
Accrued.
Rate of In-
terest Paid
(Percent.).
All motive powers
$163,506,444.50
$11,600,334.54
7.09
$103,494,259.99
$5,870,710.72
5-67
Animal
$62,415,614.50
4,034,900.00
6,437,900.00
25,917,180.00
64,700,950.00
$4,390,51954
225,697.00
653,58700
1,561,512.00
4,769,019.00
7-03
5-59
10.15
6.03
7-37
$34,361,904.99
3,230,300.00
4,076,000.00
19,326,200.00
42499,855.00
$1,977,664.92
187,505.00
218,160.00
1,181,512.00
2,285,868.80
5.81
5.80
5-35
6. II
Electric
Cable
Steam . .
Mixed and inseparable
S-38
The above table covers only those roads report-
ing the payment of either dividends or interest, as
the case may be.
Now, turning from the facts and figures, as given
by the census reports of 1890, the following data,
compiled from other equally reliable sources, are
of more recent date, covering the years 1892, 1893,
and 1894. But before entering upon the details of
the same, it may be well to make some additional
general comparisons between the street-railways and
the steam-railroads of the United States. The former
represent about seven and one-half per cent, of the
mileage of the latter, and in passenger receipts,
about forty-five per cent. The total capitaliza-
tion, bonds, and stocks, of the steam-railroads in
the United States, is about $11,000,000,000, and
of the street-railways, about $1,300,000,000, the
latter being about eleven per cent, of the former,
while the profits of the steam-railroads were $332,-
000,000, and of the street-railways, about $43,000,-
000, thus making the latter about thirteen and one-
half per cent, of the former.
Of the 976 operating street-railway companies
reported in "American Street- Railway Investments,"
109 have been first selected as presenting the most
complete reports for the past three years. They
represent about twenty-two per cent, of the total
mileage of the country — their capital stock amount-
ing to $200,497,681, their funded debt to $193,-
844,145, and their gross capital liabilities to $394,-
341,826. Their capitalization is about thirty per
cent, of the total capitalization of American street-
railways. The report of these roads is as follows :
1892. 1893. 1894.
Gross receipts $56,119,612 $63,165,976 $57,232,545
Operating expenses 36,787,919 40,010,812 35,863,607
Earnings from operation. $19,331,693 $23,155,164 $21,368,938
Fixed charges 8,834,282 10,373,510 11,118,217
Net income $10497,411 $12,781,654 $10,250,721
1893.
1894.
63-3
62.7
16.4
20.2
6.4
19.4
17.9
5-1
189a.
Per cent, operating expenses to gross
receipts 65.6
Per cent, fixed charges to gross re-
ceipts 15. 7
Per cent, net income to gross receipts. 18. 7
Per cent, net income to capital stock. . 5.2
The combined reports of 146 street-railroad com-
panies, representing capital stock, $240,477,324;
funded debt, $231,091,645; capital habilities, $471,-
568,969 — or thirty-six per cent, of the total liabili-
ties of the country — make the annexed showing for
the years 1893 and 1894:
1893. 1894.
Gross receipts $71,847,580 $65,791,187
Operating expenses 45,697,130 41,205,904
Earnings from operation 26,150,450 24,585,283
Fixed charges 12,281,424 13,329,765
Net income $13,869,026 $11,255,518
1893. 1894,
Per cent, operating expenses to gross receipts. . 63.6 62.6
Per cent, fixed charges to gross receipts 1 7.1 20.2
Per cent, net income to gross receipts 19.4 17.2
Per cent, net income to capital stock 5.8 4.7
The combined operating report of 232 Amer-
ican street-railway companies — representing capital
stock, $316,762,149, funded debt, $278,995,755,
and capital liabilities, $595,757,904, or about forty-
six per cent, of the total capital liabilities of the
American properties — make the showing as below
for the financial year ending June 30, 1894 :
1894.
Gross receipts $84,664,338
Operating expenses 53,175,278
Earnings from operation $31,489,060
Fixed charges 19,387,729
Net income
512,101,331
Per cent, operating expenses to gross receipts 62.8
Per cent, fixed charges to gross receipts 22.9
Per cent, net income to gross receipts 14.3
Per cent, net income to capital stock 3.8
The mileage, cars, capital stock, funded debt,
and capital liabilities of the street-railways in the
148
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
United States — some 976 in number — made at the
beginning of the present year, make the following
showing :
Aside from the accommodation afforded the resi-
dents of the territory through which the roads run,
it is a source of profit to the railroad companies.
(i) Includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut; (2) New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia; (3) Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri;
(4) North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Kansas; (5) South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas,
Texas, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington, Oregon, and California.
As to the recent innovation — involving the pla-
cing of postal-cars upon street-railways — the St.
Louis and Suburban Railway Company of St. Louis
was the first of the kind in this country to make the
movement in this direction, by running from the
business part of the city to the choicest residence
and suburban portions of the town of Florisant,
distant sixteen miles from the center of the city.
This began several years ago, and was followed by
Brooklyn, over the Atlantic Avenue line to Coney
Island, in August, 1894; by Boston, in April or
May, 1895 ; by Philadelphia, to Chestnut Hill and
Passayunk, June i, 1895, and to Manayunk, Oc-
tober I, 1895; and by New York, over the Third
Avenue line, October i, 1895. For these mail-cars,
the railway companies furnish conductors and mo-
tormen, while the Post-Office Department supplies
the mail-clerks.
The cars are built especially for the purpose,
equipped with their own motors, and furnished with
the necessary desks, cases, racks for mail-bags, etc.
This mail service has now been in operation, as
already noticed of St. Louis, for about three years,
and new features are being constantly added to it.
The question as to whether or not such mail ser-
vice is called for, depends almost entirely upon
local conditions, — the length of the road, the ter-
ritory through which it runs, the proximity of de-
pots and post-offices to the Hne of the road, and
many other considerations. An advantage, inde-
pendent of any financial return, and one which is
regarded by many as the one reason for street-
railways embarking in this service, lies in the pres-
tige of the government's name. This point was
never so thoroughly illustrated as in the late troubles
in Chicago in the transmission of the United States
mail, which has precedence or right of way above
all else. As the Second Assistant Postmaster-Gen-
eral governs all transportation of the mails, the
street-car postal service is within his province,
and has now become part and parcel of the pos-
tal railway system of the country. The fuller de-
velopment of this system is only a question of time,
and its progress will be viewed with more or less
interest until it becomes a permanent and wide-
spread factor in the distribution of the mails in
the larger cities to their suburbs.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE HOTELS OF AMERICA
" There is nothing that has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or
inn." — Dr. Johnson.
" Shall I not take mine ease at mine inn? " — Shakespeare.
' ' Whoe'er has traveled life's dull round,
Where'er his stages may have been,
May sigh to think he still has found
The warmest welcome at an inn." — Shenstone.
IN old colonial times many of the inns in the
towns and scattered along the few routes of
travel bore such names as " King's," " Queen's,"
" Red Lion," and the hke ; but the revolt of the
colonies produced a change, and these names gave
place to those in harmony with the spirit of the
time. The portrait of Washington replaced that
of George III. on the swinging signs, as these once
quiet taverns became the meeting-places of patriots.
Clustered about many of them are historic memories
of special scenes and events, and of the men of the
Revolution and of the formative period immediately
following. Washington was a guest of the City
Tavern, Philadelphia (1775); the Bunch of Grapes
Tavern, Boston, where he enjoyed "'an elegant din-
ner provided at the public expense, while joy and
gratitude sat on every countenance and smiled in
every eye" (March 28, 1776); the True American
Inn, Trenton (1777); Arnold's Tavern, Morristown ;
Suflferin's Tavern, Smith's Clove, New York; the
Buck Tavern, near Philadelphia (after the battle of
Brandywine) ; Smith's Tavern, Smith's Clove (i 779) ;
the tavern at East Chester, New York, where he
was ill (1780) ; the Fountain Inn, Baltimore (1781) ;
Day's Tavern, Harlem (with Governor Clinton,
1783); Fraunces Tavern, New York, where in the
assembly-room he bade farewell to the faithful men
who, with him, had achieved the liberties of the
States ; Mann's Hotel, Annapolis, from which he
proceeded to the Congress and resigned his com-
mission ; and the City Hotel, Alexandria, where he
was entertained by the Alexandria Lodge, of which
he was a member. The tavern where Washington
stayed during an illness at East Chester was built
early in the seventeenth century, and now stands
within the New York City limits. The room occu-
pied by him remains as he left it. Lafayette was
entertained there later. For a season the house was
in a sense the seat of government, when President
John Adams sojourned at East Chester during the
yellow-fever epidemic at the then capital, Philadel-
phia. There was also the Catamount Tavern, Ben-
nington, Vt. ; George Bums' Coffee- House, New
York, the lounging-place of British officers, and at
the same time privately frequented by the Sons of
Liberty during the British occupation ; the Tun
Tavern, Philadelphia, in which the first masonic lodge
in America was organized ; the Rose Tree Inn, at
Media, Pa. ; the City Tavern and the Bird in Hand,
Richmond ; and many others. From the memories
that haunt these ancient hostelries oiu* literature has
drawn much of its inspiration. The red Wayside
Inn at Sudbury inspired the thought that it was
" Built in the old colonial day,
When men lived in a grander way,
With ampler hospitality."
In 1795 our inns were kept on the "American
plan," which embodied a fixed price for a day and
for each fraction of a day. One dollar a day was
then considered a good round price. As a rule the
tavenis were small ; one containing twenty rooms
was regarded as a commodious house. The rooms
were comfortable and the furniture plain and strong ;
carpets were rarely found. The meals were served
at fixed hours, and at the summons of gong or
149
150
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
bell, to which all guests were expected to respond
promptly. The cooking was done by the "land-
lady " and her assistants. The table was abundantly
supplied with palatable and substantial dishes, among
which meats predominated. Game was compara-
tively more abundant than now ; and as the Western
regions, especially, were opened to settlement, some
taverns kept their hunters. Vegetables and fruit
were plentiful in New York, but in most localities the
variety was limited, many coming into use since that
date — tomatoes, for example, about 1840, and celery
still later. Fresh sea-fish could not be carried far
inland without deterioration, and transportation to
a distance of the salted sea products was expensive.
In the towns ice came into early use, — in wide con-
trast with the custom in foreign countries, — and ices
appeared on the tables in 1793. In some districts
it was difficult for a time to get good milk, owing
to the repulsive flavor given it by the wild garlic
and other grasses. Decanters of liquors were upon
many hotel tables, from which the guest could serve
himself freely. The favorite wine of the period was
Madeira, the others used being mainly port and
sherry. There were no bills of fare, the food being
placed on the table, and any information desired
concerning it being given by some person at hand.
In the Southern States the landlord frequently
called out the names of the dishes in a loud voice,
and each guest — whom the landlord usually knew
personally — would then express his wish. In the
main these taverns were generously conducted for
the " entertainment of man and beast " ; and a bar,
a ball-room, and a stable were necessary adjuncts.
The first Congress met in New York, then the capi-
tal of the RepubHc, in 1789, and the members were
mostly accommodated at private boarding-houses,
which were relatively more important than now.
Talleyrand, as well as other distinguished travelers,
made use of these houses. They were located at the
Battery, lower Broadway, Cedar Street, and Maiden
Lane. Their number increased with the times, and
330 licenses were granted the year of the first Con-
gress. People from other places complained of the
high prices of the New York taverns and boarding-
houses, as " board of the Congressmen was paid out
of the common treasury, to which every citizen of
the United States contributed his share." This wail
was met by the statement that " board ranges from
three to seven dollars a week " ; and one of the
houses was cited as furnishing " from seven to nine
dishes a day, with four sorts of liquor."
In 1795 the taverns of consequence were in New
York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore. Those
in New York were Fraunces (first opened in 1762 as
the Queen Catherine), which was the largest during
the Revolution, containing about thirty rooms ; the
City Hotel, erected in 1793, on the site of George
Biu-ns' Coflfee-House (upon which the Boreel Build-
ing now stands), where the fashionable City Assem-
bly met, and which was frequented by the so-called
" Three Hundred "—not " Four Hundred "—of that
day ; Bunker's ; Washington Tavern ; and the Ton-
tine Coffee- House in Wall Street. It was at the last-
named house that the historic dinner was given to
John Jay, May 30, 1795, in honor of his return
from concluding the first commercial treaty between
the United States and Great Britain ; and here the
" Century of Commerce " may almost be said to have
been initiated.
In 1809 the two-hundredth anniversary of the dis-
covery of Manhattan Island by Henry Hudson was
celebrated at the City Hotel, in a manner which at-
tracted universal attention, there being " a banquet
in keeping with the historical spirit of the occasion,
all modern delicacies having been rigidly excluded."
In December, 181 2, at the same hotel, 500 gentle-
men attended the banquet in honor of the naval
heroes, Hull, Decatur, and Jones. De Witt Clin-
ton presided, with Decatur on his right and Hull
on his left. The banquet-hall " had the effect of a
great marine palace," and " other siirprises of the
most novel and stirring character enraptured the as-
semblage," The following month Decatur's gallant
crew were dined at the same place, amid the same
decorations. It was here, also, that Lafayette was
sumptuously entertained in 1824.
In the first quarter of the present century the lead-
ing men of the larger towns seem to have realized
that the hotel, as a rule, was the index of the place
of its location. A good hotel meant a prosperous
town, and a public-spirited town would have a good
hotel. When the general government became per-
manently established at Washington, the regular
joumeyings to and fro of public officials, members
of Congress and their families, and foreign ministers,
resulted in the appearance of good hotels for their
entertainment in the principal towns and along the
various routes of travel. These were graced by the
familiar presence of the eminent Northern and East-
ern statesmen, from the time of Hancock, Adams,
and Otis to that of Webster and others, on the route
from Boston; and of Jackson, Clay, Benton, and
Cass along the old Government Road over the
mountains from the Ohio River. It was at a hotel
in St. Louis — the Missouri — that the first governor
of the then new State of Missouri was inaugu-
THE HOTELS OF AMERICA
151
rated in 1 821, and that the legislature convened and
elected Benton Senator. The increasing desire for
more commodious and comfortable hotels — for the
pretentious ones were now all called hotels — con-
tinued to manifest itself. The National Hotel was
opened in Washington in 1827, and at once became,
and continued for a whole generation, the home of
eminent public men, and is rich in memories of
events of vast national interest. The principal tav-
erns in Boston were Doolittle's City Tavern, the
Eastern Stage House, and the Lamb Tavern. The
Tremont House was opened there in 1829 by
Dwight Boyden, and was the grandest hotel in
the land. It was even claimed at the time to be
the largest and most elegant hotel in the world, and
certainly there was nothing equal to it in England.
It was about 1830 that Delmonico introduced in
New York the high-class restaurant. Previous to
that there had been great monotony in the dishes
served at the better restaurants, and the flavoring
was limited. Delmonico used new flavors ; gave
new " fancy " dishes ; brought into more general use
claret, champagne, and the light wines of Germany
and France ; and served bread and coffee superior
to anything before known in America. In 1833 ^^^
United States Hotel, New York, — now standing in
Fulton Street, — was opened. In 1834 the Louisville
Hotel, and in 1835 the Gait House at Louisville,
were opened, and their names are perpetuated in
fine houses. In 1835 the United States Hotel was
opened in Boston, and has since been greatly en-
larged. At about this period the old Washington
Hotel, Portland, Me., which opened before 1823,
took the name of the United States, and has also
been enlarged from time to time. The Rocking-
ham at Portsmouth, N. H., once the palatial home
of Governor Langdon, was opened in 1834, and
came into high repute. It has recently been rebuilt.
Up to 1836 there were few hotels in the world that
could accommodate 200 people.
In 1836 New York opened its rival to the Tre-
mont, the Astor House, built, hke the former, of
massive granite. This became at once the resort of
the wealthy and of men in public life. For a time,
under Coleman & Stetson, it was the one place in
which to meet distinguished people, and it is still
prosperous. Barnum's Hotel at Baltimore opened
about this date, and eclipsed the hitherto important
houses there — the Washington, Eutaw, and the rest ;
although the United States Hotel still held the
patronage and friendship of Webster and others.
The most important hotel event of 1836 was the
opening of the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, in
the center of the "American town," fronting upon
three streets, with its stately portico in the style of a
Corinthian temple, the vast rotunda surmounted by
dome and cupola, — next to the Capitol at Washing-
ton the most imposing structure in America, — finely
appointed for that day, and accommodating more
than 700 persons. Rich planters of vast estates then
dominated the South, and with their families and
retinues of valets and maids came from their coun-
try houses in winter to the Southern cities. New
Orleans was the metropolis, and the St. Charles be-
came the most famous hotel in the country — thronged
throughout the season by tourists from abroad.
Northerners in search of health or a mild«r clime,
and by the intellect, wealth, and beauty of the
ancient glory of the Southland. This fine hotel
was destroyed by fire in 1851, rebuilt in 1852 with
all the former exterior grandeur except the dome,
and with more interior splendor, and continued a
career of increased popularity and charm until the
outbreak of the Civil War. It was again burned in
1894, and a new St. Charles is now about to open.
In 1839 the Charleston Hotel was opened at Charles-
ton, and burned on the same day. It was rebuilt
and reopened in 1840. It was the frequent resort
of Calhoun and his great Southern compeers, and
continues to be the leading hotel of the city. In
1 84 1 the Planters' House, St. Louis, was opened,
being the "largest hotel west of the mountains,"
and equal to any east in furnishing and appoint-
ments. It had 215 rooms, a classic ball-room, a
floor-space "89 11 square feet more than the cele-
brated Tremont House in Boston " ; the china and
cutlery were made in England, and the name of
the house " fired on the china." Dickens stopped
there in 1842, and even spoke favorably of it in his
"American Notes." A magnificent new Planters'
House now occupies the old site. The house was
opened by Stickney & Knight, who came from Bos-
ton. It is well, perhaps, to say here that New Eng-
land was the nursery of a very large majority of the
prominent hotel men of this country. The Massa-
soit House, Springfield, Mass., one of the celebrated
New England houses, opened in 1843. The name
reminds one not only of the Indian chief, but sug-
gests the fact that much might be written of the spe-
cial dishes of certain hotels, prominent among which
would appear the old Massasoit " waffle." The New
York Hotel was opened about this period, and soon
became, and continued for many years, the favorite
summer resort of the people of wealth and distinc-
tion from the Southern States. The Delavan House
at Albany was opened in 1845.
152
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The year 1847 will ever be remembered in hotel
annals as the date of the opening of the Revere
House, Boston, by Paran Stevens. It immediately
took the first rank and commanded the best patron-
age of the country. The gathering there at the time
of the funeral of President John Quincy Adams in
184& was the most notable assemblage, up to that
date, ever seen in the country outside of Washing-
ton. Mr. Stevens here introduced his advanced ideas
of a system of management so liberal, so thorough
in its details, and so comfortable, pleasing, and even
luxurious, that the Revere became the pattern for
American hotels ; and his subsequent achievements
in connection with several of the great hotels of
the country, upon the same broad and careful lines,
justly caused him to be regarded as the most emi-
nent man of his vocation. The principal hotels in
Philadelphia in 1830 and later were the Mansion
House, United States, Washington, City, and others.
In 1850 the Girard House was opened, and con-
tinued to be the principal house for ten years. In
the same year was opened the Burnett House at Cin-
cinnati, with its 250 bedrooms, large drawing-rooms,
and spacious corridors and public conveniences.
The Eagle Hotel, Richmond, of high repute, where
Lafayette was entertained in 1824, was burned in
1840, and about 1850 the Exchange and Ballard's
were opened. The same year the Clarendon was
opened in New York on the European plan, and
the Irving House was in successful operation. The
first Tremont House, Chicago, soon appeared on
the lists, and was for some time the leading hotel
there ; and at the same time Colonel McMicken, of
musical voice, continued to call out his bill of fare
in the large dining-room of the Washington Hotel
at Vicksburg. In 1852 the Battle House, Mobile,
was opened by Messrs. Darling & Chamberlain,
Paran Stevens being interested with them. It was
here that Mr. Darling successfully introduced for the
first time on a large scale in the American hotel the
system of serving breakfasts cooked to order. The
house was admirable in its management, the social
life was akin to that of the St. Charles in its palmy
days, and it was here that the gracious courtesy of
Madame Le Vert and her fair coterie was exercised.
The popular St. Louis Hotel, New Orleans, was then
in successful operation, under the genial Colonel
Mudge. About that time (1852) the St. Nicholas
and the Metropolitan were opened in New York, both
very large houses, upon a more expensive scale, in
some respects of furniture and decoration, than any
that had preceded them, introducing " bridal cham-
bers " and other novelties, and being sought by the
best patronage. In 1854 the Brevoort and Everett
were opened, on the European plan, and, like the
Clarendon, were of a high order; and in 1855 the
famous Parker House, also on the European plan,
was opened in Boston.
In 1859 the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Madison Square,
New York, was opened by Messrs. Stevens, Darling,
and Hitchcock (Hitchcock, Darling & Company).
The building covers eighteen city lots, and every ad-
vanced idea in construction was availed of — heavy
subdivision walls of brick every twenty-five feet
from foundation to roof, with two inches of cement
on every floor, flush from wall to wall, making it
practically fire-proof. As to the exterior, an eminent
author on architecture, writing of Roman palaces,
remarks : " The best type of palatial structure is the
Farnese Palace. The edifice is a classic, a standard,
the very perfection of house building, and in style
it looks familiar to us. It is not unlike the Fifth
Avenue Hotel." The same classic spirit pervades the
interior of the hotel in its architecture, decoration,
and furnishing. Among things deserving special
mention, it was here that the first passenger-elevator
in the world was erected (" Tuft's vertical railway "),
and shortly succeeded in the same place by a later
one by the same inventor. A noted writer says of
the Fifth Avenue : " It is unequaled in the number
and spaciousness of its corridors, halls, and public
rooms, and the commodious character of its guest-
rooms. Beginning with the Prince of Wales in i860,
a never-ending procession of the great men of this
and other countries has marched through its corri-
dors. No other single hotel in the world has ever
entertained so many distinguished people as have
been received at the Fifth Avenue — Presidents of
the United States, United States Senators, Con-
gressmen, governors, judges, generals, admirals, em-
perors, princes, foreign ambassadors, untitled men
and women of renown ; the list would fill a volume.
The London ' Times,' in speaking of the gathering
at Grant's funeral in 1885, said that it was the most
noted assembly of distinguished Americans ever
brought together; and the same description would
apply to many another occasion there. Through-
out its entire career it has been identified with the
most notable and brilliant local and national events
of the generation." In i86o the Continental Hotel,
Philadelphia, similar in many respects to the Fifth
Avenue, was opened under the auspices of Mr.
Stevens, and has had an eminent career. The out-
break of the Civil War (1861) found Willard's Hotel,
Washington, the very focus of thrilling scenes and
events that in intensity have had scarcely a parallel
Hiram Hitchcock.
THE HOTELS OF AMERICA
158
in American annals. The Lindell Hotel, St. Louis,
was opened in 1863, and the Southern Hotel in the
same city in 1865. They have since been destroyed
by fire, and rebuilt and reopened on a larger scale
than before. The opening of the Albemarle, Hoff-
man, St. James, and Grand, all in New York, came
within this half-decade. The Arlington, Washing-
ton, was opened in 1869, has been recently greatly
enlarged, and is the present hotel center of the
national capital. The Gilsey House, New York,
was opened in 1871, and at once took the first rank
among houses on the European plan. In 1873 the
Windsor Hotel, New York, commenced its success-
ful business career, and at about that date the Buck-
ingham also opened. In 1874 the Brunswick was
opened in Boston. At this time the large and at-
tractive hotels of Chicago, the Palmer House and
the Grand Pacific, were deserving their enormous
patronage.
The year 1875 is noted for the opening of the
" largest and most magnificent structure ever dedi-
cated to the needs of the traveling public," the Pal-
ace Hotel, San Francisco. The immensity of the
building as a whole ; the grand court, a vast amphi-
theater as it were, occupying 12,000 square feet of
surface, with its charming accessories, sheltered by a
roof of nearly 150 feet elevation ; the immense pala-
tial apartments for various functions, in such admi-
rable arrangement and effect ; and the roominess,
comfort, and convenience of the private apartments,
all conspire to make this hotel justly preeminent.
In the last two decades of the century there has
been an uprising, as it were, — those that lacked the
earth seeking the sky, — of splendid hotels, as well as
an enlarging and beautifying of those already built,
all over the land — from the Vendome and Young's at
Boston ; the Narragansett at Providence ; the Grand
Union, Park Avenue, and Murray Hill at New
York ; the Lafayette and Stratford at Philadelphia ;
the Rennert at Baltimore ; the De Soto at Savannah ;
the Kimball at Atlanta ; the Iroquois at Buffalo ; the
Hollenden at Cleveland ; the Grand at Cincinnati ;
the Cadillac and Russell at Detroit ; those almost
without number, including the grand Auditorium, at
Chicago ; the Plankinton at Milwaukee ; the Ryan
at St. Paul; the West at MinneapoHs; the Coates
House at Kansas City; across the plains to the
Brown Palace Hotel at Denver; "over the range"
to the great houses of the Pacific ; away north to the
Portland at Portland, Ore., with its accommodations
for a thousand guests ; and beyond to the Tacoma
at Tacoma, Wash. In this brief article outlining the
growth of the hotel business it is impossible to name
all of the houses worthy of mention. It should be
remembered that there are less pretentious houses
that are special types of excellence, each in its way,
in nearly all the large cities; for example, the Sin-
clair, Continental, and Ashland in New York. There
are large houses poorly managed; and also small
houses scattered throughout the country whose
names are synonymous with real comfort. Within
the last few years the Plaza, Imperial, Savoy, Hol-
land, Waldorf, Netherland, and Majestic, all splen-
did hotels, have opened in succession in New York.
The Waldorf, when its proposed extension is com-
pleted, will outrank all in size, if not in magnificence.
Of these last creations an enthusiastic writer says:
"Tessellated pavements, marble columns, groined,
fluted, and quartered ceilings, veneerings of precious
stones, statuary and paintings, Pompeian conceits in
color and subject, tapestries superb enough for an
Oriental queen, and a glitter of gold and silver and
crystal, are all baptized in a flood of delicate colors,
as a thousand jets of flame glow softly through col-
ored glass, and flash their splendors through over-
hanging pendants and candelabra." As we are
closing this paper the Jefferson at Richmond, con-
sidered by those who have seen it to be the loveliest
of all, is opening its ample portals to " fair Virginia "
and the world.
The watering-place hotels are a very distinctive,
important, attractive, and rapidly increasing part of
the business, and are of grades to suit all tastes and
purses. In 1795 there were ordinary country tav-
erns at Saratoga, Ballston, and at some of the Vir-
ginia springs. The first tavern at the White Moun-
tains was built by Crawford in 1803, and "sheltered
the scattering tourists." The Catskill Mountain
House was built in 1822. At that date there was
no tavern at Sharon, and only very primitive ones
at Niagara and Rockaway ; but by 1 840 these were
improved and houses were opened at Trenton Falls
and the Delaware Water Gap. Twenty years later
(i860) there were large hotels at Newport, Nahant,
the White Mountains, Saratoga, Lake George, Niag-
ara, Cape May, Old Point Comfort, and at the Vir-
ginia springs ; but it was not yet customary for great
numbers of our active population to " go away " in
summer for relaxation, nor to indulge the taste for
natural scenery. Long Island was almost a terra
incognita, the beauties of the Adirondacks were un-
discovered, the coast of Maine unexplored, and the
Rocky Mountains seemed an eternal barrier between
the Atlantic and the Pacific. But now in summer,
with conditions of greater wealth and leisure, the
whole world appears to be traveling. Great hotels
154
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Stand out as sentinels at the Isles of Shoals and Block
Island ; and others have arisen as by magic — from
the great houses on the northeastern coast, and on
Long Island, where scores of thousands go daily,
and along the Jersey shore, where their number is
legion, away down to the Princess Anne at Virginia
Beach. At Jekyll Island the scene is renewed, cul-
minating in Florida in that remarkably beautiful ex-
ample of Spanish architecture, the Ponce de Leon,
in the Royal Ponciana, and in the grand Tampa
Bay. So numerous and resplendent are our seaside
resorts that yachtsmen cruising along our eastern
shores in summer are ever in view of the sheen of
their hundred lights. But even these palaces are ex-
celled on the Pacific by the perfection and liberality
of the appointments of the Del Monte at Monterey,
"in the center of a beautiful garden — the finest, the
most gorgeous, the richest, the most varied in all the
world ; " and by the splendid Hotel del Coronado at
Coronado Beach, covering nearly eight acres. In
the interior of the country, at the springs, — Poland,
Saratoga, Sharon, Richfield, all through Virginia,
Waukesha, and Hot Springs, Ark., — there are vast
establishments which are thronged in the " season "
with health and pleasure seekers. The many inland
lakes and the rivers are bordered with summer hotels,
of which the Champlain is most "beautiful for
situation." Sunny skies are at Lakewood, and over
Aiken and the Bon Air in the midland South; and
the White Mountains, the Adirondacks, the Cats-
kills, the unique resorts of the Shawangunk range,
the great Appalachian chain away down into North
Carolina, are alive with hotels that illumine the night
with lights that cluster into beacon-fires. In the
Rocky Mountains — the great continental range, so
vast in its scenes of grandeiu", of beauty, and of
charm — there is many a fine house at spring and on
mountain-side.
In many parts of the country, when railroads were
first built, and long afterward, the hotels at the sta-
tions, in their imitation of city houses, were vastly in-
ferior to the old taverns along the public highways.
In later years some of the great railway lines across
the sparsely settled continent have rendered the trav-
eling public a real service in opening and managing
hotels of merit. In some marked instances houses
of great magnitude and cost have been erected far in
advance of population, to aid in the opening of vast
tracts of land and the building up of railway systems.
Much might be said, did space permit, of historic
rooms in American hotels : the colonial dining-room
of Governor Langdon at the Rockingham ; " P " at
the St. Charles ; Daniel Webster's room at the Astor ;
the famous " D. R." at the Fifth Avenue, and others
of similar interest. One could dwell with interest,
also, upon long terms of management, like that of
the Cataract at Niagara, which has been in the same
family for three generations, and Downer's Tavern
in Vermont, which he has kept for fifty-three years.
The American plan — a fixed price per day, includ-
ing room, meals, and service — generally prevails at
the watering-places, and to a considerable extent in
the cities and towns ; but the European plan, which
is of comparatively recent introduction, — a special
price for each room and for each item on the bill
of fare and for service, — has come to be very largely
patronized in the cities. In some instances both
plans are combined. The practice of tipping has
greatly increased with the introduction of the Eu-
ropean plan, and also liveries and coats of arms
have in some cases been introduced. There are
hotels for all conditions and nationalities of men,
and at all prices, from that of a plain room off from
the great thoroughfares, and of meals where they
serve " ten thousand a day at an average of thirty
cents " (in the manner of Pattinson and Sweeny in
1832), up to princely apartments where every dish
means dollars and every tap of the bell a pour-boire.
The different departments of trade and commerce
and their representative commercial travelers are
catered to, as well as tourists and men in public life,
as are also the various clubs and associations of
gentlemen and of ladies. The charges of the best
hotels now are about twice those of the correspond-
ing class in 1850. It may be said in passing that
the modern apartment-house or flat has lessened
somewhat the need for private houses, but has not
met the requirements of a "travelers' home." In
the general prosperity, as large fortunes have been
created and the number of persons of wealth and
leisure has multiplied and travel extended, the re-
quirements and wishes of many patrons of hotels
have increased in a most marked degree ; and at
times nothing seems too lavish, sumptuous, and
palatial for the novelty of the hour. Yet the great
majority of patrons seek those "home comforts"
which gratify refined taste and leave no tinge of care.
During the century great changes and improve-
ments have been made in hotel construction, ap-
pointments, and management. We now have run-
ning water with set basins, water-closets and baths
with exposed plumbing, open grates and steam-heat,
improved ventilation, more numerous stairways, fire-
escapes, fire-proofing, elevators for passengers and
baggage, electric bells, and telephones ; and the
laundry and other machinery which was the wonder
THE HOTELS OF AMERICA
155
of the Astor in 1836 was primitive compared with
that of to-day. There are now single hotel struc-
tures that are valued at three or four million dollars
and rented for one fifth of a million. The com-
plete furnishing represents an outlay of several hun-
dred thousand dollars, in which variation in style, re-
production of old patterns, special designs in china,
glass, etc., carpets and hangings, pictures, bric-cl-brac
and gilding, with elaborate fixtures and decorations,
all conspire to rival a palace in a golden age. The
industrial arts and appHances have fairly reveled in
hotels ; utensils and machinery have multiplied ; oil
and candles have been succeeded by gas, and that
by electric light, with (in some cases) its special
plant ; water is sometimes distilled on the premises,
and the ice-machine is at times the companion of
the many wonderful preservative and economical
results of cold storage. Among the now necessary
conveniences and adjuncts are reading, writing, and
music rooms, coat, package, baggage, and boot
rooms, barber-shop, billiard-room, church directories,
railway and steamship announcements, telegraph,
telephone, and various ticket offices, book and news
stands, stenography and type-writing, and carriage
and messenger service.
The general purveying for a great hotel is most
varied and important. For the table alone the
markets of the entire world contribute their many
and choicest foods, nectars, and spices, which are
placed in stores representing scores of thousands of
dollars in value. The cuisine, of infinite variety,
has perhaps attained the highest possibiHty in gastro-
nomic art; and the almost hourly service, at times
enlivened by music, approaches perfection. The
fastidious guest, with ever-developing tastes, requires
all that the world can provide, and the most con-
stant and immediate attention. The host, in turn,
by his alluring and tempting novelties, creates a
demand for newer luxuries ; and daily a feast is
spread of viands so delectable that a Lucullus might
envy.
The hotel business has grown to enormous pro-
portions, its growth stimulated recently by million-
aires of other occupations who have erected palatial
houses regardless of cost. It is impossible to give
correct statistics and financial results, and any at-
tempt to do so would be unwise and misleading.
Under favorable conditions houses prosper; but at
present, in most of the large cities, the supply of first-
class houses exceeds the demand.
There is no business more complex and exacting
in details, or that requires greater ability in manage-
ment. The proprietor has " all sorts and conditions
of men " to deal with ; he must know human nature
in its varied phases ; and he must solve race and class
problems with delicate tact. He must have a fair
knowledge and conception of trade, and of every-
thing that meets and supplements the wants and
desires of mankind. In all this he is a helpful factor
in the commerce and industries of the world. He is
aided in caring for hundreds of guests by the several
important heads of departments, from the clerk who
receives the guest, through all the intricate working
of the establishment, to the head porter who gives
the final sign of departure ; and by (in some cases)
several hundred servants, including skilled artisans
engaged in manufacture and repair. Too much can
never be said of the aid, influence, and encourage-
ment of woman, from time immemorial, in bringing
to pass splendid successes; and there are rare in-
tances in the hotel business of her sole management,
such as furnished by Mrs. Alvord's most excellent
houses in Colorado. The local and State hotel asso-
ciations (originating in New York) and the Hotel
Men's Mutual Benefit Association are of great ad-
vantage to the business in many ways ; the newspa-
pers and magazines published in the interest of hotels
are able and influential; and the publications en-
titled " Hotel Red Book " and " Where to Stop "
are of much value. On the other hand, the busi-
ness is greatly hampered by legal restraints, is sub-
ject to the whims of legislation, and is a sufferer from
pilfering thieves.
The hfe of the host is one of constant watchfulness.
His responsibilities for and in behalf of his guests
are as continuous for the full twenty-four hours of
each and every day as the swinging of his ever-open
doors. He is responsible always for the safety,
oftentimes for the respectability and conduct, and
constantly for the comfort of his household. To
his guest he has the opportunity of being a friend
and a guide. He makes him feel " at home," is his
banker, tells him of the shops, galleries, churches,
libraries, places of interest and amusement, and in-
forms him of forthcoming events and routes of
travel. He is ever ready in fehcitation and always
at hand in the hour of trial. He calls in the coun-
sel, goes on the bond, witnesses the will, summons
the physician and the clergyman, and aids in the
last sad rites. It is not strange, therefore, that the
realized hope of Archbishop Leighton was that he
might die at an inn.
The taverns of 1795 were the "fountains of
news." The hotels of to-day are closely related to
the public welfare ; statesmen and men of affairs
meet in them to consider the public weal and for-
156
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
mulate policies of state ; and in the hour of national
peril or elation it is to the center of public sentiment,
the hotel, that the citizen goes for the latest infor-
mation and the truest measure of the pubhc mind.
And in the presence of great events the host is a
not unimportant factor, and with the historian of
old he can say, " All of which I saw, and a part of
which I was."
In the future it is hoped that proprietor and guest
will take serious counsel together, and that faulty and
mixed architecture and florid and meaningless deco-
ration and furnishing may be avoided, and correct
taste and practical methods followed. Health and
cleanliness are of the first consideration. A hotel
should occupy ample space and not be uncomfor-
table in elevation. The plumbing, ventilation, and
sanitary arrangements should be perfect. A hotel
contains a large and daily changing population from
all places under the sun, and as far as possible all
wall-stuffs and hangings, those pestilential resorts of
disease-germs, should be avoided. Safety, respecta-
bility, and comfort are the three hotel graces ; all else,
in comparison, is "sounding brass and a tinkling
cymbal." In this spirit the host will stand at the
gateway of commerce and welcome all her votaries
on their journey.
" The world 's an inn, and death the journey's end."
Drvden.
^^i^^if^^,^ .y'^^^^^^^^^^i^
jXi jSSi jSc hSc mS( jSk jSc iXc jSh mSc mSc nSc jSEc mSc hSc hSc mSi mS( jSc jkm mSc iSSi jSc jSc jSIc jSIc jSc m^ j2Ei jSh *
CHAPTER XXIV
AMERICAN THEATERS
IN order to convey to the reader a fair under-
standing of the progress of the American
theater since 1795 it is perhaps necessary to
state something about its beginnings, which, in-
deed, previous to 1750, are involved in much ob-
scurity. Tony Aston, an English stroller of some
celebrity, visited the Southern and Middle colonies
about 1730, and gave entertainments at New York
and perhaps other places ; and there is some evidence
that a company of comedians acted plays in New
York in 1732; but it was not until 1749 that an
organization came into existence of which we can
form any definite judgment. This company at-
tempted to open a playhouse in Philadelphia, and
Addison's " Cato " was actually performed ; but the
performers were arrested and admonished by Re-
corder Allen to give up the undertaking. Thomas
Kean was the principal actor in both tragedy and
comedy, and one Murray seems to have been asso-
ciated with him in the management. Finding Phil-
adelphia too inhospitable, the players went to New
York, where they were advertised as the company
of comedians from Philadelphia, and gave the first
theatrical season of which we have any connected
account. The performances were given in a " con-
venient room " in a house belonging to Rip Van
Dam in Nassau Street, and extended over a period
of more than a year — from March 5, 1 750, to July 8,
1751. The first play was " Richard III.," in which
Kean played Richard. So far as is known, the
company appeared in fifteen plays and nine farces.
Although Mr. Kean formally announced his with-
drawal from the stage to resume his business of writ-
ing, he was with a company called the " Virginia
Comedians" at Annapolis in the summer of 1752,
when Lewis Hallam and his London players arrived
at Williamsburg, Va. Besides Mr. Kean there were
other members of the New York company among
these " Virginia Comedians." Perhaps this disposes
of the claim usually made for Hallam's company
as being the first regular theatrical organization in
America.
Lewis Hallam, who brought a company of come-
dians from London in 1752, was not an actor of any
consequence in England, nor is it likely that his wife,
known to the American stage successively as Mrs.
Hallam and Mrs. Douglass, was an actress of recog-
nized ability there. William Hallam, who is reported
to have furnished the money for the American
venture, was not the manager of the theater in
Goodman's Fields where Garrick made his d^but,
but of a theater of no importance or reputation at
the Wells in Lemon Street, Goodman's Fields. It
was at this house that Mrs. Hallam, the wife of
Lewis, played leading parts between 1746 and 1751.
In the latter year she had a benefit at which she
played Desdemona, with her husband, Lewis Hallam,
as Roderigo. At the time of this benefit the Amer-
ican venture was in preparation, and one Robert
Upton was sent to New York to prepare for the
coming of the players. He proved false to his
trust, and attempted to estabhsh a theater on his
own account, but met with little encouragement and
had disappeared before the Hallams came to Vir-
ginia.
The Hallam company reached Yorktown in June,
1752, and began playing at Williamsbiirg on the 5th
of September following, the opening pieces being
" The Merchant of Venice " and " Lethe." The only
other play the Hallam company is known to have
performed at Williamsburg was " Othello," November
9, 1752. From Williamsburg Hallam went to New
York, where he arrived in June, 1753, just one year
after the arrival at Yorktown. The New York sea-
son lasted from September 17, 1753, until March
18, 1754. Mrs. Hallam played the leading parts
in both tragedy and comedy, while her daughter.
Miss Hallam, was put forward in farces. Hallam
157
158
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
seldom appeared. The great Shakespeare rdles
were divided between M alone and Rigby, the former
playing Shylock and Lear, and the latter Richard
and Romeo. From New York the company went
to Philadelphia, where the engagement was limited
to twenty-four performances and one night for the
benefit of the poor. The season began April 15,
1 7 54, and closed in June. This ended the theatrical
campaign of Lewis Hallam the elder, who retired
with his family to Jamaica, where he died soon
afterward.
A year or two after Mr, Hallam's death his widow
married David Douglass, who organized a theatrical
company in Jamaica in 1758 for another American
campaign, with Mrs. Douglass as his chief attraction.
Besides his mother, young Lewis Hallam was the
only member of Mr. Douglass's company who had
previously appeared in the New York and Philadel-
phia theaters. He had already become a full-fledged
tragedian, although he was only in his twentieth
year, sharing the leading parts in tragedy and
comedy with Mr. Harman, as Rigby had previously
shared them with Malone. Mrs. Harman, who was
a daughter of Charlotte Charke and a granddaughter
of CoUey Gibber, was also with the company, and
next in consequence to Mrs. Douglass. The low
comedian was Owen Morris, who was identified
with the American theater for a full half-century —
1759— 1809. After his arrival in New York, Doug-
lass had much difficulty in obtaining permission to
open the theater that he had built on what was called
Cruger's Wharf, and it was not until December 28,
1758, that he began his season with the tragedy of
"Jane Shore." The season was a very brief one,
closing February 7, 1759.
During the following spring and summer Mr.
Douglass built a theater at Vernon and Smith streets,
in Philadelphia, which he opened June 25, 1759,
and maintained with considerable regularity until the
close of the year. He had obtained authority to
act from Governor Denny, and the compact was
kept, although the opposition to the theater was so
great in the province that an act prohibiting plays
was passed by the Assembly to go into effect Janu-
ary I, 1760. After Philadelphia was closed against
him, Mr. Douglass went to Annapolis, where he
played an engagement extending from March 3 to
May 12, 1760. The company also performed in
other Maryland towns, and then invaded Rhode
Island, playing engagements at Newport and Provi-
dence in 1 76 1. In the autumn Mr. Douglass built
another theater in New York, in what was then
Chapel (now Beekman) Street, where he gave per-
formances from November 19, 1761, to April 26,
1762. This ended his first attempt to achieve the
mastery of the colonial stage. In his few years of
management Douglass had become an actor of con-
siderable authority, attempting such parts as Sir John
Falstaff in " King Henry IV.," and Mercutip in
" Romeo and Juliet." In the latter young Hallam
played the lover to his mother's Juliet. In the last
New York engagement, Mrs. Hallam, the wife of the
youthful tragedian, was seen in a few parts, but the
pair separated soon afterward.
It has always been understood that after his retire-
ment from New York, in 1762, Mr. Douglass did
not venture upon the continent again until 1766,
when he built the Southwark Theater in Philadelphia.
On the contrary, he appeared in Charleston in No-
vember, 1765, and remained there until the follow-
ing April, Lewis Hallam was not with the com-
pany, and, with the exception of Mrs. Douglass and
Miss Hallam, the performers were all new to the
stage. Only three of the new players were still with
Douglass when he reached Philadelphia — Messrs.
Woolls and Wall and Miss Wainwright. With the
opening of the new theater in Southwark, Philadel-
phia, began the theatrical organization afterward
known as the " Old American Company." Lewis
Hallam was once more in the lead. Mr. Morris
and Mrs. Harman were again with the company.
On the opening night Miss Cheer appeared as
Katherine in " Katherine and Petruchio," and sub-
sequently succeeded to most of the parts previously
filled by Mrs. Douglass. Mr. Woolls and Miss
Wainwright were the principal singers. During this
season a so-called comic opera, "The Disappoint-
ment," said to have been written by Colonel Thomas
Forrest, afterward a distinguished officer in the
Revolutionary army, was announced for production,
but it was withdrawn because it contained "local
reflections." As a recompense for its withdrawal,
" The Prince of Parthia," by Thomas Godfrey, Jr.,
was produced April 24, 1767. This was the first
tragedy written and played in America. The season
lasted from November 21, 1766, to July 6, 1767,
and was followed by a supplementary season of
two months, September 24 to November 23, 1767.
The latter was noteworthy for the first appearance
in America of John Henry, who was the partner of
Lewis Hallam after the Revolution in the manage-
ment of the Old American Company.
While the company was playing in Philadelphia,
Mr. Douglass built a new theater in John Street,
New York, which was the second of the permanent
theaters in the colonies, the Southwark being the
AMERICAN THEATERS
159
first. The first season at the John Street house
lasted from December 7, 1767, to July 2, 1768.
The company alternated between these two theaters
down to the time of the Revolution ; but Mr. Doug-
lass found the patronage of the two cities inadequate
as early as 1770-71. In the latter year he made a
tour to the southward as far as Williamsburg, Va.,
playing at Fredericksburg, SuflFolk, and other towns,
and building a theater at Annapolis, where the
company played an engagement in the autumn of
1 77 1. In 1773 Douglass also built a theater at
Charleston, S. C, which was the last of the many
buildings he erected for theatrical purposes between
1758 and 1774. The company played at Charles-
ton from December 22, 1773, to May ig, 1774. It
was the manager's intention to reopen the New
York theater in the autumn, and Mr. Hallam em-
barked for England from Charleston for the purpose
of engaging recruits for the company ; but in Octo-
ber the Continental Congress passed a resolution
forbidding theatrical performances, in view of the
impending Revolution, and the organization was
disbanded. Hallam remained in England, where
he appealed to the London public at Covent Garden
Theater as Hamlet in 1775. His mother, Mrs.
Douglass, died in Philadelphia at the close of 1774,
and Mr. Douglass returned to Jamaica, where he
became a magistrate.
It is an interesting fact, showing the theatrical
activity before the Revolution, that while the Amer-
ican Company was acting in New York and Phila-
delphia in 1766-69 there was a company in the
South giving performances at Annapolis and Wil-
liamsburg. This company was known as the " Vir-
ginia Comedians" in 1768, when it gave a long
season at the Virginia capital ; but it assumed the
name of the " New American Company " when it
was at Annapolis from January to June, 1769.
The leading spirits of the Virginia Comedians were
Messrs. Verling and Bromadge, and Mrs. Osborne,
who had played with Douglass at Charleston in
1765-66, and Mr. Godwin, who was with the Amer-
ican Company at the Southwark in Philadelphia in
1766-67. All these were with the New American
Company, with the exception of Mr. Bromadge.
A number of bills of the Virginia Comedians at
Williamsburg in 1768 have been preserved.
The most important annals relating to the Amer-
ican stage that have escaped the destroying hand of
time are a collection of playbills made by Thomas
Llewellyn Lechmere Wall — Mr. Wall of Douglass's
company. These cover forty years of the theatrical
life of the actor, and are especially valuable for the
complete information they afford in regard to the
Baltimore Company, organized by Wall and Lindsay
in 1782. Wall was perhaps the only member of the
American Company who remained behind when
Douglass returned to Jamaica in 1774. He was
also the only manager who undertook to produce
plays before the close of the Revolution. In 1781
he was at Annapolis giving entertainments with the
assistance of his wife and daughter when the French
army was on the march to Yorktown. For one of
his performances at that time he succeeded in secur-
ing the services of the band belonging to the regi-
ment of Count de Chaleur. Later in the year he
went to Baltimore, where he repeated his Annapolis
entertainments, and in conjunction with Adam
Lindsay, a tavern keeper at Fell's Point, built a
theater, of which Lindsay and Wall were the nom-
inal managers, with Wall as the stage director. The
company was formed on what was afterward known
as the "commonwealth plan." The theater was
opened January 15, 1782, and continued open with-
out important interruptions until the 9th of July —
forty-two nights. In all nineteen plays and fourteen
farces were produced, and the total receipts for the
season were ^^2841 17^. 5^/., an average of ^69
55-. I od. per night. With the exception of the Walls
the players were all new to the American stage, and,
it may be assumed, were all amateiu-s.
The second season at the Baltimore theater ex-
tended from September 13, 1782, to February 7,
1783 ; but the house was closed from October 18 to
November 15, 1782, when the company was at
Annapolis. The receipts for ten nights at Baltimore
were ^^896 6j. 7^/., an average of ;^89 12^. 6^.;
and for seven nights at Annapolis, ^^688 2j. 7^., an
average of ;^98 6j. \d. On the third night of the
season at Baltimore, Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Ryan
appeared in " Douglass," the former as Young Ner-
val and the latter as Lady Randolph. Ryan domi-
nated the company from the outset, and when Wall
retired from the management, February 7, 1783, he
assumed the reins, keeping the theater open from
February nth to June 9th. From Baltimore Ryan
carried his company to New York and opened the
theater in John Street, June 19th, keeping it open
until August 16, 1783, although the city was still
in the occupation of the British. Wall was with
Ryan's company, which remained until the evacua-
tion, giving two performances in October, 1783
while the military players gave a performance for
Mrs. Ryan's benefit. In the winter Ryan again
opened the Baltimore theater, the season extending
from December 7, 1783, to February 14, 1784.
160
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The only noteworthy event of this season was the
first production of the "School for Scandal" in
America, February 3, 1784, with Mrs. Ryan as
Lady Teazle. After the close of the Baltimore season
in 1 784, Ryan took the company to Richmond, where
he played a long engagement. Mr. Heard, who
was the original Sir Peter Teazle in this country,
joined the forces of Hallam and Henry, while other
members of the organization found professional
employment in the South during the rest of the
century.
After the Revolution both Lewis Hallam and
John Henry sought to control the theaters that had
been built by Douglass ; but Hallam was the first to
present a company of comedians to the New York
public, opening the John Street Theater August 24,
1785. None of his players had ever appeared
under Douglass's management. The Old American
Company had passed into Henry's control in Jamai-
ca, and while Hallam and his feeble forces were
playing their New York engagement Henry arrived
with a number of the old favorites, ready to renew
operations in the United States. The company in-
cluded Mrs. Henry, — previously known to theater
goers as Miss Maria Storer, — Mr. and Mrs. Morris,
and Mr. WooUs. Besides these were Thomas Wig-
nell, an excellent low comedian, afterward one of
the managers of the New Theater in Philadelphia,
and Miss Tuke, who subsequently became Mrs.
Hallam. Confronted by the returning players,
Hallam proposed a partnership with Henry, and the
firm of Hallam & Henry, which ruled the American
stage during the next seven years, came into exis-
tence. The John Street Theater reopened under
their management, November 21, 1785. This
company played alternately in New York and
Philadelphia, with an occasional visit to Baltimore
and Annapolis, without any important changes
in its composition until 1792, when Wignell se-
ceded, carrying with him Mr. and Mrs. Morris.
Hallam had agreed to send Wignell to England to
engage recruits, but it was afterward determined
that Henry should go instead. The quarrel that
resulted was very bitter, but its final consequence
was the establishment of the theater in America on
new foundations. Henry engaged a number of
capable actors and actresses whose names are part
of the history of the American stage, while Wignell
not only succeeded in building in Philadelphia the
first really handsome and complete theater in the
United States, but put into it the best company of
players that had as yet been tempted to cross the
Atlantic.
The only incident of the Hallam and Henry
partnership, previous to the reorganization of the
company, that needs to be noted here is the produc-
tion of the first American comedy, " The Contrast,"
by Royall Tyler. This piece, which was first pro-
duced in New York April 18, 1787, was written for
Wignell, who wished to play a Yankee character.
Wignell's Jonathan deserves remembrance as the
forerunner of the long series of stage Yankees that
afterward became popular with American audiences.
The comedy was printed in Philadelphia, and was
often played by strolling companies before the close
of the century.
The only really important recruits engaged by
Mr. Henry in England were Mr. and Mrs. Hodg-
kinson, of the Bath and Bristol theaters, and Mrs.
Wrighten, who had long been a favorite singer and
actress at Drury Lane. Hodgkinson was a man of
great talent and versatility, and the best actor seen
in America up to that time and for many years
afterward. He made his d^but as Don Felix in
"The Wonder," at Philadelphia, September 26,
1792, succeeded Henry as one of the managers of
the Old American Company in 1 794, and was active
as actor and manager in New York until after the
opening season at the New Theater in 1798. Mrs.
Hodgkinson, known at Bath and Bristol as Miss
Brett, was an actress of merit, and in this country
eclipsed both Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Hallam, the
wives of the managers by whom the Hodgkinsons
were engaged. Mrs. Wrighten was known in
America as Mrs. Pownall. She died at Charleston
in 1796, after introducing her two daughters to the
stage in this country. One of them, Caroline, mar-
ried Alexander Placide, who had been a rope dancer
in England. She was the mother of the famous
Placide family of actors. It was during this period
that William Dunlap became prominent as a dram-
atist and adapter of plays. His first comedy, " The
Father," was produced at the old John Street
Theater, September 7, 1789. Dunlap became as-
sociated with Hallam and Hodgkinson in the man-
agement of the New York company in 1796, and
he was afterward for a brief period the sole manager
of the New Theater, better known as the Park.
After leaving the Old American Company, in the
beginning of 1792, Thomas Wignell associated him-
self with A. Reinagle, a musician who came to
America in 1786, in the project of building the New
Theater in Philadelphia, afterward known as the
Chestnut Street Theater. The house was modeled
after the theater at Bath, and was completed early
in 1793 ; but owing to the yellow-fever epidemic it
Albert M. Palmer.
AMERICAN THEATERS
161
was not opened by the company of players engaged
by Wignell until February 17, 1794. Among the
actors and actresses comprising the Philadelphia
company were Mr. Fennell, a young tragedian of
much promise ; Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, the latter a
sister of Mrs. Siddons ; and Miss George, who was
the wife of Sir John Oldmixon, and was known to
our stage as Mrs. Oldmixon. This company re-
mained intact without any important changes or
additions for three years, playing alternately in
Philadelphia and Baltimore, with an occasional visit
to Annapolis; but in the autumn of 1796 Mr. Wig-
nell brought three important recruits from England
— Mrs. Merry, the famous Miss Brunton of Covent
Garden Theater, who had become the wife of
Robert Merry, the Delia Cruscan poet; Thomas
Althorpe Cooper, then a young man of twenty, but
destined to be the manager of the New York
theater for many years ; and William Warren, who
had been a stroUing player in England, and who
became the successor of Wignell in the management
of the Philadelphia theater. Mrs. Merry became
a widow in 1798. She soon afterward married
Wignell, and after his death she became the wife of
Warren, who survived her many years.
A fortnight before the formal opening of the
Philadelphia theater by Wignell's company a new
theater in Boston, scarcely inferior to the Philadel-
phia house, was opened by an English company
engaged and brought over by Charles Powell. This
theater was in Federal Street, and was built by sub-
scription. It was destroyed by fire in 1798. Pow-
ell's company was a feeble one, and he was com-
pelled to relinquish the management upon the close
of his second season in 1 795. Powell was succeeded
by Colonel John S. Tyler, a brother of Royall Tyler,
the author of "The Contrast," who managed the
house on behalf of the stockholders from January to
May, 1796. The season proved a failure; but the
theater was reopened in September by John Brown
Williamson, an English actor, whose wife was pop-
ular in London as Miss Fontenelle ; but neither he
nor his wife, nor a stronger company than had as
yet been seen in Boston, availed to make the season
successful. One reason for this was that a new
theater, known as the Haymarket, had been built
through the exertions of Charles Powell, and opened
by him for the first time December 26, 1 796. Among
Powell's English recruits for the Boston Haymarket
were Mr. and Mrs. Giles L. Barrett, the parents of
the famous New York comedian, George H. Barrett ;
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, afterward New York favor-
ites ; and Mrs. Simpson's three daughters, the Misses
Westray, of whom Juliana became Mrs. William B.
Wood ; Eliza, successively, Mrs. Villiers and Mrs.
Twaits ; and Ellen, Mrs. Darley. Powell again failed
at the Haymarket, and the house passed into the
control of Hodgkinson, Hallam, and Dunlap, under
the personal direction of Hodgkinson. The New
York company occupied it in the summer of 1797,
after which it was abandoned. The Haymarket de-
serves to be remembered for the production of two
American war plays — " Bunker Hill," by John Daly
Burke, February 20, 1797; and "West Point Pre-
served," the first of the Andre pieces, by William
Brown, on the 17th of April following. Dunlap's
" Andre " was not produced in New York until
March 30, 1798.
This epoch, 1792-98, was also remarkable for
theatrical activity in the South. Not only had the
Baltimore company, including Mr. and Mrs. Ryan
and Mr. Wall, played a long engagement at Rich-
mond as early as 1784, but in 1790 John Bignall
and Thomas Ward West were the managers of a
company called the "Virginia Comedians." This
organization maintained its existence for many
years, its circuit extending from Richmond and
Norfolk to Charleston. Bignall, who was held by
his Southern admirers to be the best actor on the
continent, died in 1794. His real name was Money-
penny, and he had been a stroller in England in the
same company with William Warren, of the Phila-
delphia theater. After Bignall's death West became
the sole manager of the company, and piloted it
over the Southern circuit for a number of years. In
1795 there was a rival theater in Charleston, con-
ducted by Mr. Jones, who had been previously at
the Boston Theater. His principal actress was Mrs.
Whitlock, who had just retired from the Philadelphia
company. A Frenchman, Mr. Sollee, succeeded to
the management of this theater, and organized a
company in Boston to play in Charleston for the
season of 1 795-96. Mr. and Mrs. Whidock, Mr. and
Mrs. Placide, and Mrs. Arnold — afterward Mrs. Poe
and the mother of Edgar Allan Poe — were in the
company.
The prosperity which had given to America three
splendid theaters within five years — the Chestnut
Street in Philadelphia, the Park in New York, and
the Boston Theater in Federal Street, Boston, rebuilt
immediately after its destruction in 1798 — was fol-
lowed by a period of depression that was severely
felt over all the country. At the close of the century
Wignell was in jail for debts incurred through the
Philadelphia theater, and Dunlap, who had under-
taken the sole management of the New York theater
162
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
to retrieve previous losses in New York and New
England, lost his entire private fortune in the ven-
ture. Mr. Barrett was induced to undertake the
management of the new Boston Theater in 1799,
but he failed dismally.
In all these cities theatrical enterprises were ex-
perimental for several years, but in every case a man-
ager was finally found in the local company who suc-
ceeded in placing the theater on a sound business and
artistic basis. Mr. Warren, after he became Wig-
nell's successor in Philadelphia, associated with him-
self in the direction of the Chestnut Street Theater
a popular young member of the company, William
Burke Wood. This partnership lasted until 1825.
In New York the young tragedian Cooper retrieved
the fortunes of the Park Theater and made the
house a paying one for a number of years. In
Boston, Snelling Powell, a brother of Charles Powell,
secured control after other attempts had failed, in-
cluding the assumption of the management of the
Boston Theater by Charles Whitlock in 1800, John
Bernard, an English actor of some repute who
joined the Philadelphia company in 1797, was for
a while Snelling Powell's associate in directing the
Federal Street Theater ; but for many years Powell's
partner was Mr. Dickenson, who was an actor of
moderate ability, but a man of sound judgment and
an excellent manager. These were the dominating
theaters in the United States during the first quarter
of the century, and their influence in giving tone
and character to theatrical enterprises in the country
was felt down to 1850.
The Old American Company was designed to be
permanent in organization, but all the early man-
agers, from Douglass to Wignell and Hodgkinson,
aimed at controlling a circuit of playhouses modeled
after the provincial circuits in England. The build-
ing of the new theaters in Philadelphia, New York,
and Boston resulted in giving companies that were
permanent in organization permanence of home.
These were the real stock-company days, but a
tendency toward the star system was manifested
almost from the outset. As early as 1796 Mrs.
Whitlock played what was essentially a star engage-
ment at the Boston Theater ; it was limited to twelve
nights, for which she was paid $450 and allowed a
benefit. Hodgkinson played star engagements in
all the leading cities between 1798 and 1805, and
Cooper followed Hodgkinson's example, and was a
star from youth to old age. But the first star to
shine with extraordinary effulgence in the American
theatrical firmament was George Frederick Cooke.
He was the first English actor of great reputation
who came to America to play the leading roles of
tragedy and comedy with the stock companies in
the principal cities. In view of this the star system,
as it ruled in the American theaters for the next
half-century, may be said to date from his appear-
ance here in 1810-11.
Simultaneously with Cooke's performances in the
theaters of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston
were the star engagements of our own "young
Roscius" — John Howard Payne. Cooke played
three engagements in Philadelphia — in all thirty-nine
nights. His highest receipts for any one night were
$1475, his lowest $474. His average for his last
Philadelphia engagement of twelve nights in 181 1
was $807.50. Payne played to an average about
the same time of $442, while Cooper's Philadel-
phia average was $509. Young Payne's popular-
ity rapidly diminished, and in 181 2 he performed
to receipts that fell as low as $255. After Cooke
the next English star to appear in America was
Holman, in 181 2 ; but he came at a time of serious
depression in consequence of the war with Great
Britain, and the impression that he made fell far
below his expectations. Then came Incledon and
PhiUips as musical stars, and after them the Wal-
lacks, Henry and James W., and finally, to close the
first decade of the star system in America, 1810-20,
Edmund Kean. The great English stars who came
to this country during the next three decades were
Junius Brutus Booth and William Charles Macready,
1820-30; Fanny Kemble and her father, Charles
Kemble, and Charles Kean, 1830-40; and Tyrone
Power, James R. Anderson, and Macready, again in
the fullness of his fame, 1840—50. This long period
had developed only two American stars of sur-
passing brilliancy — Edwin Forrest and Charlotte
Cushman.
The century opened with about half a score of
theaters in the leading American cities, only three
of which, as already described, were worthy of the
name or of the drama. Between 1800 and 1850
about twenty theaters were built in New York, none
of them superior to the Park, and only one, the
Bowery, in any sense its rival, until Burton estab-
lished himself in Chambers Street in the last decade
of the epoch. The only new theaters of importance
in Philadelphia during the same period were the
Walnut Street and the Arch Street theaters, the
former erected for a circus in 1808 and fitted up for
theatrical uses in 1820, and the latter built in 1826.
The theaters built in Boston in these fifty years were
the Tremont, the American Amphitheater, — after-
ward the Warren and National,— Kimball's Museum,
AMERICAN THEATERS
163
the Eagle, and the Howard Athenaeum. Baltimore
had nothing better than the old Holliday Street
Theater during this epoch, and Washington was
without a place of amusement worthy of the drama
until 1835. The theater builder of the period in the
South and Southwest was James H. Caldwell. He
built the American Theater in New Orleans in 1823,
and afterward erected the Camp Street and Charles
Street theaters. Mr. Caldwell also built theaters in
Cincinnati, St. Louis, Natchez, Huntsville, Nash-
ville, and Petersburg. Another manager, John S.
Potter, was concerned in building as many, or more,
theaters in the South and Southwest ; but, after all,
the theatrical activity of a century resulted in an
approximate number of theaters in actual use at its
close not exceeding fifty.
The figures that show the periods of prosperity
and the intervening periods of depression are not
easily obtainable, those that are in existence being
widely scattered through books and newspapers or
in private hands. The losses were sometimes heavy
even in the early enterprises. The Philadelphia
company in 1797 played fourteen weeks in New
York with a loss of $2350 ; but, on the other hand,
Caldwell, in 181 8, cleared $10,000 in four months
at Petersbiu-g, Va. The receipts of the Park
Theater, New York, for the season of 1832-33
reached nearly $150,000, Fanny Kemble and her
father drawing $56,000 for sixty nights, an average
of $933 per night. In 1833-34, when the receipts
at the Park fell to $135,000 for the season, the
Kembles averaged $732 per night; but in 1834-35,
without the Kembles, the season's total was over
$160,000. At this time the star system was at its
height of favor, with both managers and the public ;
but its effects were disastrous in cities where there
were rival theaters outbidding one another for the
best stars. This was especially true of the managers
of the three rival theaters in Philadelphia, who for
nearly twenty years continued to cut one another's
throats for the benefit of stars of no great magnitude.
Wood, in his " Recollections," cites an example of
the effects of the system. One of Fanny Ellsler's
engagements in Philadelphia yielded $10,869.25,
out of which the danseuse received $6436. The
money paid to the other dancers, the ballet, and for
the ordinary expenses of the house brought the ex-
penditures up to $11,826, involving a loss to the
manager of $1000 for ten nights. This system
finally culminated about 1846, when nearly all the
theaters in the country were ruined. But it was
divided patronage as well as the excessive percen-
tages of the stars that made the theaters in Philadel-
phia, New York, and Boston unprofitable ; for in the
South, where Caldwell had a monopoly in his own
field from Richmond to New Orleans, the profits
were very large, notwithstanding the frequent en-
gagement of stars like Cooper, Booth, and Forrest.
This contrast receives additional emphasis from the
fact that Caldwell was the only manager produced by
the first century of the American theater who died rich.
The century that will close with this decade has
witnessed a partial revival of the old stock compa-
nies in their purity and simplicity, without the inter-
vention of great stars, and it has also witnessed the
nearly complete abolition of this form of theatrical
organization. In the theaters managed by William
Wheatley, John S. Clarke, and, for a time, by Mrs.
John Drew in Philadelphia, by James H. Wallack
in New York, and by Moses Kimball in Boston,
stock companies were maintained. Later on, Lester
Wallack, Augustin Daly, M. H. Mallory, Daniel
Frohman, Charles Frohman, and the writer of this
article in New York, and R. M. Field in Boston,
kept together for years organizations which were
managed upon the pure stock system. Only one or
two of these companies remain. Throughout the
country generally the theaters for a while employed
stock companies, but mainly for the purpose of sup-
porting traveling stars. This lasted until after the
close of the war between the States, when the im-
petus given to business enterprises of all kinds was
felt in renewed theatrical activity not only in the
cities, but over all the country. What is known as
the combination system (that is, a traveling com-
pany made up of a star and a supporting company),
which began about 1869 and reached its highest
development before 1876, involving the destruction
of the stock companies in all except a few theaters,
was the consequence of this theatrical revival.
Nearly every inland town and city from Maine to
California built a theater, with the expectation that
traveling companies would occupy it at intervals.
The demand thus created could be supplied only by
the combinations.
One of the first results of this new state of things
was the banishment from the managerial office of
all, or nearly all, the actor-managers. Their places
were filled by business men, who, while they may
have lowered, in a sense, the artistic character of
the theater, have raised its financial standing to a
point which, during the first century of its existence,
seemed beyond its reach. The theater in America
is no longer a haphazard thing, living from day to
day on uncertainty. It is a business conducted on
the principles which govern other forms of commer-
164
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
cial enterprise, and is as stable, as sound, and as
certain of adequate rewards as any. Indeed, so
abnormal has been the development of the business
character of the theater that it has excluded from
general managerial attainments everything else.
Very few of the managers throughout the country
ever undertake the original production of plays, or
take the trouble to acquire the artistic knowledge
requisite for this kind of work. New York chiefly,
and in a lesser degree Chicago and Boston, are the
play-producing centers. A few New York man-
agers and the play-producing stars select and bring
forth all the plays and gather together all the com-
panies which, supplemented by the imported attrac-
tions, keep the theaters of the country supplied with
entertainment during the season. The advantage
of this system is that playgoers everywhere are
furnished with well-trained and perfectly equipped
companies, appearing in plays which have been tried
and found to be worthy. The local manager, free
from the worries and cares incident to stage-work,
devotes his time and attention to the comfort of his
patrons at the front of the house, and to the strict
conduct of business there. The results are well-
regulated and comfortable auditoriums and good
order in all the business departments of the theater.
A remarkable aspect of the American theater,
from a commercial point of view, is the enormous
profit it has yielded and continues to yield to home
and foreign celebrities. Among American actors,
Edwin Forrest acquired and left behind him a great
estate, from the remnant of which was established
the Forrest Home, near Philadelphia, a retreat for
aged actors, noble in its piupose and efficient in its
benefaction ; Charlotte Cushman, resting for long
periods in England and Italy, left a fortune of
$600,000 ; Edwin Booth, having made and lost
more than one competency, renewed his financial
successes in his declining years, and left $750,000
to his heirs, after having founded the Players' Club
at a cost of $200,000 ; Mary Anderson retired from
the stage after a few seasons of brilliant and unin-
terrupted triumph, to enjoy a happy marriage in her
youth, her labors having brought her a fortune of
$500,000 ; Joseph Jefferson, blessed with that con-
tinuous vitality often found among the children of
the stage, still reaps the harvest of his well-earned
popularity, and should he retire now he would real-
ize in his fortune of $1,000,000 that the public he
has served so long and so well is, to say the least
of it, not ungrateful ; while Lotta Crabtree, Fanny
Davenport, Maggie Mitchell, Francis Wilson, and
many others of diverse gifts are in the list of for-
tune's favorites. Among foreign actors, William C.
Macready owed to America the realization of his
dream of retirement from a profession he affected
to loathe ; Sara Bernhardt acquired here a fortune
which enabled her to defy the authority of the house
of Moliere and to estabhsh a theater of her own in
beautiful Paris; Tomasso Salvini, adding his great
earnings here to his modest ones in other lands, be-
came the richest actor Italy has ever known ; and
Henry Irving has found in his frequent visits to our
country a pubhc eager and willing to fill his coffers
to overflowing with the rewards so justly due to his
unequaled managerial achievements and to his un-
doubted genius as an actor.
The list of the well-rewarded favorites of the
public might be greatly extended, but this ghmpse
of results is sufficient to make clear the profits and
prosperity of the American stage, and to indicate
the extent of its commercial advancement during
the century.
The development of the theater in all its depart-
ments, especially since i860, has been vast. From
not more than 100 in 1800, and fewer than 800 in
i860, the number of actors and actresses in the
United States increased so immensely that in 1888
it was estimated at 4500, and now probably exceeds
7000. This number represents only the performers
engaged in presenting the drama in its higher forms.
It does not include the managers, who number several
hundred, as compared with 25 or 30 in 1850 and 6
or 8 in 1800. If the exponents of variety and vaude-
ville and the other employees in the amusement busi-
ness are added, the number of people who gain a live-
Hhood by giving pubHc entertainments will not fall
below 1 2,000 ; including stage hands and all the per-
sons who derive their support from the theater, the
number may be roughly estimated at 50,000. This
vast army of workers is well organized, generally well
paid, and reasonably prosperous. It has numer-
ous charitable and social organizations, which are
models of their kind. The Actors' Fund, the Actors'
Order of Friendship, the Players' Club, the Profes-
sional Women's League, are institutions of which
any profession might well be proud ; and there are
numberless others of equal merit supported by the
amusement makers of the United States. There are
as many as 400 regularly organized theatrical com-
panies on tour through the United States during the
season, and the number of theaters of all kinds is
not fewer than 4000. The cities of New York and
Brooklyn have at the present moment first-class the-
aters in greater number than either Paris or London.
The improvement which has taken place in the
AMERICAN THEATERS
165
construction of theaters in America within the past
twenty years is worthy of especial notice. The
tragic disaster in Brooklyn on the night of December
5, 1876, awakened the attention of managers and of
the public authorities in the different States to the
flimsiness of construction which marked even the
best theaters of the period. The result was the
passage of new and most stringent laws, involving
requirements which, while they seemed onerous,
perhaps, have resulted in giving to America the
best and safest theaters in the world. Even the
older theaters, built before the new regulations, have
been so altered under the direction of the authorities
that they are now comparatively free from danger.
In New York, where these regulations are perhaps
the strictest, there is a larger number of absolutely
safe theaters than in any city in the world ; while for
beauty and convenience combined with safety it is
impossible to find elsewhere such theaters as the
Garden, Abbey's, the Empire, the American, and the
Metropolitan Opera-House. As the older houses
pass away they must be replaced by absolutely fire-
proof structures if replaced at all, and before the end
of the next two decades it is almost certain that
there will not be a building devoted to amusement
in the Greater New York which will not be a model
of safety, convenience, and comfort.
Perhaps the most marked change that has taken
place in the American theater during the century,
I however, is in the character and number of its pa-
trons. Attendance upon the theater was looked
upon even fifty years ago by at least seven tenths
of the people of the United States as almost a sin.
The fashionable ungodly and the lowest and most
depraved made up the audiences. We have seen
how, in the Revolutionary period, theaters were
closed by act of Congress, doubtless because, in
those days of danger, the fathers of our country
felt that they would help their cause by propitiat-
ing the Almighty, who was supposed to frown upon
godless amusements. But in the last two decades
this unreasonable prejudice against the most enjoy-
able and least harmful of all forms of amusement
has so materially lessened that it is estimated by a
good authority that not more than three tenths of
the people refuse to patronize the theaters as a mat-
ter of principle. It is true that a clergyman now
and then inveighs against the stage in the old-
fashioned, puritanical way ; but his words, in all
likelihood, fall upon ears that the night before were
listening to the sorrows of " Camille " or were tak-
ing in the laughter -provoking catch-lines of "The
Private Secretary." Indeed, the element of moral
usefulness in the theater is no longer successfully
derided. In 1878 there was established in the city
of New York a theater the avowed purpose of which
was to produce plays of a moral tendency, and to
which religious persons might go. This effort suc-
ceeded. The theater was thronged for several years
by a new class of theater goers. I do not hesitate
to give it as my opinion that one of the most pow-
erful agencies in breaking down the barriers which
intolerance had raised between the better people in
our community and the theater was this effort, so
honorably put forth and so brilliantly carried out by
the gentlemen who established the Madison Square
Theater. Their influence was far-reaching. Their
plays were given in almost every city and town and
hamlet of the United States, and everywhere they
had the same attractiveness ; and thus they increased
to an extent which can hardly be estimated the vol-
ume of theatrical patronage.
It is almost impossible to forecast the future of
the American theater; but we may hope, I think,
that as the past century has witnessed such a marked
increase in its material prosperity, the next century
will be marked by a distinct progress toward higher
forms of art, toward a clearer appreciation of its
mission by its patrons, and toward the creation of a
national drama. Considering the brief history of
the stage in the United States, and the vast future
of this people, what the managers and the literary
artisans are now doing is but the beginning, holding
the promise of great achievements ; the material
greatness of our stage, already greater than that of
any other country, must eventually find a corre-
sponding elevation in its literature, upon which its
prosperity will so largely depend.
t^yflh,.^
CHAPTER XXV
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
NEVER in the history of the world has there
been a time when ideas were so necessary
for progress and success as now. Right
here I want to record the fact that the first journalist
in America had an idea two hundred and five years
ago which would be a very popular feature for any
newspaper to-day. On the 25th of September, 1690,
in Boston, he issued the first number of " Publick
Occurrences, both Foreign and Domestick." In
his salutatory he stated that there were many false
rumors constantly circulated in the town of Boston
which did a great deal of harm. He asked his read-
ers to send him the names of people who started
these stories, and he would print the list in his next
and succeeding issues. Briefly, he proposed to pub-
lish regularly a list of the hars of the town. That
is an idea which I think would certainly sell well to-
day; but alas! the authorities of that day had no
sooner read this announcement than they promptly
suppressed his newspaper. The name of that origi-
nal journalist was Richard Pierce. I now cheer-
fully embalm him in this history. I really believe
that if he were now alive, in his prime, in any lead-
ing city, his contemporaries would find him an ex-
ceedingly lively and original journalist.
The first regular American newspaper was also
bom in Boston, the Boston " News-Letter," which
was started by James Campbell, the postmaster, in
1704, eighty-two years after the first newspaper. ap-
peared in London. The first French journal was
earlier than the first newspaper in England by seven-
teen years. Germany preceded all other countries,
having made several ephemeral attempts at journal-
ism in the last years of the sixteenth century.
Here are what I regard as the stages of American
journalism, and its principal distinction at each
stage :
1. A mere abstract of European newspapers.
2. Employed by the agitators of the Revolution
for printing appeals to the people.
3. The puppet of the politicians in the first years
of fierce party conflict under our new government,
and usually edited by imported adventurers who
had worn out their welcome everywhere else in the
world ; often men of flashing wit, but never men of
sober purpose.
4. The vehicle of an editor's oracular and often
eccentric opinions on politics. The press was now
emancipated from the control of politicians ; it was
free, cotuageous, and influential, but was narrow in
its field, and intolerant. It was not yet a newspaper,
and it still excluded from its interest and support
seven tenths of the people, including all the women
and young people. To them the newspaper of
1815-35 was as forbidding as any political tract is
to-day to women and children.
5. At last the News paper! It gives the news for
the first time ; it has vindicated and illustrated its
name ; it is more educational than ever, though less
dogmatic ; it is freer than ever, because it has become
too vast a concern to be the mere instrument of
any single personality or any single clique, however
powerful ; it has become a property instead of a play-
thing ; it is devoted to the public interest and is more
clearly the representative of the public, because it
is too great to live on the favor of a few, as it once
did ; it is more independent and fairer in politics,
because to attain the first rank it must have the re-
spect of people of all parties. No mere organ of
any party is a leader among the newspapers of any
city to-day. The press is more scrupulous and con-
servative in all respects than ever before, because an
immense capital is always at stake. It is more influ-
ential than ever, not only because it is more widely
read and more varied in its interests, but also because
its opinions carry the weight of business sagacity and
success, as well as intellectual acumen.
Until the time of the Revolution the newspapers
of the country were very small affairs. After we
became an independent nation the politicians and
166
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
167
political parties did much to develop the press on the
lines I have indicated ; but the News paper came with
the advent of the New York " Sun " and " Herald,"
in the early thirties. Still the great development of
the century has been since the early years of our
Civil War. Since then the progress in joiurnalism
has kept pace with the marvelous advance which
has been shown in other lines of life. Indeed, since
that time journalism itself has come to be regarded
as a profession, and is properly considered by many
as the " first " rather than the " fourth estate."
Let us consider cold but interesting statistics.
Perhaps the average reader can get a good idea of
the progress of one hundred years by a statement
of the increase in the number of newspapers during
that period, and the volume of the business which is
annually transacted. There was no census of news-
papers in the earlier years of our government.
Thomas says that in 1800 there were at least 150
pubHcations, and in 1 8 1 o the number had increased
to 360, more than 20 being dailies. The dailies of
that time (1810) were, in New York, the "Gazette,"
" Evening Post," " American Citizen," " Public Ad-
vertiser," " Columbian," " Mercantile Advertiser " ;
in Pennsylvania, the "Daily Advertiser," "True
American," " Gazette of the United States," Phila-
delphia " Gazette," " Aurora," " Political and Com-
mercial Register," " Freeman's Journal," " Demo-
cratic Press," "Evening Star"; in Alexandria, the
" Daily Advertiser " ; in Baltimore, the " Federal
Gazette," " Whig," " Federal Republican," " Even-
ing Post," " American " ; in Charleston, the " City
Gazette," " Times," " Courier " ; in New Orleans, the
" Gazette " and the " Courier." There were then no
dailies published in Boston, Albany, or Cincinnati,
although one had been issued in Boston as early as
1796.
The statistics in 1 8 1 o were :
NUMBER OF NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN 1810.
Number of Newspapers Published in 1810. — Continued.
State or Territory.
New Hampshire . . . .
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Vermont
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
District of Columbia,
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Kentucky
Total.
12
32
7
12
15
67
8
73
3
21
6
23
10
10
13
17
Daily.
Semi-
Weekly.
Tri-
Weekly.
Weekly.
23
6
12
15
52
8
61
3
10
I
16
ID
5
10
17
State or Territory.
Total.
Daily.
Semi-
Weekly.
Tri-
Weekly.
Weekly,
Tennessee
6
14
I
I
4
10
I
2
2
4
6
Ohio
14
I
I
4
2
I
Michigan Territory. . .
Indiana Territory ....
Mississippi
Territory of Orleans .
Territory of Louisiana.
Totals
366
25
36
»s
290
The American " Newspaper Directory " for 1895
gives this table, showing the number and frequency
of issue of newspapers and periodicals published in
the United States :
NUMBER OF NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED IN 1895.
State or Territory. Daily. Weekly. Monthly. Qu'terly. Total.
Alabama . .
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Indian Territory. . .
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire . . .
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina ....
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina ....
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Total
10
20
97
35
43
5
5
15
26
3
141
2
120
68
38
28
17
17
16
79
60
40
12
33
10
13
49
178
18
10
150
12
17
197
14
10
19
15
1
4
34
18
12
54
5
1.956
153
3
33
223
447
209
"^
2b
36
114
237
50
1,060
564
810
595
220
141
108
H5
343
575
439
154
697
71
532
16
83
265
41
1,127
156
"9
783
90
143
921
39
90
227
213
548
61
181
181
141
467
32
16
I
"18
78
25
44
5
19
12
42
I
241
I
80
65
59
28
10
47
38
184
77
56
14,096
119
9
3
I
34
14
I
39
I
530
47
17
I
7
136
14
7
21
I
234
14
II
I
6
14
ii
3
32
I
7
13
44
4
22
I
12
37
2
2,548
182
200
4
43
266
640
276
213
67
146
3"
57
1.532
39
791
979
707
296
173
184
210
657
741
554
177
937
91
614
29
114
370
52
1.993
200
139
1,146
III
189
M33
70
119
264
275
659
65
80
272
225
167
38
19.530
168
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
The total includes 37 tri-weeklies, 301 semi-
weeklies, 5 tri-monthlies, 79 bi-weeklies, 272 semi-
monthlies, 5 semi-quarterlies, 49 bi-monthlies, and
182 quarterlies.
From reliable sources the following list of news-
papers, which were started prior to or during the year
1 800 and which are still in existence, was compiled :
Portland
Maine.
.Advertiser
1785
New Hampshire.
Keene New Hampshire Sentinel 1799
Cheshire Republican 1793
Portsmouth .... New Hampshire Gazette 1756
Journal 1 793
Vermont.
Rutland Herald
Windsor Vermont Journal.
Massachusetts.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier
Haverhill Gazette
Newburyport . . . Herald (weekly)
Northampton .... Hampshire Gazette (weekly)
Pittsfield . .Berkshire County Eagle (weekly).
Sun
Salem .... Gazette and Mercury
Register
Worcester Spy
Newport
Rhode Island.
. Mercury
Connecticut.
Bridgeport Republican Farmer
Hartford Courant
New Haven Connecticut Herald and Journal
Norwalk Gazette
Norwich Courier
New York.
Ballston Spa Journal
Cambridge Washington County Post
Catskill Recorder
Hudson Gazette
Newburg Register
Owego Gazette
Troy Northern Budget
Utica Herald and Gazette
New York City. . .Commercial Advertiser
Shipping and Commercial List and
New York Prices-Current
New Jersey.
Newark Sentinel of Freedom .
New Brunswick . .Times
Trenton State Gazette
Pf.nnsylvania.
Chambersburg . . Franklin Repository
Gettysburg Star and Sentinel
GreensVjurg Westmoreland Democrat
Lancaster. Inteihgencer
Norristown Herald
Philadelphia ... North American
Pittsburg Commercial Gazette
Reading Adler (German)
York Gazette
Delaware.
Wilmington Delaware Gazette and State Journal .
1794
1783
1792
1798
1793
1786
1789
1800
1768
1800
1770
1758
1790
1764
1766
1800
1796
1798
1798
1792
1785
1796
1800
1797
1793
1797
1795
1796
1792
1792
1790
1800
1798
1794
1799
1784
1786
1796
1796
1784
Maryland.
Annapolis Maryland Gazette 1745
Baltimore America 1773
Virginia.
Alexandria Alexandria Gazette 1784
Georgia.
Augusta Chronicle 1785
Ohio.
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette 1793
The total number in 18 10 was 290 ; in 1850, 2526 ;
in 1860,4051; in 1870, 5871; in 1880,11,314; in
1890, 17,616 ; and in this year (1895), 19,530. The
circulation of any one daily newspaper did not, in
either 1795 or 1810, go beyond 900, and that of the
ordinary weekly or semi-weekly did not reach more
than 600. Supposing that there were 13 dailies in
1795, issuing 310 times a year, 18 semi- weeklies
and 7 tri-weeklies, sending out as many copies as a
weekly, and 150 weeklies, the circulation for the
year would be 9,985,400, and the value of the paper
used $62,410. The total number of copies issued of
all kinds of newspapers in 1880 was 2,067,848,209,
which might perhaps have been worth, as white
paper, $12,500,000. North states it at $15,131,-
603.84. The amount received for these papers was
probably not less than $50,000,000. While the cen-
sus attempts to make some estimates, it rarely does
so with entire accuracy. The total receipts in 1880
were stated at $39,136,306 for advertising and
$49,872,768 for subscriptions, making a grand total
of $89,009,074. Thus it will be seen that the adver-
tising brought in 44 per cent, and the subscriptions
56 per cent, of the total receipts.
The amount received from advertising in 1890
was $71,243,361, and from subscriptions and sales
$72,342,087, making a total of $143,585,448. The
advertising forms 49.62 per cent, and the subscrip-
tions and sales 50.38 per cent, of this amount. The
gain in advertising between 1880 and i8go was about
82 per cent., and if, in the five years since then, the
ratio has been maintained, which I see no reason to
doubt, the advertising for this year will amount to
$100,000,000. The increase in the sales and sub-
scriptions was about 43 per cent, in ten years, and if
the same ratio has been maintained during the last
five, the receipts this year from that source will be
about $90,000,000. The steady gain of the adver-
tising is noteworthy, as the per cent, this year is
likely to be 52.63, and 47.37 from circulation.
Of the total quantity of paper consumed in print-
ing newspapers and periodicals, according to the
census of 1890, 59.08 per cent, was used on the
Charles H. Taylor.
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
160
dailies; 30.79 per cent, on the weeklies, semi-week-
lies, and tri-weeklies ; and 10.13 per cent, on the
monthlies, quarterlies, and all others. The aggre-
gate number of copies of papers printed during the
census year of 1890 for all classes of newspapers and
periodicals was 4,681,113,530, distributed as fol-
lows: dailies, 2,782,282,406, or 59.44 per cent.;
weeklies, 1,492,460,587, or 31.88 per cent.; semi-
weeklies, 57,637,353, or 1.23 per cent. ; tri-weekhes,
7,634,350, or 0.16 per cent.; monthlies, 232,617,-
133, or 4.97 per cent.; quarterhes, 32,479,100, or
0.70 per cent.; all others, 76,002,601, or 1.62 per
cent, of the aggregate.
The patent insides, or papers printed partly in
some considerable city and partly in the town of
publication, played an important part in establishing
the country weekly press, which has been the kinder-
garten of the American newspaper public. Now the
stereotype-plate firms, which are making daily news-
papers possible in every town of 7000 or 8000 in-
habitants, instead of competing with the newspapers
of the larger cities, are really helping them, because,
while they satisfy the demand for local news, they
stimulate a desire for general news, which only the
big newspapers can satisfy.
When Max Maretzek was once asked if there
was any money in Italian opera, he said he knew
there was because he himself had sunk $300,000 in
it. Still money is made in opera, as in journalism.
Many millions have been made in American news-
papers, and many have been sunk. In New York,
for instance, in 1840 there were 18 daily newspapers,
with an aggregate circulation of 60,000. Since that
time no have been started. To-day there are 29
or 30 daily papers, each having a circulation fifteen
or twenty times greater than was enjoyed in 1840.
The late Erastus Brooks once told my friend, William
B. Somerville, of the Western Union Telegraph Com-
pany, that during his lifetime he had seen 67 daily
newspapers born and die in the city of New York
alone.
In Boston in 1846 there were 14 daily newspapers.
Now there are 10, and yet the average circulation
of the latter must be fifteen or twenty times greater
than that of their predecessors of 1846. During the
last twenty years I have seen more than $2,000,000
sunk in old and new daily papers in Boston.
Perhaps I may here properly consider the value of
a newspaper property. We do not seem to have any
fixed standard in this country. In England a news-
paper property is supposed to be worth the aggregate
of its net income for five years. So much depends
upon the personality and ability of the head of a
newspaper that this is considered a fair valuation.
In this country very poor properties have brought
very high prices, and very good properties have fre-
quently sold for low ones. The New York " Sun "
was sold as early as 1849 for $250,000. During the
management of Mr. Charles A. Dana ten times that
sum has been refused for it. At both periods there
were profits to warrant a good price. Mr. Joseph
PuHtzer, on the contrary, in 1883 paid $350,000
for an " opportunity " when he bought the New
York "World." The paper had lost from $50,000
to $100,000 a year for a great many years before
he bought it. The price paid at the time was ridicu-
lously high, as by the sale Jay Gould simply un-
loaded a liability. But it was the merest trifle when
one considers the possibilities which Mr. Joseph Pul-
itzer has developed in this paper, and the fact that
he has made it one of the greatest and most profitable
newspaper properties in the world.
The improvement in the methods for the quick
transmission of news has, of course, been one of the
most important factors in the progress of journalism,
and the great growth here has been since our Civil
War. Before the days of the telegraph there were
three quick methods :
1. Pony expresses, with frequent relays of fast
horses.
2. Carrier-pigeons were used almost exclusively in
getting European news to Boston and New York
from the steamship at Halifax, after the Cunard
Line began its trips, that being the nearest port to
Europe.
3. Special engines were often employed in the
early days of railroading.
In addition to these, steamboats were used, par-
ticularly between New England ports and New York,
and Albany and New York.
Henry J. Raymond, when a reporter for the
"Tribune," brought printers and type-cases with
him when coming to Boston to report a notable
speech by Webster, and returned by boat. In a
vacant room frames were set up, the cases upon
them, and then as fast as he could write a sheet it
would be put in type ; thus it was ready for instant
publication on arrival in New York. The New York
" Journal of Commerce " and the " Herald " intro-
duced the scheme of owning a swift-sailing yacht
with which to meet European vessels and get news
of the Old World.
One of the conspicuous enterprises of the cen-
tury was the overland express from New Orleans to
Baltimore which was established by Mr. A. S. Abell,
of the Baltimore " Sun." It comprised sixty blooded
170
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
horses. During the Mexican War he not only led
all other newspapers, but beat the government mails
by thirty hours. The government received its war
news from the " Sun " many hours ahead of its own
despatches.
In 1846, when the country was in a great war ex-
citement over the question of the Oregon boundary
line between Great Britain and the United States,
and the cry was " 54 40 or fight," there was a com-
bination of newspapers which sent a swift pilot-boat
to England. Obtaining its news, then highly impor-
tant, it hastened back. The cost was great, but not
greater than the popular approval won by this early
instance of newspaper enterprise. In the decade of
the first general extension of the railway and the in-
vention of the telegraph, which was between 1840
and 1850, American newspaper circulation increased
more than twofold, New York printing and selling
more papers than London. The newspapers were
the first to seize upon the telegraph in 1844, 1845,
and 1846, and they so crowded one another on the
few wires then strung that by 1850 they were forced
into press associations. These press associations
would gather all the news along the lines of tele-
graph, some one at the end of the lines reading
the newspapers from farther back in the country.
From these the important news was clipped and
sent with the rest. So it was with the cable, when
finally established in the latter sixties. The Boston
"News-Letter" in 17 19 flattered itself because,
whereas general European news had been a year
late in its publication here, it had reduced the delay
to five months. The Franco-Prussian War in 1870
was lavishly reported by cable by special war cor-
respondents sent from the United States, and was
the first important cable news. W. W. Story, of
the Chicago "Times," while cable rates were yet
high, caused 8000 words of the New Testament, at
the time of its revision in England, to be cabled to
him ; and when the New Version reached New York
on the steamer, he had it telegraphed to him in its
entirety over twenty-one wires.
The extension of the telegraph lines, the increase
in this business, and the lowering of the rates which
has taken place within a few years, and the introduc-
tion of special wires, have made it possible for news-
papers to get an almost unlimited news service. The
New York Associated Press was formed in 1849, but
it made very little use of the telegraph until 1861,
partly because the public had not been accustomed
to it, and partly because the rates were so high.
Even as late as 1879 the night rate between San
Francisco and Boston was ten cents a word, between
Chicago and Boston five cents a word, and between
Washington and Boston two cents a word. Now
the rate between San Francisco and Boston is one
and three quarter cents a word, between Chicago
and Boston one half a cent a word, and between
Washington and Boston one third a cent a word.
The rates have actually been reduced sixty-six per
cent. The average rate paid by press associations is
about fourteen cents for 1 00 words, regardless of the
number of papers to which the matter is delivered.
In 1879 the Western Union Telegraph Company^
handled 28,000,000 words of specials, at an average
rate of one and one half cents a word. Last year the
same line handled 212,000,000 words, at an aver-
age rate of one half a cent a word. Mr. Somerville
estimates that last year between 1,500,000,000 and
1,600,000,000 words were handled over the Western
Union lines for the newspapers, and by the leased
wires of the press associations. This year it will
probably be very much larger. The Postal Telegraph
Company handled about 82,250,000 words for the
press during the year ending July 31, 1895. This
does not include leased wires.
In July, 1866, the cable rates were $100 for twenty
words to newspapers and the public. The rate ta
newspapers now is ten cents a word for day or
night service. The New York Associated Press,
which was established in 1849, — inuch of its eflft-
ciency being due to Mr. James Gordon Bennett, —
was followed by other associations. Various changes
have been made from time to time, but the official
list now embraces the United Press, the Associated
Press, the New England Associated Press, the Maine
Associated Press, the New York State Associated
Press, the Southern Associated Press, the Trans-
Mississippi Associated Press, and the Union Asso-
ciated Press.
But promptness in gathering news would count
for little indeed if not coupled with equal prompt-
ness in its distribution. Fortunately the facihties
for rapid and wide-spread circulation of newspapers
have grown with the growing facilities for getting a
paper together. It is hardly more than thirty years
ago since the Boston publishers, at least, depended
upon boys or at most a wheelbarrow to carry their
papers to the railway stations and outlying news-
stands. But now a well-equipped and prosperous
newspaper must have the use of dozens of delivery
wagons. Moreover, where twenty-five years ago
there was one train leaving any of our great centers
of population, there now are a dozen trains to speed
each edition of the newspaper hot from the press to
the remotest hamlet of the contributary territory. But
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
171
€ven yet there are not trains enough, and the more
prosperous newspapers find it necessary to charter
specials of their own on Sundays and on days fol-
lowing important elections. One special newspaper
train in New England, for example, makes a run of
303 miles every Sunday morning during the summer
months.
The improvement in presses has, of course, had
much to do with the progress of newspapers. The
old idea that any shabby, insignificant, dirty building
would do for a newspaper has been exploded, fortu-
nately for the employees and the newspaper makers.
A newspaper building should serve two purposes : it
should be a credit to the city in which it is located,
and it should also be large enough, as a factory, to
produce an unlimited number of papers with due re-
gard to the health and comfort of the employees.
See how we have progressed in presses. The old
flat press of the colonial period, worked by a screw,
•could print 50 papers an hour. The compound-lever
press came next, with a capacity of 250 an hour. The
revolving-cylinder press in 18 14 brought the capa-
city up to 1 000 an hour. The London " Times " first
•achieved this " velocity." But in 1827 the " Times "
had a double-cylinder press that printed 2000 an
hour. In 1835 all American newspaper presses were
worked by hand, and popular papers actually could
not meet the daily demand upon them. Hoe's
lightning steam-press, patented in 1847, was the first
fast press obtained in the United States. It was
made at first with four, but finally with six, eight, and
•even ten cylinders, the capacity of the latter being
30,000 an hour, printed on a single side. In 1865
the Bullock perfecting press was made in Philadel-
phia. This press made it possible to print a paper
from plates, both sides at once, at the rate of from
6000 to 10,000 an hour. In 1871 R. Hoe & Com-
pany completed a perfecting press which printed
from 1 0,000 to 12,000 eight-page papers an hour.
Then followed the double press, the quadruple press,
and now the sextuple, with a working capacity of
from 60,000 to 75,000 eight-page papers an hour,
•and with attachments by which from four to forty-
eight pages may be printed. An octuple press is
now building. It will have the capacity of eight
single presses and will print from four to sixty-four
pages. Within a few years color-presses have been
made by R. Hoe & Company, and there is also the
Scott press for rapid color-work. The Hoe press
will print from 16,000 to 20,000 four-page papers
an hour, producing several colors at once. In 1861
the New York " Tribune " began stereotyping. Up
to that time a paper with a large circulation had to
go to press earlier than its lesser rivals, and thus was
at a great disadvantage in news.
Type-setting machines have at last come into gen-
eral use among all the leading papers of the country.
On these an expert operator can do the work of at
least three men, as compared with hand-work. Some
type-setting machines give a new cast of type each
day, and all permit a large increase of product at a
reduced cost. The machine most in use in the lead-
ing daily papers of the country is the Mergenthaler
linotype, while the Thome machine is used among
a great many of the smaller newspapers and in book
offices.
I have referred to the color-press, for now there
are newspaper offices actually equipped for printing
every hue of the rainbow. Yet excluding one tran-
sient illustrated daily in the late seventies, I am sure
it cannot be fifteen years since any newspaper at-
tempted regularly to illustrate its news even in sim-
ple black and white. Although the most ancient
journals printed what are called " stock cuts " in
their advertising columns, the process of cut making
was not adapted to the swiftness required by the
daily press until a time much more recent than we
can realize when we look at the profusely and often
admirably illustrated newspapers of to-day. Only
twelve or thirteen years ago the woodcut was the
only possible illustration, and since two and three
days were required to make such a cut, its unavail-
ability for newspaper uses is obvious. But with
present methods, still in a comparatively undevel-
oped state, midnight happenings are often pictured
in the regular morning editions of our papers.
No great progress was made in Sunday news-
papers until the time of the Civil War. This natu-
rally suggests a brief discussion concerning the size of
newspapers. It is the size of the Sunday newspaper
that is most extensively criticized, but this criticism
is beginning to be appHed to the large daily papers
as well. The large newspaper is the only bargain
of which people complain that they are getting too
much for their money. It was only twenty years ago
that the then leading Sunday newspaper of Boston
increased its size from four to eight pages. On
the day following many very intelligent and eminent
citizens called at the office to express their indigna-
tion, and to insist that the paper was much too large,
and, in fact, larger than the people would stand. The
criticism has increased steadily with the growth of
the papers. In my opinion this is as absurd as it is
unjust. Equally idiotic is the carping against what
are called the large blanket sheets. People sigh for
the small compact newspaper of the olden times. If
172
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the publishers should give them a sample of that
kind of newspaper for a week there would probably
be indignation meetings in every city, and a falling
off in circulation which would bankrupt most of the
newspapers. The newspaper, and especially the Sun-
day issue, covers so much ground to-day that people
who have not carefully analyzed the situation have
no conception whatever of the necessity for the en-
largement which is coming year by year with the
natural growth of American journalism.
While I was preparing this article the great inter-
national yacht-race for the America's cup was in pro-
gress in New York. Every live newspaper in the
country was giving it pages each day, with illustra-
tions. The accounts were so accurate and faithful,
and the illustrations so correct, that a person who
could not attend the race (and this was only possi-
ble for a small fraction of the people) could follow it
from day to day as well as an actual spectator of the
contest. I had a curiosity to inquire how much space
the American press gave to the race in which the
yacht America first won this cup. The race occurred
Augixst 2 2, 1 85 1. The first news printed in Amer-
ica was in telegrams from Halifax in the issues of
September 4th, in the Boston and New York papers,
thirteen days after the race. The New York " Sun "
had 500 words about the race tacked on the end of
three quarters of a column about the markets and the
harvests and miscellaneous European news. On Sep-
tember 6th the " Sun " had 500 words copied from
the London papers. The " Tribune " of September
4th had a list of the passengers on the steamer which
arrived at Halifax, the summaries of the market,
labor notes, etc., followed by 250 words about the
contest, there being only eight lines devoted to the
actual description of the race. On September 15th
the "Tribune " gave a column about the race, clipped
from the London " Times." On September 6th the
New York " Herald " published three quarters of a
column from the London " Times." The " Evening
Post " of September 4th had 200 words about the
race at the end of a European despatch of a column.
On September 12th the "Post" gave about 500
words descriptive of the race from its correspondent
at Cowes.
In Boston the descriptions were even more meager.
On September 4th the " Journal " printed one and
one half inches about the race. The " Herald " had
half an inch on its second page, without a heading.
The " Post " had two and three quarter inches on
its second page, among other foreign news, with no
mention of the race in the heading. The " Adver-
tiser " had two despatches, one on the first page, at
the bottom of the cotton market, half an inch in
length, while on its second page it had three inches,
or more in a general despatch beginning, " The news
from Europe is of little importance," The next
day, when the English mail had arrived in the office^
the " Advertiser " gave two thirds of a column, the
" Journal " two inches, and the " Herald " three
and one half inches. This gives one a good idea of
the small compact paper of the old days, for which
some people pretend to sigh. How would it answer
to-day ?
When Brooks assaulted Sumner, in 1854, 1 believe
the longest despatch in any Boston paper on this,
startling and historic episode was less than half a
column, that being printed at the bottom of the
page.
Even as late as i860, when Lincoln was nomi-
nated for the presidency at Chicago, one operator
at the Wigwam sent out all the press matter that
was offered to him in regard to it. In 1892, at the
convention in Chicago which nominated Mr. Cleve-
land, the Western Union line had 100 operators at
the convention hall, and in addition had a pony
express to carry matter to the main office. It also-
sent from Chicago to newspapers throughout the
country, during the days just previous to the conven-
tion, about 17,000,000 words of press matter. This-
was in addition to what the press associations sent
over numerous leased wires, and the work of the
Postal Telegraph Company. Did any one complain
that the convention was over-reported? And what
would have been done in newspaper offices with small
newspapers when a proper share of this avalanche
of news was received?
I cite these few examples ; I might give hundreds.
Do the people who criticize the size of newspapers-
realize what it means when they are told that the
possible few hundred thousand dollars received in
1 8 1 o for advertising will amount this year to nearly
$100,000,000 ? Where are you going to put all
this advertising in small compact newspapers ? If
a Sunday newspaper has from eight to twenty pages-
of advertising to start with, how in the world are you
going to have a small compact newspaper ? These
pages of advertising are fully as interesting to many
thousands of readers as the news and miscellaneous-
columns are. The fact is that the newspapers have
simply kept pace with the development of the coun-
try. Whatever the critics may think or say, the peo-
ple have indorsed this form of progress by buying
their newspapers in constantly increasing numbers.
The events that are covered now are numberless.
I have not the room to enumerate them. Further-
AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS
173
more, the newspaper has the best talent among the
story writers of the world, and among professional
men of all kinds, and gives an immense mass of most
entertaining, interesting, and instructive reading in
addition to the news.
On the enterprise in giving news I need not dwell.
Shall we go back to the old days when a Boston re-
porter told his editor that Daniel Webster was going
to make an important speech in a town near by, and
asked if the paper had better send a man out to re-
port it ? The editor said he thought not, because
somebody would send in something about it within
a few days.
The realm of journalism is enlarging so constantly
that even the most enterprising and active men in it
can hardly comprehend its limits or possibilities. If
any thinker in any part of the world has a new idea
of importance, is not his greatest aim first to reach
the people through the universal press ? A news-
paper on Sunday, or even daily, is not meant to be
devoiured as a whole by each reader, any more than
the guest at a hotel is expected to eat every dish on
the bill of fare. Men, women, and children find a
list of contents, and select to read that which inter-
ests them the most. That their wants are met with
intelligence and success is best shown by the fact
that millions more newspapers are circulated in every
year of our history.
After all, a jury decides most questions out of the
court as well as in it. The American people form
the jury which every newspaper and every business
man has to meet. It may be claimed that papers
print much matter which is useless and worthless.
Any newspaper which does this very soon finds itself
left behind in the race, and the people decide what
they want and will have. A man who likes a com-
mon-sense shoe for comfort frequently wonders why
the manufacturer should put a pointed toe shoe on
the market. As soon as he sees millions of them
worn in the streets the wonder ceases. Newspapers
simply meet the demand of the age in size and in
quality. I think that every person in this country
can certainly make up his mind that newspapers will
steadily grow larger instead of smaller. When the
limit will be reached no man knows.
The controllers of newspapers are frequently criti-
cized for what they print, and for the damage that
they do in the community. Journalists have a much
greater responsibility than other professional or busi-
ness men. I fully believe that they appreciate it.
They reach their ideal as nearly as they can. I be-
lieve firmly that the journalists of this country are
just as loyal and patriotic citizens, just as true men,
just as anxious to build up their communities, just
as eager to uplift and broaden and improve the peo-
ple, just as anxious to carry sunshine rather than sor-
row and grief into the families which they visit, as
are the same number of men in any other profes-
sion or any other line of business in these United
States.
*-©aa6.36, J
Ltu^tjir
CHAPTER XXVI
THE AMERICAN TRADE AND TECHNICAL PRESS
ONE of the most surprising of recent develop-
ments of the press in America is the growth
of trade and technical publications, which
now far surpass in number and value those of any
other country. Every line of trade, every science,
every art, has its organs, in many cases wielding a
large influence among the most enterprising and
active classes of the community, and enjoying a
degree of respect and prosperity commensurate with
the importance of the interests which they represent.
This great development which has taken place,
not within the century under review in this book,
but more properly within the life of even the younger
men of this generation, is one of the natural conse-
quences that have followed the enormous extension
that has taken place in almost every branch of pro-
duction and industry, coupled with the division of
labor, and the specialization which is characteris-
tic of all the industrial arts and sciences.
The general newspaper keeps the pubHc informed
of the happenings in every country in the world,
bringing men into one great community. So the
technical press brings all professional and scientific
men, as it were, together in one vast university,
where the results of the thought, investigation, and
experiment of all are made available for the common
good. This is one principal reason why science
and the industrial arts are advancing at a rate never
before seen. The suggestion of a theory sets
thousands of minds in distant countries and different
environments instantly at work, and the theory is
soon either established or overthrown. An inven-
tion or discovery which is destined to modify, per-
haps revolutionize, a great industry, would probably
have little interest to the general public, and the or-
dinary newspapers would be unwilling, even if they
were competent, to treat it intelligently and fully.
The technical press, however, brings it to the atten-
tion of those interested, and is glad to devote the
necessary space to its discussion and illustration.
Every great trade has its organs which gather
from the principal markets at home and abroad all
that can throw light on its present and forecast its
future condition, usually giving extensive tables of
quotations which are inaccessible to the trade in any
other way. They inform their readers of the bear-
ing upon the trade of improvements in processes of
manufacture that may cheapen production; they
describe and illustrate the changes in style that play
so large a part in many lines; they discuss public
questions bearing on their trade with a knowledge
of details and a grasp of the subject to be found
nowhere else; they chronicle in many cases the
gossip of the trade, and all strive to make each
issue a compendium of everything of interest re-
lating to the line with which they are concerned.
The editorial standard of the best technical and.
trade papers is very high. Their readers are ex-
perts in the topics of which they treat. They must,
therefore, be edited by experts, and their contribu-
tions are often written by the ablest men in the
business. Their readers will rebel against any in-
accuracy of statement ; and errors of judgment are
not forgotten. A mistake in a quotation may entail
loss on very many people, and will not be pardoned.
The best trade papers employ a large corps of re-
porters who must be skilful and enterprising to as-
certain the tendencies of the market before they have
become apparent. They have, very generally, con-
fidential relations with the leading minds of the
trade. They must, above all, avoid being the dupes
of interested persons. When a paper has established
a reputation for a broad-minded, accurate knowledge
of its trade, its influence is very great, and the lead-
ing dailies will quote it as the highest authority
when discussing the subjects of which it treats and
of which, in the nature of things, they cannot have
so intimate a knowledge. Even when they do not
quote it, they usually derive their information in
large part from it. It will be studied in the com-
174
THE AMERICAN TRADE AND TECHNICAL PRESS
175
mittee rooms of Congress, and statesmen will form
their opinions from its information, and fortify their
arguments by quotations from its pages.
As a medium for advertising, the trade and tech-
nical press occupies a unique position. The adver-
tiser can select the publication which goes to the class
he desires to reach, whether in Maine or California,
and he knows that each issue will be carefully con-
sulted and read, the advertisements not being neg-
lected, for its readers use it for business purposes,
and are as eager to buy the best, the newest, and
the cheapest, as he is to sell. As a result the lead-
ing journals of this class have always a large line of
advertising, and it is, I believe, more generally profit-
able to the advertiser, if he use care and judgment,
than that addressed to the general public in the
ordinary newspapers.
The two fields, however, do not conflict. To
reach the public it is necessary to use the publications
they read; to reach a particular class, the special
journal. But the advertiser must be sure the publi-
cations he spends his money in can really render
him the service he pays for. The majority of the
candidates for his business will, upon examination,
prove to be but little worthy of it. If from the total
were deducted those which are unsuccessful efforts
to compete with the leading journals, and those
which can only be properly characterized as traps,
designed in fraud, to catch his advertising, the num-
ber would be very much reduced. If he has no
sufficient knowledge himself of the field he desires
to reach, his only safety lies in investigation and
consultation with those who are in a position to in-
form him. " Claims " must go for nothing. I know
of one weekly publication which enjoyed a large ad-
vertising business for years, and was very profitable,
under a claim of 15,000 circulation, when they never
had as many as 250 subscribers.
The growth of the American trade and techni-
cal press has been largely coincident with that of the
trade and industry of the country. The early news-
papers of America were devoted entirely to politics,
war, and foreign news. The editors of that day did
not know how to pick up the interesting news which
was at their doors. Rarely was anything published
in a commercial way, and only three or four times a
year was the market price of country produce given.
In the "New York Gazette" of March 4, 1739,
there were quotations of flour, rum, wheat, corn,
molasses, tea, and sugar, and it stated that cotton,
wool, turpentine, and indigo were not in the market.
Other newspapers gave brief reports occasionally in
the same way. They rarely extended to twenty
lines. This continued to be the- rule up to the end
of the Revolutionary War, and for some years after,
although a larger tabulated market list, sometimes
one or two columns in length, was given toward
the end of this period by some daily journals.
Among others which did this was the " New York
Diary," published by Samuel Loudon, and the
" United States Gazette," pubHshed in Philadelphia
by Enos Bronson.
The desire to have this information in detail, and
to have it every week, was the occasion of the found-
ing of the " Shipping List " and of the " Price Cur-
rent," at the beginning two distinct publications.
These were afterward consolidated in the " Shipping
and Commercial List and New York Price Cur-
rent," the oldest commercial paper in America, and
of which this volume celebrates the centenary.
They were not absolutely the first in date, but were
preceded by others of the same kind. Frederic
Hudson, in his comprehensive book entitled " Jour-
nalism in America," states that the " Boston Prices-
Current and Marine Intelligencer, Commercial and
Mercantile," the publication of which was begun on
the 5th of September, 1795, was the first regular and
legitimate commercial paper issued in this country.
It preceded the " New York Price Current," begun
on December 21, 1795, a little over three months.
It did not, however, continue as a commercial paper
later than 1798, when it embraced politics, and a
year or two afterward changed its name. Each
of these journals was small, and required little time
on the part of the printer, who was still the only
editor. Several other price-lists of this kind were
begun in early years and were maintained for a long
time; two are still existing — one in Philadelphia
and one in New York.
Meager and insufficient as they were, they sup-
plied the needs of the public until the advent of the
" Journal of Commerce," in 1827. This newspaper,
although reasonably well conducted, was not suc-
cessful until two new men — Hale and Hallock —
took it. The latter was the editor, and Hale was
the manager. It speedily became more utilitarian,
paying great attention to all that could interest com-
mercial men, and its markets were well reported.
It was as good as could be expected until New
York grew greater, until something of modem meth-
ods was known in journalism, and until improve-
ments in machinery rendered possible the produc-
tion of a newspaper easily and at a moderate cost.
David M. Stone began reporting the money mar-
ket about forty-five years ago. His previous expe-
rience on newspapers had been small, and he was
176
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
chiefly known as a writer of poems and light
sketches. When he began his reporting of Wall
street, he did it at much greater length than his pre-
decessors and rivals had ever attempted, and it was
followed up with extreme thoroughness. Little had
been given relating to the stock market as far back
as 1830 ; the first newspaper which made a specialty
of this line being the " New York Herald," at its
beginning in 1833. The " Boston Post " shared
with the *' Journal of Commerce " and the " Her-
ald " in the thoroughness of its ship news. The
" Philadelphia North American " and the " Balti-
more American" devoted much attention to these
topics. Many general commercial weeklies have
since been begun, covering every field.
Something more, however, was needed than this.
However good a general journal may be, it can only
cover the whole field incompletely. The last busi-
ness directory of New York gives nearly three thou-
sand occupations sufficiently large to be carried
on in trade or manufactures in an office or shop
apart from other business. It might be thought by
a superficial observer that these callings could be
classed together, and that they might be grouped
somewhat as they are in the census, under manu-
facturing, commerce, etc. But the commerce in
naval stores, for instance, is entirely different from
that in dry-goods; and the manufacture of shoes
bears no analogy to that of Bessemer steel. The
maker or dealer desires chiefly to know what is go-
ing on in his own calling ; what others are doing in
it ; what new things are coming out ; what competi-
tion he is likely to meet ; what the prices are for the
goods he handles, and what the price of the raw
material he needs may be, together with general
news of the commercial world. This he requires to
be given with fullness and particularity. No weekly
or daily can be so planned that it can include this
special information among other topics, for the jour-
nal would be too large for convenience, and the
subscriber would care nothing about the remainder
of its contents.
It was not until 1830 that any newspaper was be-
gun bearing exclusively upon one commercial subject.
It was the " American Railway Journal " of New
York. A few others appeared and disappeared
in the interval which succeeded before the first
specialty commercial journal which still exists was
founded in 1846. Conditions were not favorable,
and it was only after long struggles that what is now
the " Dry-Goods Economist " was at last on firm
ground. The previous journals were weak and in-
efficient, and of no particular use either to him who
sought for abstract information, or to him who de-
sired to increase his sales or purchase his goods
more cheaply. This periodical began in the
largest trade — one which now in its subdivisions
prints many journals ; but it then had difficulty in
making both ends meet, or in attracting the atten-
tion of either buyers or sellers. The next impor-
tant journals were those in the hardware trade and
in leather, now known as the " Shoe and Leather
Reporter" and "The Iron Age." After some
years of struggle their position was secure, and their
value was perceived, not only by those in the same
occupation, but by those in other caUings, and similar
journals soon began to multiply.
The philosophy of such a journal is that it masses
together the information of the day in a way to ren-
der it pecuniarily profitable to the reader, if in the
trade. It is of importance that the merchant or
manufacturer should know the cost of his raw com-
modities, and the fluctuations in the value of all
that enters into them. The price of coal affects the
woolen manufacturer, for he must buy large quanti-
ties of it. A war in the East Indies between Hol-
land and England affects the canned-goods manu-
facturer, for it sends up the price of tin ; and a series
of earthquakes in Sicily enhances the price of many
chemicals, for it makes sulphur more difficult to ob-
tain. Trade at the present day is carried on with
more accurate knowledge of the sources of supply,
the quantity which may be expected, the prices at
which an article is selling, the cost of transporta-
tion, and the probable amount of competition which
will be met, than it was half a century since.
Every source of competition and supply must be
watched by the commercial man of to-day, if he is
to be more than a mere retailer, and the knowledge
is most surely and amply obtained through a trade
journal. How else can he know what is going on?
Suppose the French government publishes a book
on the diseases of grapes, all information being gath-
ered by experts. Will the grower in America know
of this unless his trade journal tells him of it ? It is
in French, and he cannot read it even if he hears
of it ; but his journal gives a summary of its facts
and shows its conclusions. This may be worth
many thousands of dollars to him ; but he could have
no knowledge of such facts without a newspaper.
Much of the advancement of American science
is owing to the technical press. What the ancients
knew upon any subject has to a great extent been
lost to us because their writers had no means of
supplementing or aiding each other. A discovery
in history, art, or science was made, but was not
David Williams.
THE AMERICAN TRADE AND TECHNICAL PRESS
177
specifically recorded in some book. There was no
method of giving bare announcements, of com-
municating interesting facts to those engaged in
the same studies, or of preserving trifles. This con-
tinued to be the case to a less extent long after the
discovery of printing, although there was, then, of
course, an opportunity of publishing a pamphlet,
and there were universities in which many branches
were taught. Such was the only course open to
Americans until the advent, in 1818, of Professor
Silliman's periodical, the " American Journal of
Science," in New Haven, and the " Journal of
the Franklin Institute," in Philadelphia, in 1825.
Soon medical journals sprang up in Boston, New
York, and Philadelphia, and are now to be found
everywhere. A little later druggists' journals were
begun. In law, a periodical was founded in New
York eighty years ago, but legal journals were not
common until nearly half a century later. The
"Scientific American" was founded in 1847. Since
1840 some scientific or semi-scientific journals have
been begun each year, and various professional
journals, which have had no relation to science,
have also been originated.
No means exists for finding out the exact posi-
tion of the trade and technical press in i860 or
1865, for no newspaper directory was then pub-
lished. It may be estimated, however, that there
were in i860 about twenty trade papers and fifty
other technical papers. In 1872 there were in the
United States 124 trade papers and 132 other tech-
nical papers in forty-one different lines. Among these
are not included reUgious, agricultural, educational,
or sporting journals, although these are also class
journals of a certain kind.
The rate of multiplication has not ceased since,
the total number of technical journals now being
over seven hundred, and of trade papers over a
thousand. The wide field they cover will be seen
by the following Hst of subjects :
ArchitecturCj anthropology, astronomy, the army
and navy, agents, art trade, advertising, banks,
botany, brewing, building, building and loan asso-
ciations, butchering, brickmaking, books, book-
binding, bookkeeping, blacksmithing, carpentry,
carriages, carpets, cabinetmaking, clocks and
watches, chemistry, collecting (objects of art or
science), commerce and finance, china decorating,
clothing, coal, catering, confectionery, crockery,
cemetery management, cooperage, cordage, crops.
corporation reports, credits, custom house news,
drugs, dry-goods, dentistry, the deaf, dumb, and
blind, electrotyping, engineering, exporting, express
business, elevator and grain trade, entomology,
economics, electricity, furniture, fruit, fire protec-
tion, fish, fancy goods and notions, furnishing
goods, fashions, gas, groceries, glassware, geology,
hardware, hops, hosiery, hotel keeping, hairdress-
ing, history, hats and caps, iron and steel, insurance,
ice trade, jewelry, law, ladies' wear, lumber, leather,
lithography, laundrying, manufactures, mathemat-
ics, mechanics, mental philosophy, machinery,
microscopy, mining, mineralogy, metals, milling,
music, nature, nursing, numismatics, newspapers,
optics, oology, ornithology, produce, printing, pa-
per, plumbing, provisions, patents, postal matters,
paints, power, photography, philately, philology,
psychology, popular science, railroads, real estate,
storekeeping, stationery, street-railways, soap mak-
ing, sugar manufacturing, slate trade, spirits, science,
saving-banks, shoes, shipping, social science, sanita-
tion, statistics, stocks, tanning, trade-marks, tobacco,
tailoring, textile manufacturing, upholstering, un-
dertaking, weaving, woodenware, wine, wall paper,
weather, and whaling.
Every important field has several publications.
For example, there are thirty-seven now in gro-
ceries, although the first was not begun until 1869;
and there are probably fifty in printing, although
no printers' journal appeared before 1855.
It is too soon to tell what the future of the trade
and technical press will be, but it is apparent to
those who are most conversant with its history, and
who have devoted the largest study to its details,
that the development of the past will be continued
in the future. Every group of thinkers, every line
of trade, every one interested in certain kinds of
knowledge, will require better means of commu-
nication, a more thorough analysis of facts, and
more certain methods of chronicling the occur-
rences of the day. Many new lines will doubtless
be represented in the press, while it is not unlikely
that the increasing demands of both readers and
advertisers will drive out of the field many of the
weak and questionable publications which are now
parading under the banner of the trade and techni-
cal press. The pace will be a hard one, and only
those can keep it up whose business is based on a
substantial foundation and managed with unflag-
ging energy, intelligence, and enterprise.
J^^^y^2.£<,.4Z^C'^^<^i.^C^
.^.(^A^..^^^
Q^'QgpQ^'Q^*'^^^
CHAPTER XXVII
AMERICAN MINES
A CENTURY seems but a brief period in the
history of an industry in this old world of
,^ ours, and though mining, next to agricul-
ture, has been an occupation from the earliest times,
when Tubal-cain was " an instructor of every artifi-
cer in brass and iron," nevertheless, when we con-
sider mining as an " industry," in the modern accep-
tation of the term, a few hundred years reach far
back toward its commencement, even in the older
countries. But a single century ago an American
mining industry had not been born, though gold
was then produced in this country in an irregular
and unsystematic manner, and bituminous coal,
which had been known to exist in Illinois as early
as 1670, and in Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Penn-
sylvania certainly as early as 1770, or a century
later, and anthracite, which had been discovered in
Pennsylvania in 1768, were mined, though in very
small quantities, for the use of blacksmiths, at various
points throughout the country.
The American mining industry may be said to
have commenced about three quarters of a century
ago (1820), when Virginia was producing nearly
50,000 tons of bituminous coal a year, and all the
rest of the country perhaps 15,000 tons more, and
when the output of anthracite in Pennsylvania
amounted to 1965 tons, of which 365 tons were
shipped that year down the Lehigh River to Phila-
delphia, a shipment which is generally assumed to
have been the commencement of the anthracite trade.
From this modest and recent beginning the Ameri-
can mining industry has advanced with a marvelous
rapidity, until in 1894, a year of unprecedentedly low
prices, its products in their first marketable form had
a value of $553,356,499, a sum which, though less
by ten per cent, than the value of a smaller output
the previous year, was still much greater than the
value of the mineral production of any other coun-
try in the world.
This marvelous growth of the industry, and the
fact that nearly every mineral and metal is now
produced in this country at a cost as low, and in
most cases lower than in any European country,
while the wages of the workmen who produce them
here are far higher than in any other country, must
be recognized as demonstrations of skill, knowledge,
and enterprise without equal in any other part or
age of the world. It is natural, therefore, that the
eyes of the whole industrial world should be turned
toward the American mining industry for instruc-
tion in the arts that have produced these standing
miracles.
TABLE OF PRODUCTS, BY DECADES.
Year.
Coal.
Met. Tons.
Pig-Iron.
Gross Tons.
Lead.
Gro.ss Tons.
Copper.
Gross Tons.
Quicksilver.
Flasks OF 76^^
Lbs.
Gold.
Oz. Fine.
Silver.
Oz. Fine.
Petroleum.
Barrels OF 43
Gals.
1820
67,000
409,000
2.000,000
7,500,000
13,000,000
29,940,607
65,813453
141,589,080
154,229,383
165,000
347,000
563.755
821,222
1,665,178
3,835,190
9,202,702
6,657,388
7.163
15,000
19,500
14,000
15.919
87.344
126,888
U3.332
650
7,200
12,600
27,000
119,000
161,510
7.723
io,ooo
30,077
59,926
22,926
30440
40,000
2,418,965
2,225447
2418.965
1,741,500
1,588,880
1,923,619
1830
1840
25,000
38.673
116,019
i2,375.3t>o
30,320,000
54,^17440
49,846,875
1850
1S60
1870
1880
1890
1894
500,000
5,200,000
26,286,123
45,822,672
48,527.336
178
AMERICAN MINES
179
Let us glance at the course of the industry as
outlined in this table, and call attention to a few of
the elements tliat have characterized its marvelous
story.
Coal mining commenced in this country in Vir-
ginia, where, as has been said, the output as early
as 1820 was about 50,000 gross tons a year. The
rest of the country is estimated to have added to
this 15,000 tons of bituminous coal, and the anthra-
cite trade commenced with an output of 1965 tons.
At that time we were sixth in the list of coal pro-
ducers. Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Ger-
many, and Great Britain exceeded the United States
in output. Ten years later, in 1830, the total pro-
duction of coal here exceeded 400,000 tons, and
we had already passed Austria-Hungary, and then
ranked fifth. In 1840 our output had nearly
reached 2,000,000 tons, the demand for iron making
and steam-engines having greatly stimulated the
production. In 1850, with an output of about
7,500,000 tons, we had already passed Belgium,
France, and Germany, and held, as we have since
done, the second place. Great Britain was then
producing about 54,000,000 tons, or more than
seven times as much as the United States ; but we
have since gained so rapidly on her that it seems
certain that by the close of the century, or in the
year 1900, the United States will, with an annual
production of about 200,000,000 tons, pass Great
Britain, and hold from that time forward the first
place as the producer of this " foundation of mod-
ern civilization."
In attaining this enormous output the mines have
grown to great extent, though they have reached
but moderate depths, no coal-mine in the United
States to-day having a vertical depth of 2000 feet.
Yet, with even this depth, some of our mines are the
most "fiery" or gaseous in the world, and have
called for a perfectionment of mine ventilation
probably unequaled in any of the older countries.
It is no uncommon thing to find a Pennsylvania
anthracite mine circulating 250,000 cubic feet of air
per minute through a single fan. This is done with
a very low water-gauge, thanks to the large sectional
areas of the airways which are possible in our great
coal-beds.
Though in no other coal country do the mines
produce such enormous amounts of explosive gases,
yet in none are serious explosions so rare, because
the mines are so thoroughly ventilated by enormous
fans and by skilful distribution of the air in the
workings. Half a century ago there was scarcely
any systematic ventilation, and there was no official
inspection of mines until after the "Avondale dis-
aster" in the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, in
1 868, when no men were suffocated in the mine
by the burning of a shaft and shaft-house, the fire
having been caused by a ventilating furnace in the
mine. This " accident " enlisted attention, already
directed by the mining journals, to the need of better
ventilating appliances, and the writer of these lines
then aided in drawing up for the Pennsylvania leg-
islature the first law enacted in America requiring
efficient ventilation of mines and the appointment
of State inspectors of mines to see to its enforce-
ment.
Fires in mines are sometimes caused by powder-
blasts (the use of explosives being necessary in the
hard anthracite), but they are quickly extinguished
by the wonderful skill that constant practice has
engendered. Water is led down the shafts and
through the mine in pipes and hose, so that when
such a fire occurs, water under the pressure of many
hundred feet head is instantly thrown on it. In
pumping machinery great improvements have been
made, until now the old Cornish standard of 100,-
000,000 pounds of water raised one foot high by
the expenditure of 112 pounds (one hundredweight)
of coal has been far surpassed.
The system of mining in universal use in the
anthracite mines, and in general use in the bitumi-
nous beds, is what is known as chamber and pillar
work, "chambers," "rooms," or "stalls" being ex-
cavated in the coal, the intermediate portions of the
bed being left as pillars to support the roof or rock
over the coal. In a few — too few — places the " long-
wall " system, under which the whole of the coal-bed
is excavated and the roof allowed to fall, has been
adopted. No radical improvements have been made
in the systems of coal mining, which, especially in
the anthracite fields, are extremely and disgracefully
wasteful of coal. It is estimated that the coal and
coal-dirt wasted in the culm banks in the anthra-
cite fields since the mines were opened amount to
thirty-five per cent, of the entire production of the
mines, or to some 400,000,000 tons. At present
this loss is smaller, but it may be counted at thirty
per cent, of the coal shipped to market. Timber is
still used for props, and in all the anthracite and in
most of the soft-coal mines powder is used for
breaking down the coal. In mechanical appliances
vast progress has been made. The tools of the coal
miner are better and lighter here than in any other
country, and auger-drills in the anthracite, and coal
cutters of various designs in the bituminous mines,
are now in common use.
180
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Underground haulage is done on roads laid with
heavy steel rails, and with one or other of the fol-
lowing means : mules or horses, steam-locomotives,
wire ropes, and, more recently, electric motors.
Hoisting is effected with abundant power and at
comparatively high speeds, though, since none of
our coal-mines yet attains a vertical depth of 2000
feet, very rapid hoisting cannot be practised. It is
in the handling of the cars that the greatest econ-
omy is shown. Most of the coal is hoisted to the
surface in the mine cars. In the anthracite mines
Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, in one month of
which the details are at hand. This shaft has a
hoisting depth of 470 feet. During the month of
October, 1891, this colliery was operated twenty-
four days and one and one half hours (ten hours
constituting a day), and it shipped 70,152 tons of
coal, to which we must add, as already mentioned,
about thirty per cent, for coal and coal-dirt sent to
the waste or culm banks. This would give us a
total of 91,150 tons hoisted from the shaft in the
month, or 3798 tons a day, or nearly 380 tons an
1860
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1870
1875
1880
1885
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where vertical shafts are used a single car (from 80
to 100 cubic feet capacity) is raised at a time on the
cage. In some cases the cage with the car on it is
dumped automatically, but in more cases the car is
pushed off the cage and run some distance to the
breaker, where it is dumped. The time occupied
in changing the cars, taking an empty car off and
putting a loaded one on at the bottom, and the re-
verse at the top, of the shaft, — that is, from the time
the cage emerges from the shaft until it disappears, —
is about seven seconds only, and this wonderful speed
is kept up hour after hour through the day.
I may cite as an example of this almost incredible
work the hoisting at the Nottingham shaft, in the
hour. Each car (eighty-six cubic feet), therefore,
carried about 2.88 tons in addition to its own
weight, which was 2250 pounds. In all 3.88 tons
were moved at top and bottom of shaft within about
seven seconds. Since there were two hoistways in
the shaft, one car going up while the other went
down, and the average hoist per day of ten hours
was 13 1 8 cars, or 132 cars an hour, a single trip
was made in about fifty-four and one half seconds,
including the changing of the car at the top and
bottom, and the time required to hoist the 470 feet.
The whole of the 70,152 gross tons shipped (or 91,-
153 tons hoisted) came through this one shaft. To
show that this was not merely a spiurt for a month
Richard P. Rothwell.
AMERICAN MINES
181
it is sufficient to say that in June of tlie same year
the average hoist through the month was 1305 cars
a day, and shipments were 66,714 tons in twenty-
three days and three and one half hours ; in July,
in twenty days and eight and one half hours, 57,-
145 tons were shipped, 26,468 cars being hoisted ;
in August eighteen days and nine hours were worked,
and 23,527 cars were hoisted and 51,031 tons of
coal shipped. This record is believed to far exceed
anything ever done in any other country in the
world, though it has been almost equaled in other
collieries in Pennsylvania.
It is by such extraordinary speed — rendered pos-
sible only by the adoption of ingenious mechanical
and labor-saving devices — that the output per man
in the American coal-mines exceeds that in any
other part of the world, as shown in the diagram on
the preceding page ; and that, in spite of the pay-
ment of much higher day wages, the cost of coal is
less than anywhere else in the world.
The anthracite coal is all broken in rolls and
sized in various classes in screens for the trade — a
custom which, while rendering its use much more
convenient, adds to its cost and to the waste of the
coal, as already stated.
The economy with which coal is mined in this
country may be illustrated by a certain colliery
which produces about 1800 tons of bituminous coal
per day of ten hours. The miner is paid twenty-
five cents per ton for mining and loading in the mine
car, and the total cost delivered on the railroad cars
is about forty-five cents per gross ton. A total cost
of forty cents per ton is reached at some of our
other collieries, and a selling-price of sixty cents per
gross ton has enabled certain mines to pay very
handsome dividends for a number of years past,
though miners earn from $1.50 to $2,25 a day.
The actual average selling-price of all the coal
produced in the States of Pennsylvania and West
Virginia in 1894 was only seventy cents per ton,
while in several other States it averaged seventy-five
to eighty cents per ton ; and the average selling-
price of all the bituminous coal mined in the United
States in 1894 was only eighty-eight cents per short
ton, or say ninety-six cents per ton of 2240 pounds.
In Great Britain the average price of coal at the
mines in 1894 was $1.59 per ton, and in 1893 it
was $1.63 per ton. The average wages paid to all
men working in the coal-mines of Great Britain in
1894 were $5.50 per week, as compared with about
$12 per week in Pennsylvania. It is quite evident,
then, that the cost of mining coal, as well as other
minerals, depends much more upon other things
than on the rates of wages of the workmen. With
wages fully twice as high in the United States, the
selling-price of coal at the mines is just about one
half as great as that at English mines.
Anthracite is, of course, much more costly than
bituminous coal to mine and to prepare for market.
Nevertheless it is mined and prepared at a total
cost of from $1.20 to $1.40 per gross ton, as against
about $1.40 to $2 per ton at the same mines in
1830. Miners earn now from $1.75 to $2.25 per
day, and laborers $1 to $1.75 ; while wages at the
anthracite mines in 1830 were $1 per day for min-
ers and eighty-two cents for laborers. It must also
be remembered that in 1830 the mines were all
working above water-level, requiring neither pump-
ing, hoisting, nor much ventilation. The progress
made in coal mining is thus shown in an actual
large reduction in cost, while the difficulties and
many of the elements of cost, including wages, have
greatly increased.
The production of coal and the growth of the in-
dustry in the United States as compared with that
in other countries are shown graphically in the dia-
gram on the following page.
The mining of other minerals than coal has
shown a progress both in economy and in extent of
production which is, in some respects, still more
wonderful than that shown in the coal industry.
The iron-ore industry probably commenced with
the shipment of ore from Jamestown, Va., to Eng-
land in 1608, and was continued with the produc-
tion of iron in this country. The mining of iron ore
in the early years was confined to a small and inter-
mittent output from open-pit work on brown hema-
tite or bog-ore deposits, requiring no mining skill.
Iron was produced solely in bloomeries previous to
1724 ; and after that pig-iron was produced in blast-
furnaces. The cost of mining ore in open pits, and
with the low wages prevailing in those days, was
much higher than it is to-day, when in the red-ore
mines of Alabama thirty-five cents per ton is a com-
mon cost figure, and in the great Mesabi iron-ore
mines of Minnesota, where the average cost of min-
ing several miUion tons of ore that will run sixty to
sixty-two per cent, in iron will this year probably
not exceed fifty cents per ton ; and there are mines
where, after the stripping of the bed has been done,
the actual cost of mining is at present less than ten
cents per ton. The industry, which was formerly car-
ried on laboriously by hand labor and wheelbarrows,
with an output of a few tons a day, now employs
steam-shovels and railroads in open pits, and the
output per shovel per day (ten hours) is 1500 to
182
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
2000 tons, and there is a record of 3200 tons of ore have been made. The system of mining now most
having been loaded into the railroad-cars by a single in favor where the ore is not very hard is the work-
steam-shovel in ten hours. The influence of the ing in chambers, which are kept full of ore as the
190.000,000
METRIC TONS
180.000,000
170,000,000
160,000,000
ICO.000,000
f90,000,000
METRIC TONS
180,000.000
170,000.000
00,000,000
80,000,000
•0,000,000
t850 1855 1860 1865 1870 1875 1880 1885 1830 1895
rate of wages on the cost of mining m such cases is excavation goes on. Thus no timber is required,
infinitesimal. and when the chamber is opened through to the
In regular underground mining in the iron-mines mined ground above it, the ore is drawn out from
of Michigan and Minnesota great improvements it, the roof allowed to fall, and then the pillars are
AMERICAN MINES
183
worked out from the top down by what is known as
the " caving system." In other cases the whole of
the ore is worked by the caving system in horizontal
sHces, commencing at the top, the roof being allowed
to fall as the ore is mined out. By these methods
and other improvements ore that only a few years
ago cost over $2 per ton is now mined at a cost of
seventy-five cents to $1 per ton. The average value
at the mines of all the ore mined in the United States
in 1894 (nearly 12,000,000 tons) was but $1.10 per
ton. A large proportion of the 14,000,000 tons of
ore which will be mined in this country in the cur-
rent year (1895) will be quarried or mined in open
pits as described above, as is all the limestone used
for flux in the blast-furnaces.
The cost of quarrying stone has been so greatly
reduced that contracts for rock-work on the great
Chicago drainage canal, where the sides of the ex-
cavation are cut down in smooth vertical walls by
channeling-machines, are made at only seventy-three
cents per cubic yard, or say thirty-seven cents per
ton.
Lead-ore mining is carried on for the most part
for the winning of silver as well as lead, and the
cost of lead is therefore affected by the values of the
other metals gained. Nevertheless in Missouri and
Kansas, where ores are mined for lead alone, this
has been mined, concentrated, smelted, and sold
with profit even below three and one quarter cents
per pound of lead, though the grade of the rock
scarcely exceeded six per cent. Where the ore is
somewhat richer it is estimated that the mines can
compete in cost with Spanish mines, which are oper-
ated with labor costing about one third as much as
here. The reductions in cost of both lead and zinc
are, however, due rather to improvements in metal-
lurgy than in mining. The price of pig-lead, which
in 1820 was 6.36 cents per pound, was in 1894 but
3.29 cents per pound.
Perhaps in no other department of the mineral
industry has progress been so rapid or so great as
in copper mining and metallurgy. Though the
existence of great deposits of native copper in
Michigan was known to the early Jesuit mission-
aries, yet copper mining as an industry had its
modest beginning about 1846, or just half a cen-
tury ago, when Michigan produced 26 tons of the
metal, and all the rest of the country produced only
124 tons. In 1850 the total output of the United
States was only 650 tons, and in 1880 it was 27,000
tons. Since then there has been an enormous de-
velopment of this industry, the output going up at
a wonderful rate; in 1890 it had already reached
the enormous figures of 119,609 gross tons, and in
1894, 161,510 tons, or almost equal to the aggre-
gate production (163,349 tons) of all the other
countries in the world, as shown in the diagram on
the following page. This country has, indeed, now
become the great source of supply for Europe, and
the regulator of the copper markets of the world.
The reduction in the cost of copper, as in that of
every other mineral product in the United States,
has been due to increased skill, knowledge, and
economy in administration, and has been almost
everywhere accompanied by higher wages and a
general betterment in the condition of the workmen.
Lake copper, the standard brand, which in i860 was
worth 22.25 cents per pound, in 1870 was sold at
20.74 cents; in 1880 it was worth 20.12 cents per
pound; while in 1890 it brought 15.75 cents per
pound, and in 1894 only 9.55 cents per pound, all
in New York. Yet with these prices the output
constantly and rapidly increased, and the producers
made handsome profits, even greater with the lower
prices of recent years than with the high values of
the earlier days. What these profits have been may
be judged from a few examples. The Quincy Cop-
per-Mine, in Michigan, has a capital of $200,000
paid in, and has paid in dividends no less than
$7,690,000. It has for many years paid from
$200,000 to $450,000 a year, or from 100 per cent,
to 225 per cent, a year on the money invested.
The Calumet and Hecla Mine, with a paid-in capi-
tal of $1,250,000, has already divided dividends
to the amount of $43,850,000, and pays regularly
about $2,000,000 a year, or 150 per cent., on the
capital invested.
The copper-mines in Michigan are the best ex-
amples known of skilful and economical mining.
They are much the deepest mines in the world ;
the new Calumet and Hecla shafts are now more
than 4800 feet in vertical depth, while the Tama-
rack shafts are 4400 feet, and the new Tamarack
shafts will be 5000 feet.
We may take the Atlantic Mine as affording per-
haps the best illustration of what the art of mining
has attained in this country. This mine, which in
1874 produced 69,728 tons of ore, produces now
more than five times as much, or 315,626 tons of
ore a year. The cost of stoping has been reduced
from $17.33 per fathom in 1874 to $3.42 in 1894,
and drifting per foot from $14.42 to $4.23. The
introduction of rock-drills and high explosives was
not at once a great economy; but as experience
was gained, and as the contract miners made higher
wages by their use, the economy became more and
I
184
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
more apparent, and affected not alone the cost of has undergone a progress scarcely less important
breaking ground per foot or per fathom, but, through than that shown in drifting and stoping. More
the rapidity with which ground was opened and work per man per day is accomplished through the
could be broken, the extent of openings required for greater facilities provided for doing it, and through
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a given output was reduced, and the work in every
department was pushed with a degree of energy
heretofore unknown.
It would be absolutely impossible to attain the
great output of to-day by the old methods of work,
no matter how many men were employed. The
general conduct of the work in and about the mines
the high-pressure energy infused in every department
by the example of one department where men strive
to earn extra high wages by the use of improved
appliances. The great reduction in the cost of work
has been accompanied by an increase in the remu-
neration of the workmen from an average of $46 per
month in 1881 to $51 per month in i8gi.
AMERICAN MINES 185
Comparing the costs in 1874 and 1894, we find : theless the American mines have been able to stand
the competition, and have even paid dividends,
Tons stamped 69,728 315,626 though they seem now almost exhausted.
Average yield of ore 98% ^o% ^tvi characteristic of the two countries that while
Cost of mining and all surface expenses, the average number of tons handled for each worker
taxes, etc $2.32 $0.75 in the Spanish mine was only 6.23 tons per year, at
Transportation three miles to mill .18 .0^ ^1 /^ vr • • • ^ ^ ^- i.
Concentrating 99 .2^ the California mmes J ust ten times as much, or Sixty-
Freight to market, smelting, selling, etc. .35 .18 three tons, was handled in the same time per work-
Total cost mining expenses $3.82 $1.19 ^en employed. It costs no more to extract and
reduce rich ore than poor, and were the American
When the work of mining a hard rock in a mine ores equal in richness to the Spanish, the production
nearly 2000 feet deep, the transporting of the rock of the American mines would be ten times as great,
to a mill three miles distant, the crushing and con- and the cost would be $2.64, or, including flasks,
centrating of the ore, the smelting of the concen- $3.64 per flask, as against $7,10 in the Spanish
trates and refining the copper, the transportation Almaden, notwithstanding the difference in wages.
1500 miles to market, and all the expenses of admin- We may extend the review of work done, of
istration both at the mine and at the companies' great increases in output and diminutions in cost,
offices in New York, are done at a cost of $1.19 per until we exhaust the entire list of mineral products,
ton of ore milled ; and when an ore which carries and we will find substantially the same story ; but
only fourteen pounds of copper to the ton can be this is unnecessary. In 1840 our mineral industry
mined at a profit with copper selling at 9.55 cents was summed up in four items : coal, 2,000,000 tons;
per pound, we have certainly reached the marvel- pig-iron, 347,000 tons; lead, 15,000 tons; all other
ous. No other mine in the whole world can equal minerals valued at $238,980 and employing 728
this. men.
In gold and silver production the story has been The table (given on page 186) of the mineral and
the same. The American miner invented the won- metal production in the United States in 1893 and
derful " hydrauHcking " process by which the work 1894, or fifty-four years later, adding up to a value
of mining the gold-bearing gravels is performed by of $553,356,499, tells the story of the present. What
jets of water under very high pressure, the water language can more eloquently describe the progress
being carried across valleys thousands of feet deep of this industry?
in iron pipes, and carried around precipices in tim- For this table, as well as for the diagrams com-
ber flumes pinned to the face of the vertical cliff in paring the world's production of coal and copper,
a manner which for boldness and originality has and for much of the other data used in this paper,
never been equaled elsewhere. Thus it is that I am indebted to the volumes of " The Mineral In-
gravels containing gold to the value of only five dustry : Its Statistics, Technology, and Trade in the
cents per cubic yard are worked at a profit. It is United States and Other Countries."
to American engineers and metallurgists that the The achievements of the American mining indus-
greatest improvements in gold and silver milling are try are indeed marvelous, and have never been
due, a fact so universally recognized that our engi- approached by those in any other country. It was
neers are now found in charge of the most important argued, and not so very long ago, that though na-
mining and metallurgical enterprises in every part ture had munificently endowed this favored land
of the world, and their services are so highly valued with the richest of her mineral gifts, yet the high
that they are paid in South Africa and in Australasia prices of wages (which average from two to five
from $15,000 to $50,000 a year salary. The United times as much as in European countries), enhancing
States is the largest producer of both gold and silver the cost of production, and the enormous distances
among the nations ; in silver, in fact, it produces which our coal, iron, copper, lead, zinc, and other
about thirty per cent, of the whole world's output. minerals and metals would have to be transported
The ore of the American quicksilver-mines is ex- to tide-water ports, would forever prevent the
tremely low grade, having only about twenty pounds United States from competing in the markets of the
per ton, as compared with about 200 pounds per world with the old European countries, or, as it is
ton of ore in the Spanish Almaden Mine. Wages sometimes expressed, from competing with the
paid in California are from $1.50 to $3 per day, or "pauper labor" of Europe or of China and Japan,
four times as great as those paid in Spain. Never- Glorious achievements have triumphantly answered
186
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
No.
Products.
Non-Metallic.
Abrasives :
Corundum and emery. . .
Garnet
Grindstones
Millstones
Tripoli and infus. earth .
Whetstones
Alum
Antimony ore
Asbestos and Talc :
Asbestos
Fibrous talc
Talc and soapstone
Asphalt
Bituminous rock
Barytes
Bauxite
Borax
Bromine
Cement, natural hydraulic.
Cement, Portland
Clay, refractory
Clay, kaolin
Coal, anthracite
Coal, bituminous
Coke
Cobalt, oxide
Copperas
Copper sulphate
Chrome ore
Feldspar
Fluorspar
Graphite
Graphite, amorphous
Gypsum
Lime
Magnesite
Manganese ore
Mica, ground
Mica, sheet
Monazite
Natural gas
Paints, mineral
Paints, vermilion
Paints, white lead
Paints, zinc oxide
Petroleum (crude)
Phosphate rock
Marls
Precious stones
Pyrites
Salt, evaporated
Salt, rock
Silica, sand and quartz . . .
Slate, roofing
Slate, other manufactures .
Soda, natural
Soda, natural sulphate
Stone, limestone (flux)
Stone, marble
Stone, onyx
Other building stones
Total, non-metals
Metals.
Aluminum
Antimony
Copper
Gold
Iron, pig
Lead, value at New York
Nickel, fine
Quicksilver
Silver, commercial value
Zinc spelter
Total metals
Est. products unspecified
Grand total.
Customary
Measures.
Short tons.
Long tons . . .
Pounds
Bbls., 300 lbs.
Short tons
Pounds . . .
Short tons
Pounds . . .
Long tons.
Short tons.
Pounds . . .
Short tons.
Bbls., 200 lbs
Short tons
Long tons
Pounds
Short tons.
Bbls., 42 gals.
Long tons
1893.
Quantity.
Customary
Measures.
1.747
1.520
45.340
155
1.351
1.903
96,000
850
120
36.500
20,100
3.490
31.404
26,632
11,041
9,199,000
348.399
7,445,950
673,989
3,214,989
30,183
'47.355.387
128,826,364
8,939,961
3.894
17,862
54,000,000
1,629
17,000
9,700
882,912
1,691
330.231
^60,000,000
1. 143
9.150
679,000
6,500
130,000
44.709
37
88,500
25,000
50,349,228
981,340
200,000
Metric
Tons.
1.585
1.379
41.133
141
1,226
1,726
87.093
771
109
33.113
18,235
3,166
28,489
27,067
11,222
4.173
158
1,013,238
91.715
2,916,501
27,382
42,960,116
116,869,397
8,110,245
2
16,204
24,492
1,646
17.274
8,800
400
1.534
299,582
5,443,164
1,037
9.297
308
3
59
Value at
Place of
Production.
40,559
34
80,286
22,679
7.043.857
997,140
203,814
Long tons. . .
Bbls. 280 lbs
Long tons .
Squares . . .
Square feet
Short tons. .
Long tons.
Cubic feet
Pounds
Short tons
Pounds
Troy ounces . . .
Long tons
Short tons
Pounds
Flasks, 76'A lbs.
Troy ounces . . .
Short tons
95,000
9,703,419
1,935,642
300,000
803,887
4,138,920
2,500
90
3,750,000
5,639,681
2.17s
96.529
1,232,392
245.838
304,814
237,014
2,268
82
3.810,375
429.399
166
312,000
350
327,255,788
1.739.323
7,043,384
166,678
25.893
30,164
60,500,000
76,25s
$140,589
55.800
345.920
2.359
25,625
89,550
2,880,000
41,000
6,000
337.625
366,825
68,682
"4.752
133,160
55.205
689,925
87,100
5,010,958
1,052,173
4,822,483
205,667
74,605,885
123,899,415
14,706,544
5.452
134.520
1,822,500
16,000
85,000
63,070
39.731
8,996
927,615
30,000,000
8,000
60,000
20,522
S.478
7,600
14,000,000
726,160
40,000
9,469,500
1,875,000
32,223,505
3,434,690
540,000
200,000
285,000
4.945.583
678,064
330,824
2,956,89s
475.681
12,500
450 i
2,250,000
2,087,758
28,750
'^ 38,000,000
X894.
Quantity.
Customary
Measures.
142
148,441
^54.093
7,157,782
152,080
'11.745
1,046
»i, 881, 731
69,178
$377,517,086
202
63
35.179
35.955
93,888
12.434
12
1,108
47.3".
6,214
800
000
997
000
309
178
429
527
000
782
P232, 370,022
6,000,000
Metric
Tons.
1,220
1,000 '
37.400
297 j
1,802 I
1.735 i
72,000
165
250
39.600
21,044
4,198
34,199
23,758
10,732
13,140,589
379,444
7,895,259
738,196
3,375.738
24.552
' 52,010,433
117,950,348
8.495.29s
6.550
14,897
260,000,000
2.653
23,280
9,000
770,846
165
287,517
256,750,000 .
1.370 !
11.735 I
829,500 1
9,9001
750,000 j
1,106
907
33.922
269
1.634
1.574
65.304
150
227
35,917
19,087
4,080
31,018
24,141
10,908
■6.962
172
1,074,179
100,352
3,061,794
22,246
47,183.345
106,953,311
7,706,846
3
13.S"
27,215
2,697
23,655
8,16s
349
150
260,834
5,148,326
1.243
11,924
377
4
340
38,801 !
41 i
87,242 I
22,814 i
48,527,336
952,15s
225,000
3S.200
37
78,155
20,697
6,788,974
967,485
228,622
107,462
9,161,053
2,341,922
315.531
693.944
5,099,791
109,192
1,163,508
297.438
320,610
204,656
Value at
Place of
Production.
3,544.393
5,681,766
1.450
817,600
220
353.504.314
1,923,619
6,657,388
160,867
30,440
49,846,875
74.004
3,601,458
433.093
110
$109,500
35,000
335.800
4.447
36,687
84.450
2,160,000
9.075
3.750
396,000
401,892
75.654
148,120
95,032
42,928
919,841
98.655
4.397,407
1,080,644
4,050.885
185,169
80,879,404
103,842,467
12,654,558
8,843
104,100
2,016,000
35.125
116,400
64,000
34.689
1.252
849,925
28,375,000
4,864
74,899
35.957
11.103
45 .000
11,000,000
662,262
45,600
8,445,174
1,711,275
40,762,962
2,856,455
607,500
250,000
466,466
4,608,275
788.681
347.951
2.551.259
499.578
2,126,636
2,177,280
29,000
* 30,000,000
371
205
160,392
359,824
6,764,572
145,906
$353,760,877
490.560
39,200
33,540,489
39,764,708
71,966,364
10,585,048
1,056 1 1,095,840
^1.550,387 31.403.531
67.135 S.209.882
$194,095,622
I 5,500,000
$615,847,108 $553,356,499
' Bituminous coal includes brown coal and lignite. The anthracite production is the total for Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and Colorado.
1 Estimated. ^ Kilograms.
AMERICAN MINES
187
these timid economists. True, our wages have re-
mained far higher than in any other country, and
have actually advanced, except in our far Western
mining camps; and even there the net earnings
have increased by reason of the cheapening of the
cost of living. True, also, the miles to tide-water
are many ; but distance disappears when railroad
freights are much less than a cent per ton mile.
To-day we are producing coal, iron, copper, gold,
silver, and many other metals and minerals cheaper
than anywhere else, and have already demonstrated
our ability to compete successfully in the markets
of the world with any other producer. Moreover,
strange as it may appear, it is with the product of our
highest-priced labor, that is, with fine machinery and
high-class goods, that we defy competition in prices
and are most successfully competing with Europe.
To whatever department of the mineral industry
we turn we learn the same lesson : that the unit cost
of most mineral products is lower in the United
States than elsewhere, and that the labor cost of
producing nearly everything is less here than in any
other country, while our rates of daily wages are the
highest paid in the whole world. The explanation
of this apparent paradox is neither difficult nor
doubtful. The self-reliance engendered by our free
institutions, the intelligence, industry, and enterprise
which are stimulated by the possibility of earning
not only a competence, but wealth and luxury, and
the wants which larger means and better conditions
create, all tend to make our labor more efficient
than that of the older countries, where traditional
conditions limit wants and cause life to the workman
to be without inspiration and almost without hope.
Moreover, the scarcity of workmen and the high rates
of wages have necessitated economy in the use of
labor, and have led to the invention of wonderfully
ingenious and practical labor-saving devices, and
have encouraged the adoption of every improvement
discovered or introduced elsewhere. The outcome
has been that these contrivances and improvements
have increased the efficiency of labor here beyond
the increase in wages, and have thus actually lessened
the labor cost of producing nearly everything, and
especially in the higher classes of products, in which
the proportion of cost of labor is greatest, to a point
below that in producing the same articles in coun-
tries where the fetters of custom retard the intro-
duction of improvements, and where lack of incen-
tive lessens the efficiency of the workman.
Magnificent natural resources, intelligence and
industry in the workmen, knowledge of what all the
rest of the world is doing, and enterprise to adopt
whatever is advantageous, are the solid foundations
on which this marvelous development of the Amer-
ican mineral industry is based. Technical and trade
periodicals, technical schools, and technical societies
have been the efficient aids in this progress and pros-
perity.
Time was when the supremacy of a nation was
determined by the sturdy wielding of the sword;
to-day the nation that makes cheapest and best the
material from which sword-blades are fashioned is
strong. It is preeminence in the ennobling arts of
peace that now renders nations invincible and their
people prosperous and contented.
CHAPTER XXVIII
AMERICAN QUARRYING
IF it is true, as is claimed by many, that the pros-
perity and growth of a country can be traced in
the character and stability of its buildings, then
it must be that the United States in the original plan
of creation was given advantages far superior to those
of other countries. The natural resources of this
land, fast being developed by American ingenuity
and skill, have at no time been more apparent than
during the past twenty years, as is shown in the
quantity and quality of stone buildings which have
been erected. As wood in building has given way
to brick, and brick in its turn has given way to stone,
so have American quarries, out of barren pasture-
ledges supposed to be worthless, been worked and
developed until last year they yielded a product of
more than $37,375,000, distributed among the
different kinds of stone as follows: Granite,
$10,029,1563 marble, $3,199,585; slate, $2,790,-
324; sandstone, $3,945,847; limestone, $16,512,-
904; bluestone, $900,000. I know that figures and
statistics are as a rule dry and uninteresting, and yet
there is nothing that will show the growth and pres-
ent volume of the quarrying business more quickly
or eloquently than the few here given. In 1889
the capital invested in this industry, represented
by 4257 quarries, was $89,688,133, which proba-
bly is not far from the amount at the present
time. Employment was given to upward of 83,000
men, to whom was paid nearly $31,000,000 in wages.
There were produced 235,264,351 cubic feet of stone
for building, monumental, and mechanical purposes ;
about 75,000,000 cubic feet (principally limestone)
for street and bridge work ; nearly 1,000,000 squares
of roofing slate, and 18,474,668 barrels of lime.
The census statistics just completed by Dr. Day
show that in actual output of stone for every purpose
Pennsylvania takes the lead, with shipments last
year of over $5,245,507; with the Buckeye State
second, its output being a Httle over $3,500,000. If,
however, we exclude the amount used for lime, flux,
and road-building, Vermont would be at the head of
the list in actual production of stone for building
and monumental purposes, with shipments in 1894
of $3,053,602. Although stone suitable for at least
rough building purposes is largely distributed (the
census returns being made up from the productions
of forty-four different States), and will, I believe, in
time be extensively worked everywhere, yet at the
present day the different marketable products are
limited to a few places, so much so as to give the lo-
calities where found a world-wide reputation. The
great bulk of the granite output comes from the
eastern coast of the United States; slate from Penn-
sylvania and Vermont ; sandstone from Ohio, and
marble from Vermont, Tennessee, Georgia, New
York, and Massachusetts, the product from the three
latter States being used largely for exterior building,
while that from Tennessee is employed principally
for interior decoration.
One hundred years ago stone-quarrying in this
country was practically unknown. There were iso-
lated places where the native rock was used spar-
ingly in buildings, or rough slate or marble slabs had
been hewn out to mark a grave, but quarrying as
such cannot be said to have begun until many years
later, and then only in a very meagre and small way.
The total output, even fifty years ago, would have
been no more than wealthy men to-day put into a
private residence for themselves. Nothing shows
the comparatively recent growth of this industry bet-
ter than the gain made from 1880 to 1889, the pro-
duction in 1880 being a little over $18,500,000,
while for 1889 it was nearly $53,000,000.
It is impossible in the course of this article to trace
with any degree of detail the history of the quarry-
ing interests up to the present time. In some of the
oldest cemeteries in New England you will occasion-
ally find a slate slab bearing an inscription that
188
Redfield Proctor.
AMERICAN QUARRYING
189
shows it was erected previous to 1795, one even
bearing an inscription as far back as the seventeenth
century. But any such slabs came from Wales as bal-
last. As early as 1785 a marble-quarry, although it
could hardly be called such at the present day,
was opened at Dorset, Vt., from which were taken
stones for fire-jambs, chimney-backs, and hntels.
Their beauty was such that people came from a long
distance for these pieces, and something of a trade
was done in them. About the year 1800, at Marble-
dale, Conn., Philo Tomlinson was at work quarrying
and sawing marble into slabs, and two years later
Newell & Clark erected a stone saw-mill at Stock-
bridge, Mass. The next year Johnson & Stephens
took a contract for 33,000 cubic feet of marble for
the front of the New York City Hall, and for sev-
eral years thereafter the quarrying of marble for
buildings was more or less actively carried on in this
neighborhood. In a general way, however, with the
exception just noted, it may be safely said that but
little was done previous to 1830. From then on,
marble, granite, slate, and limestone — but more es-
pecially granite, owing to its proximity to the sea-
coast — came into gradual use, but lack of proper
railroad facihties within reasonable access to the
stone were a bar to their active development until
many years later.
Sandstone was first put upon the market about
sixty years ago, in the form of a grindstone, by Mr.
John Baldwin, the founder of Baldwin University.
These stones were turned out by ox-power, and
hauled by him into Cleveland, O., by ox-teams;
and from that modest beginning the industry has
grown to such proportions that one firm alone in
Ohio last year furnished sidewalk slabs (that being
merely one department of their business) sufficient
to lay a walk from New York City to Albany.
The first slate quarry in Vermont was opened in
1845, by Colonel Allen and Caleb Ranney, at Scotch
Hill, in Fair Haven, and its prosperity may be judged
from the fact that land which they leased for sixty
dollars an acre was ten years later sold to Boston
parties for $50,000. This same quarry is, I am
told, in operation to-day, and purple slate quarried
from it can be found in the treads and landings in
almost any public building or business block in any
city. In 1847, the production of roofing slate be-
gan, and developed rapidly. The first year but 200
squares were produced ; eight years later the output
in the same locality had increased to 45,000 squares.
The granite industry had its beginning in New
England, at Quincy, Mass. This was about 1820,
although King's Chapel, in Boston, the first build-
ing of any architectural pretensions from Quincy
granite, was erected in 1752. It was from these
ledges that in 1827 the stone was blasted out for
Bunker Hill monument, and it is recorded that the
first railroad in America owes its origin to these
quarries and the monument, a road having been
built under a Massachusetts charter to transport the
stone from the quarries at Quincy to the Neponset
River, the iron rails resting upon granite sleepers.
The road was, to be sure, but two miles in length, but
it is said to mark the beginning of railroading in the
United States. The growth of granite for building
purposes, owing to its proximity to the sea-coast
and consequent low freight rates, was gradual and
steady, so that, in the year 1880, the output of gran-
ite for all uses amounted to a trifle over $5,000,000.
In the next nine years, however, its development
was phenomenal, the output nearly trebling, and in
that year it furnished 62,000,000 paving blocks
alone.
The process of quarrying any of these stones, ex-
cept marble, is a comparatively simple and in-
expensive operation, and as a natural result the
number of quarries from which stone is taken is
extremely large. Occasionally, in the case of gran-
ite, top rock has to be removed, owing to imperfec-
tions in it, but, as a rule, fairly marketable stone is
found even at the surface. I am speaking now of
all but marble. That is so different that I will men-
tion it separately later on. The stone is all removed
by blasting, with the exception of sandstone, where
the beds are thin, and some of the limestone quar-
ries, particularly adapted to building purposes,
where channeling machines are extensively used
for cutting up the stone into strips. The funda-
mental idea in this style of quarrying is to remove
the largest and best-shaped blocks possible, with
the minimum of expense, and the skill of the quarry
foreman is shown in so arranging his blast-holes as
to take the best possible advantage of any natural
cut or fissure in the rocks. Large blocks freed from
the other rock by blasting are then split up into the
sizes required, by wedges driven into small holes,
drilled a little way into the rock, in the direction in
which it is desired to make the break. Ordinarily,
in quarrying of this kind, the blast-holes are filled
with but a small amount of powder, the purpose
being merely to loosen the rock without shattering
it. Sometimes, however, the formation of the stone
is such that very large blasts are fired, Dr. Day,
in his report on mineral resources, instancing one
case where 32,700 pounds were used in a single
charge. Improvements in methods in these quarries
190
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
have not kept pace with development in other lines.
Steam or compressed air gadding drills take the
place of a wedge and sledge-hammer, and the
steam-derrick and crane have in most places sup-
planted the old horse-sweep for lifting the blocks
from the quarries, but otherwise the process of getting
the stone from the ledge has been changed but little.
While any of the stone comprising the quarrying
industry in some form can be used for building
work, for monumental purposes one is restricted to
either granite or marble. Although limestone is
widely distributed, marble, which is really a lime-
stone in such a crystalline condition as to be sus-
ceptible of a high polish, is found only over a limited
area, and then in such shape that its production is a
matter of much greater expense than attends the
quarrying of any other stone.
Nathaniel Chipman, the ablest of Vermont's early
jurists, in a letter written July 25, 1792, from Rut-
land, Vt., says : " There are also in this part of the
country numerous quarries of marble, some of them
of superior quality. Machines may easily be erected
for sawing it into slabs by water,^ and in that state it
might become an important article of commerce."
Yet it was not until 1836 that even a small begin-
ning was made to take advantage in any degree of
what Judge Chipman foresaw forty-four years before
was destined to give world-wide reputation to the
State. Six years later, William F. Barnes, the real
pioneer in the working of Rutland marble, began
labor upon the quarry of West Rutland, which, in
connection with others on the same belt, has given
this marble its reputation.
Quarrying in those days was all done by hand-
labor, and scores of men with their long steel drills
struck away at the rock from morning until night,
cutting deeper and deeper with each stroke until
finally the point was reached from which the rock
could be raised from its bed, and hoisted from the
quarry. For some time attempts had been made to
do away with this hand labor, and have the channel-
ing done by steam. In 1863 the first channeling-
machine, invented by George J. Wardwell, of Rut-
land, Vt., was tried upon the Sutherland Falls
Quarry. This single-gang machine, nicknamed the
" Posey," and used upon this same quarry, I. believe,
for about twenty years, was the beginning of the use
of machinery, in a short time destined entirely to
supplant hand labor in marble quarrying. The in-
troduction of American marble for monumental pur-
poses was a hard and up-hill fight, owing to the
strong prejudice in favor of the Italian product.
The Census of 1870 credits Vermont with marble
sales that year of less than 131,000, while the im-
portations amounted to $479,337. That the tide
finally had to turn was shown in 1889, in which year
there was shipped from Vermont stone worth $2,-
169,500, while the total importations for the same
year, mainly from Italy, were but $701,518. Of all
the marble produced in 1889, for whatever purpose,
Vermont furnished more than sixty-two per cent., and
of the marble used for monumental purposes alone it
is probably safe to say that at least ninety per cent,
was quarried among the Green Mountain hills. Al-
though the deposit extends through a considerable
portion of the State, it is only in a comparatively
small part of it, Rutland county, that the most val-
uable quarries are found. It is a curious fact that
towards the north of this county the stone is much
finer grained than in the south, evidently having
been subjected to greater pressure, and in conse-
quence it is very seldom that sound marble is ob-
tained. So finely grained and beautiful is this stone
that numerous attempts have been made to quarry
it, the result being financial disaster in every case.
Towards the south the reverse is true, the marble
proving more sound, but gradually becoming so
coarsely crystallized that it is suitable only for build-
ing purposes. The deposit known as Rutland mar-
ble is all contained within an area of less than half
a mile. The hills embracing this deposit were so
barren and poverty-stricken in appearance that the
story goes that the entire tract was traded for an
old horse to the man who first opened the quanies
there. Be that as it may, the spot from which are
now taken annually from 15,000 to 20,000 blocks,
requiring, to reduce to merchantable shape, the em-
ployment of a small army of men, was at that time
considered practically valueless.
In the Rudand deposit some fifteen different lay-
ers have been uncovered to date, varying in thickness
from two to ten feet, and varying also in color, tex-
ture, and value ; nor is it unusual to see the same
layer produce several different varieties and colors
of stock. At the surface the marble lies at an angle
of about forty-five degrees, but after reaching a
depth of from 150 to 200 feet it suddenly turns and
is found lying almost flat, so that one can readily
see that at that depth, to get the same marble that
was found at the surface, it is necessary to tunnel far
into the hills. The tremendous stone roof which is
thus formed is supported at regular intervals by enor-
mous piers left for that purpose as the quarry pene-
trates deeper and deeper. Marble worth the sawing
is very rarely found until a depth of from twenty to
thirty feet has been reached, and it does not then
AMERICAN QUARRYING
191
follow that the quarry may have any real merit;
heads, cracks, tight cuts, and a predominance of
inferior stock may all develop, and thus make it nec-
essary to dump the blocks even after being quarried-
Throughout the marble region it is not an infre-
quent sight to see abandoned quarry openings into
which thousands of dollars have been poured by
people carried away with the stone craze.
If an outcropping of marble is found that looks
favorable for a future quarry, it is first bored, as a
rule, with a machine specially constructed for this
purpose, to ascertain if the deposit has any depth,
and is of suitable quality and color. The soundness,
however, of a deposit can be proved only by open-
ing, and the opening of a marble quarry is laborious
and expensive. From $40,000 to $75,000 has been
spent upon several of the West Rutland openings
before stock that would even pay to saw has been
taken out. A quarry is first stripped of its top-rock
by means of small blasts, great care being taken
that the charge does not penetrate into the marble.
Channeling machines, operated by steam or com-
pressed air, are then put on to cut the layers into
strips of the requisite size. The quarry being cut
up into strips, a cut is made at each end, and a set
of key-blocks, as they are termed, are cut and re-
moved. This gives a chance to get at the bottom
of the layers that have been cut. Steam-drills are
then used to bore holes into the bed of the layer at
intervals of eight to twelve inches, and into these
holes steel wedges are driven. In this way the en-
tire floor is freed from its bed, and it is not unusual
to see a strip of rock, fifty feet or more in length,
raised in this manner. By the same process the
strip is cut into blocks of the size desired.
No powder is used in quarrying marble, although
it is sometimes very sparingly used in removing
scales and scalps when the layer has not raised
evenly on its bed. Where the marble lies at an
angle tunneling is resorted to, instead of removing
the immense amount of top-rock that would other-
wise be necessary. Powder is used for this purpose.
To avoid shattering the marble in any way, a chan-
nel is cut into the side of the rock, and just above
the good marble to be taken out a large number of
small blast-holes are put in. The cut which has
been made prevents the powder from shattering the
marble below, and a sufficient space is thus made
upon which to place a machine to cut the underlying
layers. It is not usual to tunnel during the winter
months, because, although quarrying is carried on
throughout the entire year, it cannot be done so
cheaply or satisfactorily as in summer.
Let us glance for a moment at the methods in
vogue in Italy. Almost surrounding the city of
Carrara, and within a few miles of it, is a high
mountain range, bare of trees or vegetation, con-
taining the marble quarries of Italy. These quar-
ries, some 400 in number, are scattered through the
mountains, beginning near the base and extending
up the sides from 3000 to 3500 feet. So inaccess-
ible are many of them, that the descent into some
is by means of ropes, and in others the men do all
the work while suspended in mid-air. The entire
quarrying process is most primitive, no machinery
of any kind being employed. Hand-drills are used
to cut a hole in the face of the ledge. This is filled
with powder, the charge exploded, and the quarry-
ing is done. Unless unusual care is taken, huge
blocks are frequently detached, and go tumbling
down the mountain side. It often happens that the
blast only detaches pieces that are too small to be
of any use, and even in the huge boulders the pow-
der that has been used is very apt to penetrate and
check the stone, so that it is worthless, although the
damage it has done may not be discovered until
years after, when the marble has for a long time
been exposed to the action of the weather. The
boulders that have been tumbled out in this way
are next put into shape by men with a hammer and
chisel picking them over and knocking off the rough
pieces. Blocks of unusual size are divided by saw-
ing. An iron saw operated by two men, much after
the manner we saw logs, except that there are no
teeth in the saw, is used. Sand and water are ap-
plied, and gradually the implement wears through
the block. The blocks are next transported on huge
wagons, drawn by half a dozen yoke of poor, ill-
kept oxen, to the railroad or the harbor, a few miles
behind. The life of these laborers is, indeed, a hard
one. Many start for work at sunrise, and leave only
when darkness makes it necessary, and for their
work receive from twenty-five to forty-five cents a
day, a pittance so small, that it is a wonder how
they live. Such, in brief, is the Italian quarrying
industry. Compare it with the same kind of work
carried on in Vermont, and how quickly is noted
the difference between the results of American in-
genuity and push, and of Italian adherence to anti-
quated methods.
"f^ylLvt^^
CHAPTER XXIX
POWDER AND EXPLOSIVES
IN order to gain a just appreciation of the pro-
gress of the manufacture of explosives in the
United States during the last loo years, it will
be necessary to consider in a cursory manner the
condition of the manufacture in the old world prior
to 1795.
This review must of course refer to " black pow-
der" only, as it is called, as this was the only ex-
plosive then manufactured. Very few others were
known, most of the chemical explosives being dis-
covered during the present century. Gunpowder,
as is well known, is composed of three ingredients —
saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal. In the prepara-
tion of these, their purification, their incorporation,
and the subsequent finishing of the product, con-
sists the manufacture of powder. From remote
times it has been the custom to granulate gun-
powder in some way. The original method of
manufacture was very simple, and consisted of pul-
verizing the ingredients in a mortar and forming
grains of it by working the damp material through
a sieve. The grains thus formed were hardened by
final drying. At first the pestle of the mortar was
worked by hand, then by means of a rope passing
over a pulley, and afterward by mechanical means,
as in the stamping-mill. This mill was a series of
mortars excavated in a block of wood, a battery of
pestles being raised and let fall in them by means of
pins in a revolving shaft. The use of stamping-
mills dates from the latter part of the seventeenth
century. In 1794, the separate pulverization of the
materials was adopted because of the firequent ex-
plosions of the stamping-mills. These explosions
were said to destroy one sixth of the whole number
of stamping-mills in France annually. The process of
pulverizing in drums was first made use of in France,
both for the separate comminuting of the ingredi-
ents, and for the intimate mixing of them. For the
latter purpose was used a cylinder made of rawhide
stretched upon a frame of wood, and containing
zinc balls. This form of apparatus was imported
into the United States, and is still in use to a limited
extent. About the middle of the eighteenth century
incorporating-mills were first used in France. Some
time before this they had been introduced into
Sweden. The wheel-mill is now the standard in-
corporating-machine, and is used in almost all
powder-works of importance.
At the end of the last century the art of gun-
powder-making had been brought to a high degree
of perfection in France, having received the direct
personal care of men of the best abilities in this line.
Some of the processes used at that time have not
been improved upon since. There were two fac-
tories at Essone under the personal care of Antoine
Laurent Lavoisier, the great chemist and the discov-
erer of oxygen. An English writer says of him :
" He improved the manufacture of gunpowder so as
to add one third to its explosive force, thereby re-
versing the previous superiority of English over
French ordnance."
Associated with Lavoisier was a young man who
must be mentioned as the pioneer in improved gun-
powder-making in the United States. Eleuth^re
Irenee du Pont, son of Pierre Samuel du Pont de
Nemours, a statesman of reputation, came to this
country in 1801. Having occasion to use some
powder of native manufacture, he was struck by its
very poor quality. Immediately his thoughts turned
to the business he knew so well, and he conceived
the idea of starting a manufactory here. Returning
to France, he secured the capital required, and came
again to this country, bringing his machinery with
him. As soon as the necessary preparations could
be made he started his works. His name still lives
in connection with the establishment he founded.
His coming marked the advent of improved methods.
Before the importation of the French machinery, the
192
Francis G. du Pont.
POWDER AND EXPLOSIVES
193
art of gunpowder-making had been in a rudimentary
state. A few small mills in which the old methods
of manufacture prevailed were all that then existed
in the United States. The names of the mills have
passed away, but the location of one is remembered
because it was upon the Brandywine Creek at a
point not far from the site of the largest powder-
manufactory at present in the country. This small
factory was entirely destroyed by a freshet in the
stream about the year 1800. From what has been
said it may be understood how poor the quality of
the powder was which was supplied by the domestic
mills before the beginning of this century. The im-
portation of the French methods gave the proper
start, at once improving the powder made. With
the right start made, it may be safely said that the
progress since on this side of the Atlantic has been
upon lines independent from those in Europe.
During the war of 181 2 our forces were supplied
with gunpowder of domestic manufacture. In the
period which had elapsed from the beginning of the
century the mills had been increased to such an ex-
tent as to render this possible. At the beginning of
hostilities the United States found it a difficult mat-
ter to obtain saltpeter, as it was principally imported,
and our coast was blockaded as far as possible by
the British. Recourse was had to the old process
of " nitre beds." These were masses of organic mat-
ter, animal and vegetable remains, mixed with cal-
careous earth to render the mass porous and to
afford a base with which the acid formed could com-
bine. The beds were placed in shaded situations.
Nitric acid, being formed by the decomposition,
united with the lime and magnesia present in the
earth. The beds were afterward hxiviated with
water, and the solution treated with water from
wood ashes, the potassium carbonate of which pre-
cipitated the earthy salts as carbonates, forming in
their stead potassium nitrate or saltpeter. This was
afterward crystallized from the water of solution.^
Only a few years ago the plant of one of these nitre
manufactories, constructed during the second war
with Great Britain, was in a fair state of preservation
in the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, the dry atmos-
phere of the place having kept the wood of the vats
and pipes from decay.
In the period from 1802 to 1840 two large gun-
powder-factories were established in the United
States, as well as a few smaller ones. During that time
the building of canals and mines caused a consider-
able demand for powder for use in blasting. This
became so marked that to meet it the manufacturers
placed blasting-powder upon the market, which was
13
simply a powder of ingredients less pure and less
carefully incorporated. It was not, however, until
1856 that blasting-powder, as now commonly known,
was made. For some years the idea of using sodium
nitrate had obtained, but its dehquescent property
hindered its introduction. In 1856, however, its
preparation was begun on a large scale by the prin-
cipal manufacturers, a result due to American enter-
prise alone. It was found that the difficulties which
were supposed to be insurmountable were capable of
being overcome, and the great blasting-powder in-
dustry of the present was the result. Indeed, the
introduction of the sodium nitrate into the manufac-
ture of powder may be considered a turning-point in
its history. Not only did it revolutionize the indus-
try, but its use so reduced the cost of the production
of nitric acid that its influence was felt on the high
explosive manufacture which came in a few years
later. It gave to the United States the great bene-
fit of a cheap nitrate which it could not otherwise
have had.
Gunpowder made from the Chilian nitrate, as the
sodium nitrate was at first called, has become one
of the articles of prime necessity to our modem civil-
ization. By its means have been developed the great
mining operations of the United States, and as yet
nothing is known which is capable of taking its place.
Its introduction stimulated the extension of the older
manufactories and the building of new. When the
Civil War began, the gunpowder-factories of the North
were in a condition to furnish all the powder that
was required by the forces in the field and the vessels
afloat. It was the older establishments, however,
that were instrumental in supplying the needs of the
government, as their experience and financial stand-
ing gave them preeminent ability. It must be said,
however, that the requirements of the government at
the time of the outbreak of the war were simple
enough to admit of their being complied with with-
out much difficulty. Had the necessities of modem
guns formed the standard attempted, the task would
have been different. The supplying of the govern-
ment with the powder needed during the war called
for the exercise of patriotism as much as did the du-
ties of the camp and field. Great lack of skilled
labor existed with which to operate the mills. The
danger from emissaries of the enemy and lawless per-
sons was always present, and constant vigilance was
required to prevent their entrance to the works. It
has never been ascertained whether the enemy did
cause any damage to the powder-factories of the
North during the war; but it is a fact that there were
many disastrous explosions, which make the record
194
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
of the four years of the war the most unfortunate in
this particular ever known. Just before the battle of
Gettysburg there was a plan on the part of the enemy
to destroy the nearest powder-works. This plot was
disclosed after the war by the officer who had been
instructed to carry it out. The owners of the works,
expecting an attack, had everything in readiness to
destroy the finished powder, as well as that in fabri-
cation, together with their mills, rather than let them
fall into the hands of the enemy.
The Civil War acted as a stimulus to most of
the industries of the United States, but there was
a different reason for its effect upon the manufacture
of powder than for the impetus given elsewhere.
While, of course, this industry partook of the general
increased activity, it was on account of the improve-
ment in the ballistic conditions of guns that the time
of the war was a turning-point for gunpowder. In
i860. General Rodman began his celebrated experi-
ments, upon which it may almost be said were founded
the modern theories of heavy ordnance; for he did
what had never been done before, he measured the
pressure in the bore of a gun at- the moment of dis-
charge. Immediately upon this followed the prepa-
ration of powder of a larger granulation than had
heretofore been used. This change proved of much
value ; so that it was again due to American ability
that new light was thrown upon the subject of explo-
sives. This invention marks the close of the old and
simple methods of manufacture and proof, and ushers
in the more expensive, difficult, and exacting manu-
facture, and the more scientific proof. Prior to the
time of this invention, the test that was universally
applied to gunpowder was that of the "6prouvette"
mortar. This was a mortar having about a six-inch
bore, with a chamber at the bottom holding one
ounce of powder. When the mortar was elevated to
forty-five degrees the distance to which the round
ball was thrown was the test of the efficiency of
the powder. The required distance was 300 yards.
It was a very imperfect test, as it showed the quick-
ness of the powder only. No knowledge of the
pressure or of the velocity imparted to a given
weight of ball was sought or required. The ball-
istic pendulum was also used. This was a pen-
dulum to which a rifle was securely fastened, be-
ing free to swing in the direction of the Hne of fire.
The bullet was received in a metal case filled with
sand, covered with a thin board. This case was
hung upon another pendulum, also free to swing in
the line of fire. The amount of swing of these two
pendulums, registered by suitable devices, was the
index of the value of the powder for use in the rifle.
To General Rodman belongs the credit of inventing
the pressure "plug." This was a piston, the head of
which was capable of being acted upon by the gases
of explosion in the bore of a gun. The end of the
piston carried a knife, which had a curved cutting
edge resting upon a block of soft copper. The gases
at the moment of explosion acting upon the known
area of the piston caused the knife to make a certain
cut in the soft copper. The length of this cut is the
indication of the pressure upon the end of the piston
acted upon by the gases in the bore. The length of
the cut made with a known weight applied to the
knife is compared with this, and an accurate result is
obtained. Sir Andrew Noble in England substituted
a cylinder of soft copper for the knife, and measured
the amount of its compression. This form is in use
to-day, and is sometimes called the " crusher gauge."
The importance of this invention can scarcely be
overestimated, for it was a step toward the success
of modem gun practice, without which improved re-
sults would be impossible. The velocity of the ball
was measured early, and the two combined made
effective the adaptation of the powder to the gun.
Benton's chronograph was used for a short time in
this country. In it the velocity was measured by
the crossing of the swing of two pendulums, which
were let fall by electro-magnets, the one by the cut-
ting of a wire in front of the muzzle of the gun, and
the other at a measured distance from the muzzle.
This form of chronograph was superseded by the Bou-
lenge chronograph, in which a plummet is dropped
by the cutting of the muzzle wire, and another by
the same at the target, the second by means of a
spring making a nick on the side of the first while it
is falling, the distance of which mark from the mark
made when both plummets are dropped together
being the index of the velocity of the ball while
traversing the distance from the muzzle to the target.
These two instruments are of prime importance in
the testing of powder for guns, but there are many
other requirements as to density, susceptibility to
moisture, and other matters. American ingenuity
and enterprise has long been employed in the pro-
duction of powder for large guns. Here our dis-
coveries have antedated or run parallel with those in
foreign countries. Hexagonal, sphero-hexagonal,
cubical, and prismatic granulations of powder are all
American inventions, the latter in all but its form.
The United States has ample supplies to command in
the manufacture of domestic powder in event of
war.
Soon after the manufacture of nitro-glycerine began
abroad it was imported into this country, but as this
POWDER AND EXPLOSIVES
195
substance was then in the form of a liquid, several
terrible explosions were the result of its transporta-
tion. After Nobel's discovery that it could be safely
handled when held by an absorbent, works were es-
tablished in the United States for its manufacture.
On the Pacific coast particularly was its use encour-
aged, the hard quartz-mining being a most desirable
field for its operation. Hercules and Atlas powders
are the most important forms of American high ex-
plosives. Judson powder, an American invention
also, is much used upon the Pacific coast. It com-
bines some of the advantages of black blasting-
powder with those of a mild form of high explosive.
Modern engineering works are now almost wholly
dependent upon the use of high explosives in some
form. Black powder still has its uses, and will hold
its own for years, but in hard rock there is need of
more power than is possible with this kind alone.
The detonation of the nitro- glycerine compounds
shatters the hardest rock in a manner which makes
its subsequent removal very economical. There are
two engineering works which indicate very well the
era of the introduction of high explosives in this
country. In the year 1870, the Nesquehoning
tunnel, near Wilkesbarre, was excavated in very hard
rock by the use of black powder only. The engineers
in charge were unwilling to introduce the then new
and untried explosive. The work was, however,
completed in good form and very quickly, owing
largely to the extensive use of compressed air-drills.
About the same time the Hoosac tunnel was com-
pleted, nitro-glycerine alone being used in the work.
This explosive was principally manufactured upon
the ground, and was much used in the liquid state.
This work was a greater one than the tunnel first
mentioned, but the two serve to mark the transition
period in the practical use of explosives. One of
the greatest of modem engineering works, the Chi-
cago drainage canal, is now being carried on largely
by high explosives. It is an example of the mag-
nitude of the work that is attempted with explosives.
Most of the American dynamite made by the older
manufacturers is very safely handled. One large fac-
tory is shipping the material by rail all over the
United States, and in thus transporting millions
of pounds not one explosion has ever happened in
transit. Frequently derailments and collisions have
occurred, the dynamite cars, and even the boxes,
being broken, and the cartridges scattered, but
without evil results so far as this explosive was
concerned.
Smokeless powder for small arms was in use in
Europe for some time before its introduction here.
Schultze powder was the first, but its use was re-
stricted to sporting purposes only. E. C. powder
was an English invention, and was imported to this
country soon after its use began in England in 1882.
Later a plant was built in the United States for its
production. Like the Schultze, it was employed for
sporting arms only. The idea of smokeless powder
for larger guns was first advanced by Viele, in his
Poudre B., and later by Nobel in ballistite, in 1886.
Ballistite was a combination of nitro-glycerine with
gun-cotton, and was the first use of the former
attempted in gun practice. As late as 1889 cord-
ite was patented by Sir Frederick Abel and Professor
James Dewar for the use of the English government.
It derives its name from the fact that it is made in
cords or strings, in which state it is used. In smoke-
less powders the United States is not behind the
European nations. An entirely original smokeless
powder for sporting piurposes has been invented here
which is in many respects an improvement on the
older powders, and is meeting with success and
favorable notice. The adoption of the new .30
calibre rifle by the army and the .236 calibre by the
navy has stimulated the efforts of domestic ingenu-
ity, with the result that satisfactory powder can now
be procured in large quantity for both branches of
the service. In the production of smokeless powder
for the large guns the Naval Torpedo Station has
taken an important part, having just brought a long
line of experiments to a successful conclusion. It has
produced an excellent powder for the six-inch rifle.
Good smokeless powder has also been offered by
private manufacturers, but as yet the departments
have moved slowly in the adoption of any of the
new powders, being desirous of obtaining the best,
and also to be sure of the stability of the product
when subjected to the changes of climate necessary.
Gunpowder and explosives are manufactured in a
number of the States, Pennsylvania producing the
most, and being followed by Delaware, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Ohio, California, Iowa, Tennessee,
Massachusetts, and Maine. It is estimated that
$7,000,000 to $8,000,000 worth is produced an-
nually, the capital being about $20,000,000 and the
number of employees about 5,000.
7m%/
'^/%^
CHAPTER XXX
AMERICAN LUMBER
To describe the progress of the lumbering in-
dustry during the last hundred years is to
write of a class of sturdy people who have
carried the first germs of civilization into the deepest
wilderness of our vast forests, and who have fur-
nished one of the most essential materials for the
building up of our civilization and development in
all parts of the country. But it also means the re-
cording of a destruction and deterioration of natural
resources such as has perhaps, nowhere else been
witnessed in so short a span of time. It is a record
of which those who have been engaged in making
it may be proud, because it required pluck, persis-
tence, and ingenuity on their part ; but the nation
and coming generations can only regret the wasteful-
ness with which seemingly boundless resources have
been exploited without regard to future needs, and
to the detriment of desirable reproduction.
Wood is, has been, and probably will always be
the most indispensable material for human civiliza-
tion ; and in no country, perhaps, has it played a
more important factor in the progress of material
development than in the United States. If, as the
imperfect statistics at our command indicate, the
per capita consumption of wood in all shapes at
present falls hardly short of 350 cubic feet, — nearly
nine times that of Germany and twenty-five times
that of Great Britain, — the probability is that one
hundred years ago it was even greater, when iron
and stone had not yet replaced the native timber in
building, and when coal had not yet been substituted
to any extent in the fireplaces of the fathers. While,
then, the consumption of wood has always been
large, and the exploitation of forest resources one
of the earliest occupations of the settlers in the new
country, the great lumber industry as we know it
to-day is a child of comparatively recent times —
hardly over fifty years old ; but in that short time it
has not only developed in all its parts to gigantic
proportions, from a commercial point of view, but
has also become an art distinctively American ; for
no other nation can compete with us in the expert-
ness of the axmen, loggers, drivers, and sawyers, in
the excellence of machinery and appliances, or in
the systematic methods used in this exploitation of
our great natural forest resource.
A hundred years ago logging was carried on only
along the coast and the Eastern river-courses. Beside
all convenient waters small sawmills, the common
accompaniment of all early settlements, were estab-
lished, the mill parts costing no more than from $60
to $500 at the most. These mills sawed to order for
home consumption or sent material to the mouth of
the river, to be carried by vessel to home and foreign
markets. They were often run in the manner of the
country grist-mills, — in fact, usually formed a part of
them, the log owner paying toll to the miller for the
sawing, and perhaps using the lumber to pay for
store goods. That this petty method of doing busi-
ness lasted until the middle of this century is evi-
denced by the census of 1840, which reports 31,560
lumber-mills, with a total product valued at $12,-
943,507, or a little over $400 per mill. The exports
of timber, also, although a comparatively important
item to the struggling colonies and States, rarely ex-
ceeded $5,000,000 per annum during these first four
decades of the centxu-y.
The getting out of timber, squared and hewn, was
then a much more important business ; and the con-
struction of wooden ships, then the only kind afloat,
furnished a good market for large and select timbers,
which constituted, no doubt, the bulk of the exports
of a century ago. Timbers worth $200 and more
apiece were often cut. " We saw brought in with four-
teen yokes of oxen a pine spar, eighty-three feet long,
seven feet in diameter at butt, bringing $250," re-
ports a writer from Belfast, Me. In this connection
it is interesting to note that such long timbers as
masts, spars, etc., were quoted by the inch on the
diameter, measured twelve feet from the butt, bring-
19G
AMERICAN LUMBER
197
ing $1.50 and more per inch in the rough as late as
1850 in Philadelphia. There were then no lumber
markets, no prominent lumbering regions, where the
business was concentrated; and even in 1820, Wil-
liams, in his excellent history of Maine, while care-
fully enumerating her resources, fails to mention
the lumber industries of that State, Although a
considerable amount was exported from places like
Belfast and others, this lumber was brought to town,
like farm produce, by the rural population of the
neighborhood. Thus 300 to 400 sleighs arrived
loaded with lumber one Saturday in 1 8 1 6 ; and in a
single day in 1822 136,000 feet were brought into
Belfast by the numerous teams of the farmers.
To give an idea of the development of milling in
Maine the following example will serve. At Lewis-
ton, Me., the first sawmill, forming part of a grist-
mill, was erected in 1770, and destroyed and rebuilt
in 1808 and 18 14. Not until 1851 was a new mill
started, at a cost of $7000; in 1865 one valued at
$60,000 found business with gang and circular saws ;
while in 1867 the Lewiston Steam-Mill Company
completed a $100,000 plant. Similarly we find in
Pittsburg, Pa., although large amounts of lumber
were handled at the place, no mention of the saw-
mill business in the enumeration of the trades for
1804, i8i2, and even as late as 1837 ; in 1876 there
were enumerated thirty-four sawmills, at the head
of the list, showing their importance. Yet even then
the decline in supplies of certain kinds of lumber in
Pennsylvania and New York had already become
noticeable, as appears from the report of the Cham-
ber of Commerce of Cincinnati, which was supplied
by river from these States. We read in the report
for 1869 : " Receipts per river light, since the pine
of western New York and Pennsylvania is largely
exhausted." Prices of raft-run lumber were quoted
at this market in 1867 at $24 to $25, and 130,000,-
000 feet were received. Three years later the chief
supply came from Michigan by canal and rail.
In 1838 the first large mills were erected at Wil-
liamsport. Pa. ; but the boom which afterward sup-
plied between forty and fifty mills was not finished
until twelve years later, in 1850. In 1834, Harvey
Williams, the well-known pioneer of Michigan, built
the first steam sawmill in the Saginaw Valley, and
in 1837 completed the Emerson mill, which was
considered the " crack " mill of the West. Yet the
great lumber industries which have made Saginaw,
Mich., famous all over the world were then men-
tioned only as "prospects," and the great pineries
of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota were still
unexplored. Even in 1857, while pine lumbering
13*
was carried on as the principal business at Stevens
Point, Portage County, Wis., and on the Black,
Wisconsin, and Chippewa rivers, the great lumber
streams of later years were hardly mentioned. In
1854 a sudden increase in exportations to nearly
double the previous figures indicates a change of
methods, brought about, no doubt, by improved
means of transportation. The export of forest pro-
ducts from that time constantly increased until the
present average of $28,000,000 to $30,000,000
worth was attained.
Until 1 8 1 9 the lumber supplies which found their
way into St. Louis, Mo., — then a mere trading-post,
now one of the greatest lumber markets in the world,
— were cut in the neighborhood, with whip-saws, at
rates of $3 to $3.50 per 100 feet; and in a retail
price-list of those times boards are mentioned as
"not in the market," pine boards coming from
Pittsburg, Pa., in flatboats, and seUing at $8 per
100 feet. An accident in the breaking of the boom
on the St. Croix in 1843 ^^^ ^o the construction of
a log raft, which found its way to St. Louis, and
seems to have given an impetus to the growing log
trade in that direction, which in 1853 was changed
into lumber rafting, initiated by Schulenburg &
Boeckler, the extensive mill owners of the St. Croix
River. In 1858 a regular lumbering business began
at Alpena, Mich., when Archibalt & Murray put
in 1,000,000 feet of logs at $2 per 1000 feet,
board measure. This material was of a quality
which could not now be bought for less than $12
to $15. Later, in 1874, this place turned out 85,-
000,000 feet of lumber alone, not mentioning shingles
and lath.
After the war the settlements of the West grew
as if by magic, and with them the lumber industry of
modern times developed by rapid strides. In 1868
the " golden age " of lumbering in Michigan had
arrived; in 187 1 lumber rafts filled the Wisconsin;
in 1875 Eau Claire had thirty, Marathon thirty.
Fond du Lac twenty sawmills, now all gone; and
La Crosse was cutting millions of feet annually from
the Black River and St. Croix. By 1882 the Sagi-
naw Valley had reached the climax of its production,
and the lumber industry of the great Northwest, with
a cut of 8,000,000,000 feet of white pine alone, was
in full blast, while even the Southern pineries were
filled with the hum and buzz of the circular saws,
Mobile and Florida ports alone sending over 300,-
000,000 feet, board measure, of lumber and hewn
timber to foreign markets.
The enormous increase in railroad mileage, open-
ing up new territory and making virgin supplies
198
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
accessible to markets, had doubtless much to do
with this expansion of the lumber trade. It was
probably, also, favorable to the concentration of
this trade at great centers, and the establishment of
lumber markets with wholesale and retail yards, in-
dependent of the points of lumber production. Of
these, Chicago, the greatest lumber market in the
world, derived its supplies from the three great lum-
ber States, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota,
which for a quarter-century have furnished the bulk
Census figures are, as a rule, only approximations,
keeping generally below the truth ; and since the
method of enumeration is changed with each census,
the data do not permit of ready and reliable com-
parison. Yet the following compilation, taken from
the census for 1890, will be useful in showing the
rapid increase in lumber production during the last
three decades, and will exhibit the marvelous growth
of the lumber industry, especially during the last
decade :
COMPARATIVE SUMMARY, LUMBER AND SAWMILLS, 1870, 1880, and 1890.
Items.
Number of establishments reporting
Capital
Average number of employees (aggregate)
Total wages
Cost of material used
Value of products
Average value of products per mill
1870.1
25,832
$114,794,586
^ 149.997
$32,007,322
$82,674,744
$168,127,462
$6,508
1880.
25,708
$181,186,122
^ 147,956
$31,845,974
$146,155,385
$233,268,729
$9,073
i8go.
21,011
$496,399,968
286,197
$87,784,433
$231,555,618
$403,667,575
$19,212
1 The amounts for 1870 reduced to gold basis.
of the lumber that has built up oiu- civilization in
the West as well as in the East. The receipts at
Chicago from decade to decade best exhibit, per-
haps, the rapid growth of this wonderful industry.
In 1847 only 32,000,000 feet of lumber found its
That the increase in lumber production is mainly
due to home consumption will appear from the fol-
lowing table of exports, which, although showing
increases, exhibits no extraordinary growth of the
export trade.
VALUE OF EXPORTS OF FOREST PRODUCTS,i i860 to 1895.
Total Ex-
Total Ex-
Total Ex-
Year.
Value.
horts OF
Domestic
Products.
Year.
Value.
ports OF
Domestic
Products.
Year.
Value.
ports OF
Domestic
Products.
Per Cent.
Per Cent.
Per Cent.
i860....
$10,299,959
3.26
1881....
$19,486,051
2.20
1889....
$26,997,127
3 70
1870....
14,897,963
3-27
1882....
25,580,264
3-50
1890....
29,473,084
3-49
1875 ...
19,165,907
3-43
1883....
28,636,199
3-56
1891. ..
28,715.713
329
1876...
18,076,668
3-04
1884 ..
26,222,959
3-62
1892....
27.957.423
2-75
1877 ..
19,943,290
3-14
1885 ....
22,014,839
3-03
1893 ..
28,335."S
1878 . . .
17.750.396
2-55
1886 ...
20,961,708
3-15
1894. . . .
26,164,114
1879....
16,336,943
2-34
1887....
21,126,273
3.01
1895 ...
28,743,887
1880 ...
17,321,268
2.11
1888...
23,991.092
3-51
1 These figures include, besides lumber, timber, and logs, representing from fifty to sixty per cent., shingles, cooperage stock,
firewood, barks, and naval stores.
way to the then just budding metropolis; in 1855
this had grown to nearly ten times that amount, or
over 306,000,000 feet; in 1865 it had more than
doubled, the receipts being 647,145,734 feet, to be
nearly doubled again in 1875, with 1,153,715,432
feet; increasing to 1,744,892,000 feet in 1885, and
reaching a maximum in 1892 with 2,203,874,000
feet ; it then fell with the general business depression
in 1894 to 1,562,527,000 feet, board measure.
It is interesting to note that, next to England,
South America, Australia, and Africa are among
our best customers.
While the census figures above given refer to the
lumbering and sawmill business only, the other in-
dustries relying upon the same resource, the forest,
swell the values derived thence to at least double the
amounts, as the following table of estimates based
partly on census figures will show.
AMERICAN LUMBER
199
AMOUNT AND VALUE OF FOREST PRODUCTS USED DURING
THE CENSUS YEAR 1890.
Classes of Products.
Quantity.
Estimated Cubic Con-
tents OF Forest-
grown Material.
Value.
I. Mill products :
Agricultural-implement stock feet, B. M. .
Bobbin and spool stock do ... .
Carriage and wagon stock do ... .
Furniture stock do ...
30,000,000
49,000,000
66,000,000
94,000,000
27,630,000,000
Cubic Feet.
$582,000
688,000
1,306,000
1,435,000
310,818,000
Total sawed lumber do . . .
Lath pieces . .
Pickets and palings do ... .
Shingles do ... .
Staves do ... .
Headings sets . .
27,869,000,000
2,365,000,000
110,000,000
9,276,000,000
1,178,000,000
183,000,000
4,000,000,000
314,829,000
3,709,924
750,000
1 7,000,000
7,762,000
4,934,000
1
( 200,000,000
300,000,000
1 75,000,000
Total lumber and cognate products, directly from logs .
4,675,000,000
$348,984,924
II. Railroad construction :
Ties pieces . .
Round and hewn timber used for bridges and trestles . .
Telegraph poles
80,000,000
400,000,000
80,000,000
5,000,000
Total
485,000,000
$40,000,000
III. Exported timber not included in subdivision I. :
Hewn timber, 6,900,000 cubic feet ...
9,000,000
2,500,000
500,000
$1,230,000
2,000,000
Logs and round timber
Rived staves, stave and bolts
1,500,000
IV. Wood-pulp:
300,000 tons ground-paper-pulp
80,000 tons soda-pulp
12,000,000
$4,730,000
> 75,000,000
80,000,000
$3,550,000
50,000 tons pulp for other purposes
V. Miscellaneous mill products other than lumber manu-
20,765,000
5,327,000,000
$418,020,924
erable underestimate, based upon census returns, and
we are entirely safe in rounding off the total of sizable
timber used and its value to
5,500,000,000
18,000,000,000
250,000,000
16,200,000
$450,000,000
450,000,000
7,000,000
VII. Wood used for dyeing extracts and charcoal for gun-
437,000
23,766,000,000
$907,437,000
VIII. Naval stores :
Turpentine barrels . .
Quantity.
Value.
Total Value.
346,544
1429,154
2,000,000
$5,459,115
2,413,757
1,750,000
360,000
6,925,000
2,783,500
307,500
198,000
112.000
74,000
Rosin do ... .
Acetic acid in acetate of lime . .
$7,872,872
2,110,000
X. Tanning materials :
Hemlock bark cords . .
Oak bark do ... .
1,056,000
322,150
64,200
3.300
3,750
Hemlock and bark for extract do ...
Sumac leaves for tanning tons . .
Sumac leaves for extract sets . . .
Various materials not accounted for
10,400,000
XL Maple sugar pounds . .
32,952,927
2,258,376
3,300,000
2,200,000
Maple syrup gallons . .
5,500,000
Total value of forest by-products
$25,882,872
Total value of all forest products
Add 10 per cent, for omissions and underestimates
$933,319,872
93,331,987
Total value of wood and forest products at original
place of production, estimated to have been used
during census year 1890 . ....
$1,026,650,859
200 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Comparing similar estimates for the census years to foreign markets. Of hard woods, our oaks (some
since 1 860, an increase in the consumption of forest ten or twelve marketable species), ash in several
products at the rate of thirty per cent, more or less species, and hard maple are superior to those of
can be asserted for every decade. other regions of the world ; the tulip-poplar and the
Imports of such a bulky material as wood are hickories have no equals of their kind ; sycamore,
naturally drawn chiefly from neighboring communi- walnut and cherry, birch and elms, furnish rich orna-
ties, except in the case of specially valuable woods, mental woods ; and altogether the supply of wood
With the exception, therefore, of fine cabinet and materials in the United States excels every other
dye woods of tropic origin, and other kinds which region of the world in the combination of diversity
we do not produce, we import lumber and timber of kinds, quality, utility, and abundance,
from Canada only. Although considerable discus- Maine, once the white-pine State, has long ceased
sion has been raised over the tariff duties on Cana- to cut any appreciable amounts of that greatest sta-
dian lumber, the importations from that country pie of the American market, but supphes the bulk of
represent hardly five per cent, of our lumber con- the spruce, with New Hampshire and the Adiron-
sumption, ranging in total value for the last fifteen dacks in New York to help, and Boston, Albany,
years between $10,000,000 and $20,000,000 out of and New York City for markets. The white pine
a total importation of forest products ranging from of Michigan is nearly all cut, and the supplies in
$15,000,000 to $30,000,000. Almost the entire cut Wisconsin and Minnesota are beginning to show
of the province of Ontario, tariff or no tariff, goes signs of exhaustion ; so that the enormous output
to the United States, while over eighty per cent, of a round 10,000,000,000 feet per year will soon
of the Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia be reduced, and that materially. Hemlock supplies,
lumber goes to England. despised twenty years ago except for the tan-bark,
At present, while sawmilling is, to be sure, car- are still abundant in northern Pennsylvania and the
ried on wherever trees can be found to cut, the neighboring counties of New York, but will not last
staples of the market come from those regions where long.
supplies are still most abundant and, at the same With the waning of the Northern coniferous tim-
time, means of communication are well developed, bers the Southern supphes are coming more and
White pine, the king of the American forest, fur- more to the front. The coast regions of the Atlan-
nishing the most useful lumber for building, as well tic, as well as the Gulf shore, furnish large quantities
as for a great many other purposes, is, of course, of long-leaf, short-leaf, and loblolly pine, some
our greatest staple, forming more than one quarter 7,000,000,000 feet, board measure, of these being
of our entire lumber output. The long-leaf pine of cut annually, with eastern Texas probably still best
the South, — the celebrated pitch-pine of the English supplied. Cypress, long despised, is now a well-
markets, the yellow or Georgia pine of our markets, — established article, with main supplies in Louisiana
unsurpassed for strength and combining most desir- and along most of the river-bottoms of the Southern
able qualities as timber, comes next in quantity of States. Hard woods still abound in nearly all the
production. Two other Southern pines, the short- central portions of the country east of the Missis-
leaf and loblolly, — also known in the markets as sippi, with St. Louis and Memphis as the principal
North Carolina and Virginia pine, although grow- markets, although some kinds, like the ash, the tulip-
ing in all the Southern States, — help to replace the poplar, and the walnut, are more or less exhausted,
waning supplies of white pine, spruce, fir, and hem- An attempt to estimate the standing supphes for the
lock ; and while their use is chiefly local, they form lumber industry, based on rather slim and unsatis-
a considerable amount in our lumber consumption, factory data, would distribute the same as follows :
Cypress and cedar also help in a limited way in fiU-
. ,, . , e -t ,• , r , • u STANDING SUPPLY OF LUMBER IN THE
mg the requirements for coniferous timber, of which united states
not less than 30,000,000,000 feet, board measure, are ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 7oo,oc«,ooo.ooo feet. B. M.
needed annually. The magnificent timbers of the Northern States 500,000,000,000 " "
Pacific coast,-the redwood, the Douglas spruce, the ^^l'; Zuntains; ctc-;.V.;.V.V.^''i^ZSr « "
sugar-pine, the Port Orford cedar, etc., — of the most
„ ^ .. J 1. • , 1 • • J 1 2,^00,000,000,000 feet, B. M.
excellent quality, and obtainable in sizes and clear .j . . .
material found nowhere else, have hardly yet reached Other estimates increase this amount doubtfully
the Eastern markets, the distance preventing profit- by twenty-five per cent.
able shipment. Most of this material goes by water The present cut, based on somewhat more reliable
Bernhard E. Fernow,
AMERICAN LUMBER
201
data furnished by census figiu-es and other sources,
may be estimated at a round 40,000,000,000 feet,
board measure, including all material requiring bolt
or log size, valued at about $450,000,000. This cut
may be roughly estimated as distributed by regions
and kinds in the following manner :
and the systeniatic methods of handling the business.
If Germany has become the teacher of the world
in the matter of forestry, — that is, in the rational
reproduction and management of timber crops, — the
lumbermen of the United States of America have
become the most expert exploiters of the natural for-
LUMBER CUT BY REGIONS AND KINDS.
Regions.
New England and North Atlantic States
Central States (mostly hard woods) . . .
Lake regions (mostly pine)
Southern coast (mostly pine)
Pacific coast
Miscellaneous
Feet, B. M.
6,000,000,000
5,000,000,000
13,000,000,000
10,000,000,000
4,000,000,000
2,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
Kinds.
White pine
Spruce and fir
Hemlock
Long-leaf pine
Short-leaf and loblolly
Cypress
Redwood
All other conifers
Oak
All other hard woods . ,
Feet, B. M.
12,000,000,000
5,000,000,000
4,000,000,000
4,000,000,000
3,000,000,000
500,000,000
500,000,000
1 ,000,000,000
3,000,000,000
7,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
One of the remarkable facts in connection with
the rapid development of the lumber industry is that
with the necessary decrease of natural supplies the
expected increase in price has not followed. This
is due to several causes, the competition especially
of the smaller mills, the increased facilities of trans-
portation to market, and the lack of appreciation of
the decrease of supplies being the most potent.
That this latter condition is, however, not entirely
lost sight of we find in comparing the price paid for
stumpage of white pine, the leading staple during
twenty-eight years, with that paid for the manufac-
tured lumber.
est resources. Methods of cutting, hauling, hand-
ling, sawing, marketing, and all the appliances and
tools employed have been developed to the highest
degree, and all means have been adapted to the end
which from the standpoint of private interest appears
desirable, namely, largest immediate profits.
These improvements, almost all put in practice
since 1850 and later, are to be found in the logging
appliances, the means of transportation of the logs
to the mill, the sawmill, and the handling of the
lumber. The ax of to-day, although much the
same in shape as of old, is of better material and
of superior workmanship ; the handle of hickory,
PRICES FOR LUMBER AND STUMPAGE OF WHITE PINE.
(compiled from report of SAGINAW BOARD OF TRADE.)
Year.
Lumber, per iooo
Feet, B. M.
Stumpagk, per iooo
Feet, B. M.
Year.
Lumber, per iooo
Feet, B. M.
Stumpage, per iooo
Feet, B. M.
1866
$11.50 to $12.00
12.00 12.50
12.00 12.50
12.50 13.00
12.00 12.50
12.50 13.00
13.00 12.00
11.50 11.00
10.50 10.00
9.50 10.00
9.00 9.50
$1.00 to $1.25
1.25 1.50
1.50 1.75
2.00 2.50
2.00 2.50
2.00 2.50
2.00 2.50
2.00 2.50
2.00 2.50
2.25 2.75
2.25 2.75
1877
$9.25 to $9.75
9.50 10,00
10.50 11.00
11.50 12.00
12.50 13.00
14.00 14.50
13.50 14.00
12.50 13.00
12.50 13.00
12.50 13.00
12.50 13.00
$2.25 to $2,75
2.25 2.75
2.50 2.75
2.75 3.00
3.00 4.00
3- SO 4-50
4.00 5.00
4.00 5.00
4.50 6.50
4.50 6.50
4.50 6.50
1867
1878
1868
1870
1869
1870
1880
1881..
1871
1882
1872 . .
187^
1883
1884
1885
1874
1875
1886
1887
1876
That the stumpage value has increased sixfold,
while the lumber value has hardly increased at all,
points to a potent influence upon price, which can
hardly be accounted for even by increased competi-
tion and transportation facilities. We have to seek
it in the improvement of the tools, the machinery,
manufactured wholesale and sold cheaply, of a form
which permits best execution, has, even in conser-
vative Europe, supplanted the clumsy straight handle.
Since the fifties cross-cut saws have more and more
been used in felling, and in reducing the waste in the
woods ; the improvements in form, in the shape of
202
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the teeth, in the adjustable handle as well as the
superior workmanship, have made American saws,
and especially those of the firm of Disston & Sons,
Philadelphia, Pa., world-famous. Steam drag-saws
and tree fellers have been invented, but are not used to
any extent ; the application of the electric current in
tree felling has not yet been more than experimental.
One of the simplest yet most valuable aids to the
logger, the ingenious peavy or cant-hook, perfected
after 1870, excites the admiration of the European
woodsman by its effective adjustment and almost
elegant form.
The organization of the logging crew into swamp-
ers (road makers), choppers, sawyers, loaders, and
teamsters is, at least in the pineries of the North-
west, as perfect as that of any business concern in
New York. The timber estimators of large firms,
and the scalers using scalers' rules, a specifically
American invention of comparatively recent date,
are experts in their way. Log sleds and log wagons
with high wheels are essentially American inven-
tions, but have not changed much in the last thirty
or forty years. A mechanical steam-logger, which
makes its own ice-road, traveling through the woods
like a locomotive, skidding the logs, was put into
practical operation a few years ago, but seems not
to have been generally accepted. On the other
hand, the "pull-boats" used in the swamps of the
South, which, by wire ropes operated from the
steam-engine on the boat, skid the cypress logs for a
distance of two to three miles on either side of river
or canal, have proved a perfect success, cheapening
and simpHfying the otherwise difficult logging oper-
ations in these swamps.
Railroads have not only brought distant lumber
centers within easy reach of markets, but they have
even penetrated the woods themselves, connecting
the mill with the sources of supply, reducing, al-
though not superseding, the river-drive. The tem-
porary tramway, broad or narrow gauged, reaching
out for fifteen, twenty, and more miles from the
mill to the cuttings, is a common feature of lum-
bering operations, especially in the Southern woods ;
while water carriage is still largely practised in the
North, and especially in the mountain country.
Here driving of logs is done as in times gone by,
both loose and in rafts ; but the orderly arrangement
of drives, booms, and boom companies, which act
as carriers of the log crop of many firms from the
woods to the mill, are in their present form an
American practice developed within the last forty
years.
The greatest improvements have been made in the
mills themselves. The water-mill, with its single
sash-saw, pulled downward by the water-wheel and
back by means of a large elastic pole, with its cog-
wheel feed, old-fashioned carriage and blocks, and
its independent dogs made by the blacksmith, which
was most common until well-nigh the middle of this
century, hardly exists to-day. It was superseded at
first by the circular or rotary saw, an invention of
an entirely new principle, which may be claimed by
Europe ; for S. Miller received a patent in England
for a saw of circular form — the description, however,
being doubtful— in 1777, and C. A. Abert obtained
patents in France in 1799 for a circular saw in sec-
tions, which in England was patented by Brunei in
1805. In the United States the year 18 14 seems
the first in which a consignment of such saws was
received from England at Pawtucket, and the same
year one was manufactiu-ed by B. Cummins at Ben-
tonville, N, Y. But it is apparent from the many
patents for single and gang reciprocating saws that
until about 1830 the rotary saws did not find much
favor. They were, however, perfected gradually,
and improved in mounting, in plate and teeth (the
first insertible teeth, an American patent, was issued
to W. Kendall in 1826). The ease with which they
could be set up anywhere, and the rapidity with
which they did their work, favored their introduc-
tion, until in i860 the great mass of lumber was
cut by them. Gang-saws were operated in the old
countries as early as the sixteenth century, and
muley-saws were also of early origin, although many
improvements were made in the United States ; and
with the growth of the lumber trade the gang-saws
for the manufacture of better-grade material kept
pace in their introduction with the rotaries.
The band-saw, the perfection of sawmill machi-
nery, although invented as early as 1 808 by an Eng-
lishman, W. Newberry, and patented in the United
States by one Barker, seems to have been first put
into practical operation for log sawing — it had
hitherto been used only for scroll sawing — in 1872
by Hoffman Brothers, for cutting hard woods in
the Maumee Valley in Ohio. Into the pineries of
the North it found its way only in the eighties, the
difficult adjustment, especially for rapid work, being
against it; but now all the best-equipped mills of
that region have discarded the rotary, and work with
band-saws, single and sometimes double, supple-
mented by nicely adjusted gang-saws, the band-saw
preparing the log for the latter rather than convert-
ing it into lumber. In hard woods, and in Southern
and Western mills, to be sure, the rotary, single or
with top and bottom saws, still prevails. Of the
AMERICAN LUMBER
203
many improvements in the mill, covered, together
with those in saws, by over 2500 patents, over 700
of which fall in the decade from 1870 to 1880, and
over 800 in the last decade, I can only mention the
direct steam-feed, supplanting the rope and friction
appliances; the accurately adjusted setting-works,
head-blocks, and dogs; the steam-nigger, a most
remarkable log-turning device ; endless chains for
bringing the log into the mill ; and mechanical car-
riers for lumber and for refuse. The improved edger,
which converts the rough unedged board into com-
mercial shape, and the trimmer, with its complicated
system of levers and " lift " or drop saws, prevent in
the better mills much waste and a loss of millions.
With the improvements in the mill came improve-
ments in its adjuncts, the introduction of shingle,
lath, and slab saws reducing the waste and using up
inferior material; planers, flooring, matching, and
molding machines, in connection with the sawmills,
refining the lumber at the original point of manufac-
ture. In the manner of sawing rift, or quarter-saw-
ing, is a notable departure, as it adds to the ornamen-
tal effect of certain kinds of lumber, as well as to the
wearing qualities for certain uses. The simple piling
of lumber to seciure seasoning has been gradually
superseded, especially in the South, by artificial dry-
ing in kilns and other devices, all introduced since
1867, natural-draft and blower kilns being most
popular. This method of driving out the water from
lumber artificially is perhaps the greatest advance in
the lumber industry dtuing the last fifteen years, in
its saving of time, material, and capital. Systematic
and uniform inspection or classification of lumber is
still rather undeveloped in this country, though lately
considerable attention has been paid to the subject
in the meetings of the lumbermen's associations, and
of the wholesale and retail yardmen.
That the lumber business has progressed to a high
degree of development is perhaps best attested by
the existence of at least thirty or forty associations
of manufacturers and dealers, of wider or narrower
scope, having more or less direct relation to the
lumber business. Besides the lumber departments
forming parts in general trade journals, there are fif-
teen or twenty publications specifically devoted to
the lumber trade, at least five or six of which will
compare favorably with the best trade journals of
other branches in make-up and contents.
With the end of the centiu-y the lumber industry
will have reached the climax of its development.
The white pine, the great staple, will then have been
reduced so as to be practically exhausted, and the
lesson of the need of economy with our forest re-
sources will then have been learned. The means of
economy will be found in more careful preparation,
and especially in more careful selection of material
for different uses ; many species now overlooked or
despised will be utilized, and inferior material will
satisfy the hitherto lavish taste ; finally, the cutting
in the woods will be done with more care, and they
will be managed for reproduction. In other words,
forestry, the art of producing wood crops, will have
become established as the basis of the lumber
industry of the twentieth century.
CHAPTER XXXI
PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS
EXPORTS OF PETROLEUM.
Year
ENDING
June
30TH.
Gallons
eixported.
Scale: One Inch per 180,000,000 Gallons.
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
i«90
1891
1892
1893
1894
23,210,369
25,496,849
50,987.341
70,255,581
79,456,888
100,636,684
113.735.294
149,892,691
145.171.583
187,815,187
247,806,483
221,955.308
243,660,152
309,198,914
338,841,303
378,310,010
423.964,699
397,660,262
559.954.590
505.931,622
513,660,092
574,628,180
577.781,752
592,803,267
578,351,638
616,195459
664,491498
710,124,077
715471.979
804,337.168
908,281,968
THE Historic Moment for petroleum was that
at which Drake "struck oil" on Watson's
Flats, near Titusville, Pa., August 28, 1858.
In less than forty years, therefore, petroleum produc-
tion and manufacture have grown to their present
proportions. To-day the exports already rank fourth
in the list for value, being surpassed by only cotton,
breadstufFs, and provisions. For the year ending
June 30, 1864, the total exports were 23,000,000
gallons; by 1869 they had grown to 100,000,000
gallons; by 1874 to 200,000,000 gallons; by 1877
to 300,000,000 gallons; by 1880 to 400,000,000
gallons; by 1882 to 500,000,000 gallons; by 1887
to 600,000,000 gallons; by 1891 to 700,000,000
gallons; by 1893 to 800,000,000 gallons; and last
year to 900,000,000 gallons. To-day a larger per-
centage of the oil product of the country is sent
abroad than of any other product except cotton.
The growth in exports of illuminating oil is still
more marked. Those for the year ending June 30,
1866, were three times those of 1864 ; those of 1868
twice those of 1866 and six times tho.se of 1864;
204
PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS
205
those of 187 1 twice those of 1868 and twelve times
those of 1864; those of 1877 twice those of 1871
and twenty-fotir times those of 1864 ; those of 1891
twice those of 1877 and forty-eight times those of
1864. In other words, beginning with 1866, the
exports of illuminating oil were doubled in 1868,
again in 1871, again in 1877, and again in 1891.
Those of last year were more than sixty-two times
those of thirty years ago. The average exports per
week in 1894 were twenty -five per cent, more than
the total for the entire year 1864. While consider-
ing this great growth in business, a glance at prices
may be of interest. Export oil averaged in i86i
6 1)4 cents per gallon; in 1871, 23^ cents per gal-
lon ; in 1 88 1, 8 cents per gallon ; in 1891, 6j/i cents
per gallon; in 1894, 5j/^ cents per gallon, or one
twelfth the price in 1 86 1 . But this decrease, great as
it is, does not represent the actual reduction in the
price of oil, as the cost of barrels is included in these
prices. A gallon of bulk oil cost, in 1861, not less
than 58 cents ; in 1894, not more than 2^ cents, or
less than one twentieth. The money that in 1861
was required to buy 1000 barrels of oil would have
purchased, in 1894, over 20,000 barrels.
Enormous capital and energy have been required
to establish an industry of such magnitude. Pipe-
lines aggregating 25,000 miles in length — a girdle
for the globe — and 9000 tank-cars — placed end to
end, an unbroken train extending three fourths the
distance between New York and Philadelphia —
helped in moving the products to the home mar-
kets ; while sixty-nine bulk steamers, not to mention
bulk sailing vessels and the fleet of steamers and
ships carrying oil in barrels and cases, transported
them to the most distant quarters of the earth.
Petroleum undoubtedly has a wider sale than any
other American product. Wherever commerce has
made its way it has found a welcome. " It is car-
ried wherever a wheel can roll or a camel's foot be
planted. The caravans on the Desert of Sahara go
laden with astral oil, and elephants in India carry
cases of standard white. Ships are constantly load-
ing at our wharves for Japan, India, and the most
distant isles of the sea."
The able special agent on petroleum for the
Eleventh United States Census estimated the value
of wells and land at over $155,000,000, and showed
that the investment in plant employed in the pro-
duction of crude petroleum brings this sum up to
$229,000,000. This does not include the value of
pipe-lines, nor of tank-cars, nor of the great fields of
tankage for the storage of crude, nor of the costly
refineries, nor of the terminals and docks at the sea-
board for export shipments, nor of the fleet of bulk
vessels carrying the product to foreign shores. The
census report gives the value of refineries as over
$77,000,000. We think it no exaggeration to esti-
mate the total capital required for the production,
manufacture, and transportation of petroleum and
its products at $400,000,000.
The sinking of Drake's well was an event so
momentous, starting the grand industry we are to de-
scribe, that the story is briefly repeated. The first
petroleum company organized in the United States
was the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company, with a
nominal capital of $500,000, incorporated in New
York, December 30, 1854. The projectors were
George H. Bissell and Jonathan D. Eveleth, mem-
bers of a law firm in New York City. It chanced
that Mr. Bissell's attention had been directed to
petroleum by noticing a sample of it when on a visit
to Hanover, N. H., his native place. This sample
had been brought to Professor Crosby, of Dart-
mouth College, by Dr. T. B. Brewer, the son of one
of the members of Brewer & Watson, lumber mer-
chants at Titusville. Mr. Bissell's interest found
substantial expression in the purchase of 105 acres
of Watson's Flats, near Titusville, including an
island at the junction of Oil and Pine creeks. On
this island oil had been collected for eight or nine
years by means of a series of pits arranged like sepa-
rators, the water flowing away below, leaving the
oil floating on the surface, to be dipped up with
blankets. Some of the organizers of the company
resided at New Haven, Conn. At their suggestion
a quantity of the oil was sent to Professor Benjamin
Silliman, Jr., who made an exhaustive analysis and
an elaborate report. As it was most favorable, a
Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was formed in
Connecticut, with headquarters at New Haven, and
the property held by the New York corporation
transferred to it. Mr. Bissell still retained, in 1857,
his interest in the Connecticut company. He hap-
pened, in 1856, to see an advertisement of " Kier's
Petroleum," a patent medicine owned by Samuel M.
Kier, a druggist at Pittsburg. The advertisement
showed the derrick of the brine-well from which the
oil was secured with the brine. It suggested to
Mr. Bissell that perhaps the crude, which was being
obtained in such limited quantities by means of sur-
face pits, might be found in paying quantities if
artesian wells were sunk. The Seneca Oil Company
in 1857 succeeded the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Com-
pany, of Connecticut, with a plan of drilling for the
oil. Mr. E. L. Drake — soon known as " Colonel "
Drake — was sent to Titusville the following year to
206
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
carry out this project. He was forced to invent
some new way of reaching the rock at which to
begin drilling, as the hole he tried to dig filled with
water and quicksand. It occurred to him to drive
a pipe down to the rock — a plan afterward adopted
not only in oil-well boring, but in all artesian drill-
ing. Drake's tool struck the rock at thirty-six feet.
Drilling then proceeded slowly, under the direction
of " Uncle Billy " Smith and his two sons, until the
bore had penetrated the rock thirty-three feet, when,
on Saturday night, August 27th, the drill dropped
into a crevice about six inches. The tools were
pulled out and put aside for the work to be resumed
on Monday. But Sunday afternoon Smith visited
the well, to make sure that all was safe, and saw
liquid within a few feet of the top of the pipe. He
dipped up a little and found it to be oil. They had
reached petroleum in the first sand, thirty-three feet
through the rock, and sixty-nine and one half feet
below the surface of the ground. When the pump
was started on Monday, the well produced at the
rate of twenty-five barrels per day, at that time an
incredible quantity. They had hoped for gallons,
and found barrels of the precious fluid.
It is impossible to state when petroleum was first
discovered. In some form it seems to have been
applied to the uses of mankind from the earliest
periods known to history. The " slime " of the Old
Testament, mentioned as the mortar used in con-
structing the Tower of Babel, 2200 years before
Christ, was probably partially evaporated petro-
leum ; and the " pitch " with which Noah coated
the ark, 250 years earlier, was doubtless a similar
product. The ruins of Nineveh and Babylon indi-
cate that the asphaltic cement used for their walls
and buildings was composed, in part at least, of
semi-fluid bitumen. Perhaps the first mention of
the use of petroleum for illuminating purposes is the
"Sicilian oil," described by Pliny and Dioscorides
Pedanius, the Greek botanist, as secured near Agri-
gentum, now called Girgenti, on the island of Sicily,
to be remembered as the site of the temples of Con-
cord and of Olympian Jupiter. This oil was burned
in lamps as early as the beginning of the Christian
era.
In America the Indians collected what was known
as " Seneca oil " from petroleum springs ; and the
indications are that, long before them, the mound-
builders, who worked the copper-mines of Lake
Superior, the lead-mines of Kentucky, and the mica-
mines of North Carolina, not only gathered the oil
that flowed from natural springs and appeared on
streams, but even dug numerous wells in Pennsyl-
vania Ohio, and Canada, and dipped up the petro-
leum that flowed into them. Trees now growing in
the earth thrown out in digging the wells, or in the
wells themselves, show that this work was done from
500 to 1000 years ago.
The success of Drake's well ushered in a period
of almost unparalleled excitement, surpassed only
by the gold fever of Cahfornia, ten years before.
Western Pennsylvania, in 1859 and the next few
years, was the scene of indescribable activity and
speculation. Wells were sunk in great numbers
along Oil Creek, French Creek, and the Alleghany
River. Adventurers flocked thither from all parts
of the country. What was soon known as the " oil
region " was transformed from an almost unbroken
forest into camps and towns. Many of the wells
yielded nothing, others lasted but a short time, while
some gave enormous quantities of oil. As the pro-
ducing fields changed, the population shifted with
the fields, and the towns that had sprung from the
wilderness as by the touch of a magician's wand
vanished almost as quickly as they had grown. Pit-
hole City, for example, in 1865 next to Philadelphia
the largest post-office in the State, has now entirely
disappeared and the site of the city become a farm.
Elsewhere is given a table showing the quantities
of oil produced each year. From this it will be
seen that by the end of 1859 fully 200 wells were
in successful operation, and the production of crude
oil amounted to 2000 barrels. Phenomenal growth
then followed. The next year the production was
500,000 barrels, and in 1861 it had increased to
2,113,609 barrels. In addition to this amount, it
is estimated that at least 10,000,000 barrels ran to
waste because of lack of barrels to hold it or a
market to take care of it.
During the first two years after the success of
Drake the search for oil was restricted to the terri-
tory around Titusville, wells being sunk up and down
both sides of Oil Creek, and back on the hills that
form its banks. The drills were then tried on the
Alleghany River, and its shores were found to yield
abundantly. It was not unnatural, though not very
logical, for the petroleum seekers to feel that there
must be some connection between the trend of Oil
Creek and the Alleghany River and the underground
deposits of oil. As it happened, the oil-bearing
strata extended generally under these two streams ;
but a glance to-day at a map showing the location
of all the oil-fields that have been discovered will
demonstrate to the eye the fallacy of this belief, as
the fields in some instances stretch across the Alle-
ghany River at right angles. Up to this time all
PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS
207
of the oil secured had been lifted from the wells by
pumps. A new surprise was now in store for the
producers. The first flowing well was struck in
February, 1861, on the McElhenny farm, yielding
300 barrels per day. It flowed for fifteen months.
This surprise had not spent itself when the Phillips
well was struck, shooting forth ten times as much
oil per day as the first well, and was followed soon
by the Funk well, matching the Phillips in produc-
tiveness, giving 3000 barrels per day; the Noble
well, with 3000 barrels per day ; and the Sherman
well, with 2000 barrels per day. The Noble well
produced upward of $3,000,000 worth of oil, and
the Sherman well flowed an average of 900 barrels
per day for two years.
Such a stimulus as the finding of these " gushers,"
or petroleum fountains, following one another in
quick succession, increased the production enor-
mously ; for not only did the large wells add to the
quantity produced, but the success in striking them
encouraged prospectors generally to renewed efforts
for obtaining capital for further development. The
production in 1861, a little more than 2,000,000
barrels, was increased fifty per cent, in 1862 — to
3,000,000. As a natural consequence prices rapidly
declined. Five cents per barrel was the price actu-
ally touched in November, 1861. A fresh surprise
was still in store for the oil operators when it was
found that productive territory need not necessarily
underlie the valleys and river-bottoms, but that the
high lands also covered the hidden treasure. In
1862 the drillers became crowded in following the
banks of the Alleghany River, and pushed back into
the adjacent country. They had already climbed
the hills bordering Oil Creek and the Alleghany
River, but now tested the high plateaus of Clarion,
Butler, Armstrong, McKean, and Warren counties.
In 1864 the Economy well and the surrounding
region in Warren County, and the Pithole division
in Venango County, became prominent.
Much of this extension of the oil region was car-
ried out on lines developed by C. D. Angell and
others, who formulated " belt theories " which they
thought would enable them successfully to locate
the subterranean deposits. Angell made a study of
the relative location of the largest wells. In the
Titusville group a narrow strip of country running
in a direction a little east of north took in all the
most productive ones. It is strange that the fact
had not been noticed before. When the lower coun-
try was discovered, he quietly mapped out a similar
field in Clarion and Butler counties, parallel to the
Titusville one, and secretly secured leases of much
of the territory. His success was patent, and others
were led to see that he worked with method, which
they soon copied. The plan was somewhat more
scientific than that which had been followed in de-
veloping the territory along Oil Creek and the Alle-
ghany River; and yet wildly tracing a line by the
direction of a compass, and hoping to find produc-
tive territory after passing miles of untested country,
almost suggests superstition. Even if the trend of
the oil-bearing strata has been found, and there is
reason to believe that the same strata extend under
untried territory, still, when one remembers that the
slightest variation from the true angle at the start
soon becomes an error of miles if carried to a dis-
tance, the futility of the plan is seen. Besides, na-
ture's lines are seldom straight. The oil-bearing
sands are undoubtedly deposited in curves and in
beds at intervals only. This is now recognized, and
the oil-leads are traced by means of the drill, with-
out any reference to the topographical conformation
of the surface.
A northern district next claimed from the middle
and southern a share of public attention when the
Bradford field was found. The date generally given
is that of December 6, 1874, when a well on the
Buchanan farm, two and one half miles from the
town of Bradford, was struck. In 1875 the pro-
duction was fully 25,000 barrels; in 1876 it had in-
creased to 380,000 barrels; in 1877 to 1,450,000
barrels; in 1878 to 6,500,000 barrels — as much in
a day as was produced in a whole year in 1875. In
the following year the production was again doubled,
and brought up to 14,200,000 barrels. In 1880 it
was 22,300,000 barrels; in 1881, over 23,000,000
barrels. The production of all the other Pennsyl-
vania fields in that year was only 4,238,000 barrels,
the Bradford production being six sevenths of the
whole. In 1876 the Bullion and Warren oils ap-
peared. The same year the Beaver district of Clarion
County became prominent. In June, 1879, oil was
found in the Richburg field in Allegany County,
New York, closely allied — so far, at least, as location
is concerned — with the Bradford territory. The first
well was put down as a " wild-cat " or test well, and
produced at the rate of four barrels per day, hardly
foreshadowing the enormous output soon to follow ;
for in 1 88 1 it had reached 600,000 barrels, and in
1882, 6,450,000 barrels. In 1880 the Clarion and
Warren productions became a feature in the calcu-
lations of the producers. In May, 1882, the Cherry
Grove oil made its appearance, of sudden growth
and of almost as sudden decline. Found in May,
it yielded in July over 24,000 barrels per day, but
208
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
in October less than 9000, the average for 1883
being only 2000 barrels per day, which fell to 400
the following year. In September, 1884, the Thorn
Creek oil was secured ; the great Phillips well, the
largest flowing well ever opened in America, start-
ing at the rate of 10,000 barrels per day, which
gradually declined to 500 barrels.
In 1885 and 1886 the production in Washington
and Greene counties became prominent. During
these two years the number of wells put down was
greatly increased, the total for 1886 being 3478, the
largest number for several years. The stocks of
crude continued to be so large as to occasion gen-
eral alarm among producers. The largest stock on
record is that of August 31, 1884 — a total of 39,-
084,561 barrels. The average stock of 1884 was
35.953.975 barrels; of 1885, 37,698,481 barrels; of
1886, 35,732,291 barrels. The early part of 1887
showed little decrease in production ; and prices,
with some minor fluctuations, steadily declined. In
August, 1885, crude was quoted at $1.04 per barrel ;
in January, 1886, it had declined to 90 cents. It
averaged for December, 1886, only 71 cents, having
several times during the year fallen below 65 cents.
The bottom price of 54^ cents was touched in July,
1887, the average for the month being only 59^
cents. A plan was formulated at this time by the
producers, looking to ciutailing for a time the out-
put of the oil-fields. An agreement was drawn up
and signed by the members of the Petroleum Pro-
ducers' Association. By it about one quarter of the
production, or at least 17,500 barrels per day, and
as much more as possible, was to be " shut in " for
one year, beginning November i, 1887. The move-
ment was a success. The average daily production
of the three months ending October 31st was about
64,000 barrels ; that for the following three months
only 41,000 barrels, a reduction of 23,000 barrels
per day. The agreement was to stop cleaning out
and torpedoing all wells for one year, and to shut
in a certain part of the production of other wells.
In 1888 the production was only 16,488,668 bar-
rels; while it had been, in 1887, 22,356,193 barrels.
The stock reported for October 31, 1887, of 30,662,-
583 barrels, was reduced to 18,995,814 barrels by
December 31, 1888 ; and the average price of cer-
tificates advanced from about 67 cents in September,
1887, to 93 cents in September, 1888 ; the average
for the year 1888 being 87 cents, as compared with
66^ cents for the year 1887. In 1889 production
was again resumed, and 5435 wells were completed,
as compared with only 151 5 in 1888, and 1660 in
1887.
The phenomenal McDonald field appeared in
1 89 1, but began to decline in the latter part of the
year and continued to decline through 1892. In
that year the production of the Sistersville field took
its place to a considerable extent. Since then the
production has steadily declined. In 1894 the pro-
duction of what is known as Pennsylvania crude
was 84,000 barrels per day, while the consumption
was 100,000 barrels per day. The stocks were re-
duced to 6,336,777 barrels at the end of the year.
Fortunately for the American industry, the Ohio
field appeared, to supplement the supply of the
Pennsylvania field. At the World's Columbian Ex-
position the display of petroleum, particularly that
offered by the Standard Oil Company, was impres-
sive and magnificent. Its cost was commensurate
with the magnitude of the industry it typified. The
judges made many awards, but one was unique in
the Mining Department, if not in the whole fair.
It was " a special award for the manufacture from
Ohio crude, known as 'Lima oil,' of the best illu-
minating oil ever made from any kind of crude oil."
The breadth of this statement arrests attention, and,
had we nothing else to signalize the Ohio petroleum-
field, this alone would make it worthy of careful
study. But a glance at the field's record shows
that, for other reasons, it should not be overlooked.
The total production of crude petroleum in the
whole United States in 1894 was about 49,000,000
barrels. Of this, 20,000,000 barrels, or more than
two fifths, came from the Ohio territory. For many
years — in fact, up to 1885 — the Pennsylvania field
was regarded as the undisputed source of supply of
petroleum for the world, and up to to-day its produc-
tion has aggregated 500,000,000 barrels — a quantity
so vast as to be almost incomprehensible. Yet the
Ohio territory, operated during only the past eight
years, has already furnished over 100,000,000 bar-
rels, or one fifth the quantity secured from the more
eastern field during its whole career of over thirty
years.
The finding of what is known as the Ohio field
— which is not limited to the State from which it
takes its name, but, much like the Pennsylvania
field, stretches out into adjoining States— was a sur-
prise to both geologists and practical men. Expert
drillers and scientific geologists feared that the lim-
its of the American industry had been reached. So
high an authority as the late Dr. Charles A. Ash-
burner, the eminent geologist, who made the oil-
fields of Pennsylvania his life-study, wrote in 1885
that, in his opinion, the boundaries of the oil regions
were well established, and that there was no reason-
/ / ; I'lh f t J I I
Henry C. Folger, Jr.
PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS
209
able expectation that any new and extensive field
would be found. This was but another instance
to support the maxim of the practical driller that
"geology never filled a tank." Even while this
opinion was being written, the drill was penetrating
the rock at Lima to reach the oil reservoirs under-
lying so large a part of the State, and within a
few months the great Ohio territory was an assured
fact.
The production of Ohio crude in 1885 amounted
to 650,000 barrels; in i886 it had grown to 1,800,-
000 barrels. The following year it had grown to
10,000,000 barrels; the next year to 12,500,000
barrels ; and in 1890 to 16,000,000 barrels, the aver-
age production each year up to 1893, when it was
18,500,000 barrels. Last year it was over 20,000,-
000 barrels. Until 1890 the Ohio crude had to
be marketed as fuel, the sulphur compounds it con-
tained rendering it impossible to refine it into illu-
minating oils ; but during the last few years enormous
strides have been made in the way of improvement
in handling this refractory product, until not only
satisfactory but even very superior oils are now
manufactured from this crude product.
One of the first problems which the oil producer
had to solve was that of transportation. The
market for his product was the refineries that had
been constructed in some of the large cities — par-
ticularly at the seaboard — for the production of
illuminating oil out of coal. The oil-wells along
Oil Creek and the Alleghany River were at first
many miles from a railroad, in a lumber district
where there were often no roads, or at best very
poor ones. Those who have traveled in the oil
region know that for several months of the year the
roads are rendered almost impassable by the mud.
Their condition in the days when they were merely
trails up over the hills and through the valleys of
the sparsely settled country can hardly be imagined.
Oil City was the nearest shipping point, and Pitts-
burg the large distributing center. Crude oil was
put into barrels, loaded on trucks, and hauled to
Oil City. The loss was very great. The barrels,
being old, leaked freely as they made their rough
trip from the interior to the railroad. Barges were
soon called into use and the barreled oil loaded on
them ; or the barges themselves were made tank-
boats for holding the oil in bulk, and the load floated
down Oil Creek to the Alleghany River at Oil City.
But Oil Creek during most of the year was a shal-
low stream, and the novel plan of slack- water navi-
gation, known as a pond freshet or "pond fresh,"
was resorted to. The water in the streams tributary
14
to Oil Creek was held back by dams until sufficient
quantities had accumulated ; and then, at a fixed
hour, each body of water was in turn released, fill-
ing the main stream for a short time with a flood.
On this the barges of oil were carried down to their
destination, warning having been given so that the
boatmen along the stream might be ready to take
advantage of the tide as it passed. The body of
water was not large in extent, and considerable skill
had to be used in starting at the right moment, and
in navigating the boat during the trip. If the start
was made too late, the waters would pass ahead and
leave the craft stranded. If it was made too soon,
the barge might be caught in the boiling waters and
the power to guide it be lost. Losses were frequent.
The barges collided with one another or struck pro-
jecting rocks in their rapid trip. Therefore, when
boats were introduced for carrying the oil from Oil
City down the Alleghany to Pittsburg, larger and
stronger ones were constructed.
In the mean time, in 1862, the Atlantic and Great
Western Railroad was carried into the oil region.
In 1866 the Alleghany Valley Railroad was opened
up from Oil City, at the mouth of Oil Creek, to
Pittsburg, and a number of narrow-gauge lines con-,
structed as feeders into the heart of the producing
country. At first the barrels were loaded on flat
cars ; but the water mixed with the oil dissolved the
glue used for coating the inside of the barrels, and
the leakage in consequence was so large that wooden
tank-cars were soon built, with two wooden tubs or
vats, each holding 2000 gallons, placed on an ordi-
nary platform-car. This was the forerunner of the
tank-car of to-day. In 1872 cars consisting of a
horizontal cylindrical tank of iron, mounted on a
four-wheel platform or railroad truck, appeared.
These were at first of no greater capacity than the
wooden cars they displaced, but have been gradu-
ally increased in size as their plan of construction
has been improved, until many of them are now of
8000 gallons' capacity each. There are between
8000 and 9000 tank-cars in use in the United States.
The magnitude of the petroleum industry made it
necessary to find some mode of transportation even
cheaper than a railroad. By force of circumstances
barges and tank-cars for oil in bulk displaced the
truck carrying oil in barrels. The pipe-line, in turn,
displaced the car and boat. The introduction of
this mode of transporting oil marks an era in the
petroleum industry. The freight by rail amounted
to five or six dollars per car from the region to New
York. It was most economical, therefore, to refine
the crude product near the wells, so that freight
210
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
need be paid only on the kind desired, and the
quantity to be moved reduced to a minimum. The
country around Pittsburg and Oil City was filled
with small works taking out of the crude the refined
oil needed for export. When the idea of allowing
the oil to flow from place to place through iron pipes
was put into practical form, the cost of transporta-
tion was so much reduced that a few enormous re-
fineries were built at the seaboard, near New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and on the shores of
Lake Erie, near Buffalo and Cleveland, to do the
work which the almost countless small refineries in
the oil region had heretofore done. This meant a
revolution in methods of manufacture and in costs.
Samuel Van Syckle, of Titusville, was the first to
put down a working line. It was only four miles
long, extending from Pithole to Miller's farm, and
carried but eighty barrels per day. It demonstrated,
however, the thorough practicability of moving oil
in this way. The difficulty up to this time had been
in making the joints of the pipe tight. Van Syckle
overcame this ; and, although his line faced an as-
cent of nearly 500 feet, the oil was delivered at the
further end practically without loss. This line, to-
gether with another laid in the same year by Henry
Harley from Benninghoff Run to the Shafer farm,
passed into the control of a corporation known as
the Alleghany Transportation Company, by which
it was operated. The owners and drivers of oil
wagons saw that this mode of transportation must
soon deprive them of occupation, and they did what
they could to retard the progress of the work. They
cut the lines, set fire to the tanks with which they
were connected, and even threatened the proprietors
and managers with personal violence. An armed
patrol and the arrest of the ringleaders by detectives
soon quelled this outbreak. The pipage of oil was
a great general improvement, and personal interest
had to yield. To-day the oil region is a network
of pipes ; and great trunk-lines, pulsing with the
moving oil, supply the needs of New York, Phila-
delphia, Baltimore, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburg,
Chicago, and of many intermediate points.
The growth, however, was gradual. Lines were
first laid only to the refineries in the oil region, and
to the railroads taking the oil out of the region.
AVith the lengthening of the pipes and the increase
of pressure to force the liquid to greater distances,
men became more and more impressed with the
possibilities of the new mode of transportation, and
enthusiastic ones began to beheve there was no point
short of the seaboard to which the oil might not be
sent. In 1875 an organization called the Pennsyl-
vania Transportation Company was granted a charter
with power to construct a pipe-line to the seaboard.
The only outcome of this venture was the building
of various lines within the oil region. Short lines
multiplied, and pipe after pipe from the producing
fields to the refineries and railroad shipping points
crossed and paralleled one another in every direc-
tion. Competing companies waged war upon one
another, cutting rates to the point where business
was done at an actual loss. When the producer
had run his oil into the storage-tanks of one of
these concerns he was not certain whether the cer-
tificate received (for they all issued certificates in-
stead of paying cash for oil) had any value ; yet he
must either send the oil through the pipe nearest to
him, or allow it to pass back into the earth from
which it came. The concentration of these badly
managed competitive companies into some central-
ized organization with systematic and economical
methods was a necessary consequence of the situa-
tion.
The United Pipe-Lines Association, first known
as the Fairview Pipe- Line, organized by Captain
J. J. Vandergriff and George V. Forman, became
the starting-point for such a movement. Into it
were merged from time to time the other local lines
— the Antwerp, Oil City, Clarion, Union, Conduit,
Karns, Grant, Pennsylvania, Rehef, the Clarion and
McKean divisions of the American Transfer Com-
pany, the Prentiss hues, the Olean pipe, the Union
Oil Company's line at Clarendon, and the McCal-
mont line, with others too numerous to mention.
The first trunk-line was laid in 1874 from the lower
oil country to Pittsburg. It consisted of thirty-nine
miles of three-inch pipe, running from Carbon Center
in Butler County to Fairview, a suburb of Pittsburg.
The trunk-line to Cleveland next followed. Pipe-
lines now extend from the Pennsylvania oil-fields
to Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, and
Baltimore ; and from the Ohio fields to Cleveland
and Chicago. It is probably not an overstatement
to say that the total length of these lines is 25,000
miles.
In a few instances petroleum has been obtained
from the earth of color and odor so good that it
could be burned for illuminating purposes in its
natural state. Again, in a few instances — somewhat
more numerous than those just mentioned, but still
limited in number — oils have been found, heavy in
gravity, and so free from both light ingredients and
parafiine that they are excellent lubricants in the
condition in which they come from the ground.
But these instances are so few that it can be given
PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS
211
as a rule that all the uses to which petroleum is put
require a manufactured article.
Below is given a table of the production of petro-
leum in the United States from the time of its dis-
covery through 1894, These figures are taken from
the records of the United States Geological Survey.
They show a total production of over 650,000,000
barrels, valued at not less than $500,000,000.
projects represented by these works had to be aban-
doned when the existence of Pennsylvania crude oil
became known, and the plants were sold at a great
sacrifice and rearranged for the distillation of petro-
leum. It was in such stills as those at the works
named, constructed originally for handling coal, that
refined oil was first manufactured in commercial
quantities.
PRODUCTION OF CRUDE PETROLEUM IN THE UNITED STATES.
(Barrels of 42 gallons.)
Year.
Pennsylvania
AND New York.
West
Virginia.
Ohio.
Indiana.
California.
Colorado.
Kentucky
AND
Tennessee.
All other
States.
Total United
States.
1859
2,000
2,000
i860
500,000
500,000
1861
2,113,609
2,113,609
1862
3,056,690
3,056,690
1863
2,611,309
2,611,309
1864
2,116,109
2,116,109
1865
2,497,700
2,497,700
1866
3.597.700
3.597.700
1867
3,347,300
3,347,300
1868
3,646,117
3,646,117
1869
4,215,000
4,215,000
1870
5,260,745
5,260,745
1871
5.205,234
5.205.234
1872
6,293,194
6,293,194
1873
9,893,786
9,893,786
1874
10,926,945
10,926,945
187s
8,787.514
13,000,000
1 200,000
1 175,000
12,162,514
1876
8,968,906
120,000
31,763
12,000
9,132,669
1877
13.135475
172,000
29,888
13,000
13.350.363
1878
15,163,462
180,000
38.179
^S'227
15,396,868
1879
19,685,176
180,000
29,112
19,858
19,914,146
1880
26,027,631
179,000
38,940
40,552
26,286,123
1881
27.376,509
151,000
33.867
99,862
27,661,238
1882
30,053,500
128,000
39.761
128,636
1 160,933
30,510,830
1883
23,128,389
126,000
47,632
142,857
4.755
23.449.633
1884
23,772,209
90,000
90,081
262,000
4,148
24,218,438
1885
20,776,041
91,000
650,000
325,000
5.164
21,847,205
1886
25,798,000
102,000
1,782,970
377,145
4,726
28,064,841
1887
22,356,193
145,000
5,018,01s
678,572
76,295
4.791
28,278,866
1888
16,488,668
1 19,448
10,010,868
690,333
297,612
5,096
27,612,025
1889
21,487,435
544,113
12,471,466
33.375
303,220
316,476
5.400
2,028
35.163.513
1890
28,458,208
492,578
16,124,656
63,496
307,360
368,842
6,000
1.532
45,822,672
1891
33,009,236
2,406,218
17,740,301
136,634
323,600
665,482
9,000
1.509
54,291,980
1892
28,422,377
3,810,086
16,362,921
698,068
385.049
824,000
6,500
135
50,509,136
1893
20,314,513
8,445,412
16,249,769
2,335.293
470,179
594.390
3,000
1 10
48,412,666
1894
19,019,990
8,577,624
16,792,154
3,688,666
705,969
515.746
1,500
42,867
49,344,516
Total.
497,512,870
29.059479
113,782,343
6,955.532
5,475.419
3.658,843
221,013
48,181
656,713,680
1 Includes all productions prior to this year.
When Drake opened the way to an indefinite pro-
duction of crude petroleum there were many coal-
oil refineries in active operation ready to turn from
the distillation of coal or shale to this cheaper and
more tractable article. Two large refineries — one
built on Newtown Creek, almost at the site of the
present Kings County Oil Works, on Long Island,
by L. F. Cozzens, the West Point hotel proprietor,
and the original Delmonico ; and the other, the
Empire Works in South Brooklyn, also on Long
Island— had just begun a successful career. The
The first great step forward in the art of refining
was the result of an accident. Crude petroleum
is made up of a great number of differently com-
pounded hydrocarbons. The earlier methods of
rapid running resulted in a simple fractional dis-
tillation, these compounds being separated from
one another as the degree of heat was increased,
and, beginning with the lightest, being vaporized and
passed over as a vapor into the condenser-coil, there
to be reduced to liquid form by being cooled. Such
a distillation produced a series of products following
212
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
one another in regular order from the lightest in
gravity or density down to the heaviest, until the
liquid in the still was all vaporized, and nothing was
left but the dry or burned oil on the sides and bot-
tom. " Cracking " is the technical term for destruc-
tive distillation, whereby the compounds of which the
crude substance is composed are separated not only
from one another, but to a degree into their com-
ponent parts, and new compounds are allowed to
be formed. The result is that vapors are thrown
over into the condenser-worm, and liquefy into
products of lighter gravity — in other words, of less
density ; while the heavy vapors, being condensed
in the still before passing into the worm, fall back
into the liquid in the still, to be again and again
vaporized and decomposed. It was by accident
that it was discovered that the compound known as
crude oil could, by destructive distillation, be con-
verted into compounds of greater simplicity of con-
struction ; the lighter ones, which are more valuable
for the production of illuminating oils, being carried
over into the condenser-worm to be there liquefied,
and the heavier ones left in the still to be further
broken up or reduced to liquid residuum in the still,
or to a dry sediment or coke on its bottom. Allen
Norton Leet claims that the discovery was made
at a little works in Newark, N. J., in the winter of
1861-62. This increased the yield of burning oil
fully twenty per cent. By means of retarding the
distillation the same result in the way of destructive
distillation was secured as would have been reached
had the distillation taken place under pressure. The
heavy vapors struck the upper part of the still, were
condensed, and dripped back into the oil below,
which was at a higher temperature than the boiling-
point of the oil falling back. This produced de-
composition in the oils by superheating the vapors.
The discovery was soon known at all refineries, both
at the seaboard and in the region, and methods of
manufacture were revolutionized.
It is no exaggeration to say that 200 different
products are now made from crude petroleum. The
limits of this chapter will not, of course, permit even
mention of each, further than to outline some gen-
eral classification. The broadest that can be made
is to divide the products into those that result from
the distillation and those that result from the reduc-
tion of the crude article. Every product, we think
it safe to say, that has been obtained from crude oil
is secured by one or the other, or, in some cases,
by a combination of both of these processes. By
distillation is meant the converting of the crude by
heat into vapors, and the condensation of those
vapors back to a liquid, from which the manufac-
tured article is produced. By reduction is meant
the driving out of the crude petroleum by heat its
lighter portions, leaving the remaining product be-
hind, still in liquid form. Products of both classes
can be, and usually are, made by the same process ;
that is, while heat is converting one part of the
crude oil into products by distillation, — that is, tiu-n-
ing them into vapor for condensation, — it is at the
same time converting the other part into a product
of reduction by driving off the very vapors that
make the distillate products. Again, both processes
are often resorted to in successive stages of manu-
facture to produce certain articles. A distillate
product is afterward reduced, and a reduced pro-
duct is afterward distilled, in some instances the
processes being repeated several times before the
finished goods are secured. This is particularly
true of the lighter and the heavier parts resulting from
the method of manufacture, aiming to convert the
major part of the oil under manipulation into some
desired product. These lighter and heavier parts
are therefore known to petroleum manufacturers as
by-products. As petroleum in its crude state is com-
posed of an almost indefinite number of differently
compounded hydrocarbons, — that is, combinations
of the chemist's elementary substances, carbon and
hydrogen, varying in volatility, — and as the manu-
factured products are almost covmtless in number,
it will be readily understood that the methods of
manufacture must be many, complicated, and deli-
cate. In the early days of the industry but one
product, refined oil, was sought for, and to-day the
staple article of manufacture is that same product,
secured, however, in many grades. But the possi-
bility of making other valuable products was soon
apparent, and each year experience and study in the
art have developed almost unlimited extension of the
uses of petroleum.
A considerable portion of our domestic trade in
refined oil, and some portion of the trade in lubri-
cating oils, has for many years been done in bulk.
By this is meant that no package is used for the
product as it passes from the refinery to the con-
sumer. Its course is somewhat as follows : When
finished at the refiner}' it is pumped into large stor-
age-tanks. From these it is delivered in bulk to
barges or tank-cars. These carry it to the stations,
where it is pumped, again in bulk, into tanks, from
which it is delivered to tank wagons. These serve
it in bulk to the dealers' tanks, to be by them deliv-
ered to the customer, or, in some cases, direct from
the tank wagon to the consumer. But this mode of
PETROLEUM: ITS PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTS
213
transportation for export trade is of recent growth.
The change in the mode of transportation, when it
had once begun, was carried forward with starthng
rapidity. In 1886 two steamers were fitted up, the
Crusader and the A?idromeda. The former was filled
with a large number (forty-five in all) of cylinder-
tanks of different sizes, averaging in capacity 125
barrels, making the total capacity of the ship about
2 7 5,000 gallons. The Andromeda was provided with
rectangular tanks, seventy-two in number, making
the total capacity about 685,000 gallons. Neither
of the steamers made many voyages. But when the
thought was once fairly presented it soon became
apparent that it was only mechanical construction
which stood in the way of making the change. Sail-
ing vessels carried from 5000 to 8000 barrels each,
and made about two and one half to three trips per
year; bulk steamers could be built to carry 20,000
to 30,000 barrels, or three times as much as a sail-
ing vessel, and make seven to nine trips per year,
or three times as many as a saiHng vessel. The re-
sult has been that last year as many as sixty-nine
different tank steamers carried oil from the United
States abroad, and fully ninety per cent, of the total
exports of crude and refined oil, other than those in
cases, was made in bulk.
Some of these steamers are " converted " — that is,
turned — into bulk boats, although built for other
uses. They can generally be distinguished by the
fact that their boilers and engines are amidships.
In the case of the vessels built for this trade the
boilers and engines are placed aft for greater, safety.
Many of the tank steamers are constructed espe-
cially for this service. They are models of marine
architecture. They are built entirely of iron, the
decks included. When loaded the whole body of
the vessel is filled with oil, the ship's structure form-
ing the necessary receptacle, the liquid occupying
all the space to the " skin " or iron of the sides and
bottom. This is a great improvement over such a
form of construction as that of the Crusader and the
Andromeda, already referred to, decreasing the cost
of transportation by increasing the carrying capacity
of the vessel, there being no unoccupied space be-
tween the tanks, and decreasing the risk of fires and
explosions, as these empty spaces gave room for the
accumulation of gas. Both these objections held
true against the style of construction adopted later
of a double bottom, the bottom of the oil-tanks being
elevated a short distance above the actual bottom
of the ship. The tank-ships, as now built, have a
longitudinal and numerous transverse bulkheads,
which, with the stringers and beams put in to pre-
14*
vent the slightest straining, make them, from a
structural point of view, undoubtedly the strongest
and safest vessels in the mercantile marine.
The change from barrel to bulk transportation
means large economies in many ways. Before it
was made, oil was filled into barrels, each package
weighed by itself, then rolled to the dock front and
hoisted up over the side of the ship, lowered into
the hold, and stowed away. Each operation re-
quired considerable manual labor. The sailing
vessel, for a month or six weeks, was then exposed
to the delays and vicissitudes of an ocean voyage,
arriving at length at its destined port. Here she
was unloaded, a barrel at a time, and the oil stored
away in packages to be held until used, subject to
loss from leakage and serious damage in appearance.
By the new method of transportation a steamer
comes to the wharf, and the oil is pumped from the
refinery storage into her tanks with great rapidity,
the largest of the ships being loaded in from twelve
to fifteen hours, even though they hold foiu* or five
times as much as the sailing vessels of a few years
ago. A voyage of two weeks and a few days, per-
haps, the time being subject to very close calcula-
tion, brings the cargo to the foreign port. Here it
is unloaded with the same despatch that was used
in loading, the oil being pumped into large storage-
tanks on shore, in which it is held without loss or
damage until needed, the steamer starting immedi-
ately on her return trip. Not a moment is lost, and
no item of unnecessary expense incurred.
It seems scarcely credible that the exports of
petroleum, which have now attained such enormous
proportions, could have begun only thirty years ago.
Messrs. Lockhart & Company, of Pittsburg, have
been generally considered the pioneers in the export
business, having the distinction of sending the first
American oil abroad — some 400.000 gallons,in 1862.
But Mr. Allen Norton Leet claims that James Day
sent 1000 gallons of refined oil to Australia in 1859 ;
and that Colonel A. C. Ferris, in the same year,
made shipments to South America, Germany, and
Italy. However this may be, there were no exports
worthy of the name before 1 863 or 1 864 ; so that it
is not an overstatement to say that the export trade
in petroleum has reached its present proportions in
the short space of thirty years.
The following tables show the annual exports of
illuminating oil from July i, 1863, to June 30, 1895,
and the average price in barrels each year. The
graphical table at the beginning of this article shows
the total petroleum exports, aggregating for thirty-
one years the enormous quantity of 11,830,068,888
214
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
gallons, valued at not less than twelve hundred
millions of dollars ($1,200,000,000).
EXPORTS OF ILLUMINATING OIL.
Year ending
Junk 30TH.
Gallons.
Year ending
Junk 30TH.
Gallons.
1864
12,791,518
12,722,005
34.255.921
62,686,657
67,909,961
84,403,492
97,902,505
132,608,955
122,539,575
158,102,414
217,220,504
191.55 1.933
204,814,673
262,441,844
289,214,541
331,586,442
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
367,325,823
332,283,045
488,213,033
419,821,081
1865
1866
1867
1868
41^,615,693
458,243,192
469,471,451
1869
1870
1871
1872
480,845,811
4i;6,487,22I
1873
1874.
502,257,455
523,295,090
571,119,805
564,896,658
642,239,816
730,368,626
714,859,144
'875
1876
1877
1878
1879
Many subsidiary industries have sprung up, based
upon the value of oil as an illuminant and as a
material to give heat. There are very few houses
west of the AUeghanies, in cities of moderate size,
where an oil-stove is not to be found ; many are also
used in the East, but not in as great a proportion.
The manufacture of these goods is carried on in
Cleveland, Chicago, and New York. Oil-lamps
afford employment to the manufacturers of lamp-
chimneys, lamps, and lamp-stands. By discoveries
in the methods of supplying oil and air to lamps in
a better way than formerly, these can now be made
of a brilliancy far beyond those of twenty years ago.
It may be said that those produced in i86o did not
generally exceed four candle power and those of
1876 twenty candle power, but now it is perfectly
practicable to obtain, in any city of the country,
lamps giving from sixty to one hundred candle
power, larger ones also being manufactured.
AVERAGE EXPORT PRICES OF REFINED OIL,
IN BARRELS, AT NEW YORK.
Year.
Cents.
Year.
Cents.
1861
1862
186-?
6i>^
36^8
44^
65
58^
42>^
28/8
29%
32H
26^
24^,
23^
13
'3 ,
19M
15X
1878
1879
1880
1864
1881
1882
188^
1865
7H
1866 ... .
1867
1868
1884
SH
1885
1869
1886
VA
7'A
VA
7H
1870
1871
1872
1887
1888
1889
l87'l
1890
1891
1892
1874
m
ll^- ■:■.::.:::
(T
i8qi
SU
1877
1804
s'A
^(D.Xij^^,
CHAPTER XXXII
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
4 GRICULTURE is by far the chief industry
l_\ of the United States. The agricultural pro-
A. \^ ducts of the country greatly exceed in
quantity and value any other class of products.
While the percentage of our population directly
connected with agriculture is steadily decreasing, it
is still much larger than that engaged in any other
calling, and this must long remain true. Agricul-
tural products, as produced, or as transformed by
processes of manufacture, are the basis for by far
the largest part of the trade and commerce of the
country, whether domestic or foreign. Averaging
one year with another, agricultural products consti-
tute about seventy-five per cent, in value of all our
foreign exports, and nearly or quite one half our
total imports.
The growth of the United States in population,
as in many other things, has been phenomenally
rapid, but the growth in agricultural products has
more than kept pace with the increase in population.
There are great fluctuations from year to year, but
the rule is that we not only feed and help clothe our
people, increasing at the rate of from 1,250,000 to
1,500,000 annually, but we have a larger surplus
each year to send to other countries. The total ex-
ports of merchandise from this country in 1795
amounted to less than $50,000,000. The average
value of the agricultural exports alone has been
nearly $650,000,000 annually during recent years.
This nearly or quite equals the rate of increase in
population.
There are no means by which we may determine,
with any approach to accuracy, either the area de-
voted to farm crops or the quantity produced in the
United States in 1795. The total population was
perhaps 4,500,000. The great majority of these
lived on farms or in villages, but the farms were
small and, as a rule, poorly cultivated. In a great
degree the agriculture of the country was simply
self-sufficing. There was a considerable surplus of a
few articles, as shown by the exports. Of these to-
bacco was chief. Even before the beginning of the
Revolutionary War as much as 40,000,000 pounds
of the weed had been exported in a single year.
Prior to 1795 there had been annual exports of some
miUions of bushels of wheat and some hundreds of
thousands of barrels of flour; and the exports of
corn had risen to at least 2,000,000 or 3,000,000
bushels in favorable years. There was, however,
little incentive to the raising of agricultural products,
generally, beyond the needs of the people of the
country. The miserable roads, and the lack of
transportation except by means of wagons, further-
more made it practically impossible to send the sur-
plus to a seaport, except from neighborhoods near
at hand. Even had it been possible to market the
surplus, it was not possible to produce any great
quantities of most kinds of farm crops. Not one of
the great labor-saving machines now in use on farms
had reached any considerable advancement, and
very few had been invented or discovered. With
the exception of plowing and harrowing, nearly all
farm operations were performed by manual labor,
with the use of rude and relatively inefficient tools
and machinery. The plows in use were miserably
inefficient in comparison with those everywhere to
be found at the present time. Efforts were being
made to improve these tools. A patent was granted
in 1797 for a cast-iron plow. In 1798 Thomas
Jefferson wrote an essay in which he discussed the
best form and curvature of the mold-board of plows,
this being, so far as is known, the first attempt in
this country to apply scientific principles to such a
problem. Much of the effort of the farmers was
still necessarily expended in enlarging the cultivated
areas of their farms — cutting down the forests, re-
moving the timber or stones, etc.
It is obvious that the most persistent and intel-
ligent efforts, under such unfavorable conditions,
could not produce any great surplus of food pro-
215
216
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
ducts over the wants of the people, and it must be
confessed that the majority of the farmers of the
country were far from being intelhgent, enterprising
men. There were many exceptions, perhaps most
notably among the plantation owners of the South-
ern States ; but the rule was that the farmers were
poorly educated, very often not especially industri-
ous, and, of course, without any knowledge of what
is now known as scientific agriculture. A very
few associations for the advancement of agriculture
had been organized, but their influence was almost
nothing. The agricultural exhibition, the agricul-
tural paper, the agricultural meetings for discussion,
were still of the future. As a class the farmers were
very poor, only beginning to recover from the great
industrial depression caused by the Revolution and
the subsequent attempts to establish a stable govern-
ment. It is an interesting fact, however, that almost
every farm crop now produced in the United States
had been tried even prior to the Revolutionary War.
The chief exception is sorghum — not only the sac-
charine but the non-saccharine varieties, of which
large quantities are now grown as food for farm
animals. In comparatively recent years some plants
have been introduced which give promise of becom-
ing important farm crops, but no one of them is as
yet to be so classed.
This is not the place for the discussion of the
subject, but it may be said that the farm animals of
the United States were few in number and generally
quite inferior in quality a century ago. There
were more good horses, relatively, than there were
either cattle, sheep, or swine. It may also be
pointed out that efforts at improvement of the farm
live stock of the country may be said to have begun
about the commencement of the century — at least
so far as cattle and sheep were concerned. The
dairy industry of the country, so important in recent
years, and which has made such marvelous advances
within the last third of a century, was practically
unknown, except in so far as there were attempts
to supply each community with some butter and less
cheese from small farm dairies. It is the pleasant
duty of others to chronicle the marvelous develop-
ment of horticulture, but it may be noted that the
condition of this now great interest was even less
advanced one hundred years ago than was the
growth of farm crops or the rearing of farm animals.
As we look back one hundred years, then, we see
that 1795 was not only a day of small things, of
mere beginnings of the nation, but peculiarly was
it a day of small things in agricultural work. Com-
pared with the present time the farmers were few in
number, poor in purse, poor in implements and
machinery ; doing most of the farm work with hand-
tools of rude design ; with Httle or no idea of the
benefit of rotation of crops or the best utilization of
manures; with little incentive to produce more of
most crops than was sufficient to supply the neigh-
borhood demands ; and with the poorest of facilities
for transporting any surplus to relatively distant
markets in this country, or to seaports for export.
All honor to them for what they accomplished under
great difficulties ; double honor to many of them for
their perception of the need for improvement in
many Hues, and the wise and persistent efforts to
secure improvement by the invention and introduc-
tion of improved machinery, better varieties of grains
and animals, better methods of culture and manage-
ment, and better facilities for transportation.
Turning now to the present, we find a really
marvelous development along many hnes. Size is
not a proof of excellence, but we may well be inter-
ested in the vast extent of our agricultural domain
and its annual products. By the census of 1890
there were in the United States 4,564,641 farms,
containing 623,218,619 acres, or covering 973,779
square miles. Of these millions of acres, 357,616,-
755, or over fifty-seven per cent., were improved,
and produced farm crops in 1889 valued at $2,460,-
107,454. These farms, with machinery and hve
stock, were valued at almost $16,000,000,000. In
the more than five years since the census was taken
there has been a large increase in these figures. In
the decade preceding 1890 there had been an in-
crease of 555,704 farms, and over 87,000,000 acres
of the farms of the country. The aggregate value
of the yearly product of these farms, inconceivably
large as the figures given are, does not include the
value of the live stock on the farms, although much
of the vegetable product was consumed by it. Of
the 357,000,000 acres reported as improved on the
farms of the country, not quite one half are in crops
which require plowing and cultivating each year.
A few great crops occupy most of this area. The
corn-field of the United States annually covers an
average of about 72,000,000 acres, the wheat about
37,000,000, the oats 27,000,000, and cotton some
20,000,000. From 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 acres
are devoted to the potato crop, about 3,000,000 to
barley, 2,000,000 to rye, less than 1,000,000 to
buckwheat or tobacco. The meadows occupy some
50,000,000 acres. Nearly all the remaining vast
area is used for pasturage, or lies practically uncul-
tivated, as no one other crop has, relatively, a large
acreage.
George E. Morrow.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
217
Mere numbers give little idea to most of us when
they reach into the millions; but a few more may
be given here. Indian corn or maize is the chief
grain crop of the United States, as it was the most
valuable addition to the world's list of foods contrib-
uted by America. This country is far in advance
of all others in com production. The average crop
is about 1,700,000,000 bushels. Twice in recent
years the official estimates exceeded 2,000,000,000
bushels, and the estimates of the crop of 1895 have
made it larger than in any preceding year. In sea-
sons favorable for this crop the product is at least
thirty bushels for each man, woman, and child in
the country. Corn is more largely used for human
food in the United States than in any other country ;
but the total so used is only a small percentage of
the whole crop. Nearly the entire product is con-
sumed in the country, however, as it is the chief
grain used in the production of beef and pork, and
is largely fed to all classes of farm animals. The
quantity exported is large actually, but very small
relatively, averaging less than four per cent, for the
last twenty-five years. In but one year (1890) did
the exports equal 100,000,000 bushels. Earnest
efforts have been made in recent years to cause an
increased demand from Europe for this grain. As
yet no striking effects have been produced, but there
is reason to hope that there may ultimately be a
large increase in our exports of this greatest of all
our farm products. Grown in every State and Ter-
ritory, by far the larger part of the crop is produced
in seven States, lying in the eastern central part of
the country — Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Mis-
souri, Nebraska, and Kansas. In a favorable year
a single county in one of the great corn-growing
States will have a much larger yield than will the six
New England States.
In area devoted to the crop and in value of the
product wheat has long ranked second among the
grain crops of the country. For a series of years
recently the average yield has been about 475,000,-
000 bushels. The maximum crop was over 611,-
000,000 bushels, produced in 1891 from almost
40,000,000 acres. The rapid and continuous de-
cline in value of wheat, believed by many to be
permanent, has had a considerable effect in reducing
the acreage. As wheat is the great bread-food
grain of highly civilized races of men, as it has been
relatively little used as food for animals, and as five
to six bushels per inhabitant per year is a liberal
allowance, it is obvious that we have had a large
surplus for export year by year. The exports of
wheat and wheat-flour have long formed a large part
of our enormous exports of breadstuffs. In 1892
these articles to the value of over $236,000,000 were
sent abroad. It may well be doubted whether
wheat culture has not reached its maximum for a
series of years, but there is no reason to believe that
this grain will cease to be one of the most important
of our agricultural products.
Third in area, and of increasing importance
among the grain crops, are oats. The average crop
for the past six years exceeds 650,000,000 bushels;
the crop of 1895 being considerably larger than
that of any former year. The quantity of oats used
for human food in this country has greatly increased
in recent years, actually and relatively ; but the
grain is still chiefly used as food for farm animals,
and, as with corn, the crop is almost entirely con-
sumed in our own country, the quantity exported
being insignificant in comparison with that used
within the United States.
Among the most valuable of all the farm crops of
which any considerable percentage is directly sold
is hay. In 1893 the acreage devoted to this crop
was about 50,000,000, and the yield over 65,000,-
000 tons, valued at $570,000,000. Much of this is
shipped considerable distances within the country,
but only a very small percentage is exported.
The great cotton crop will be separately treated,
and space will not permit even the briefest mention
of other crops important as some of them are. As
has been indicated, many of these crops are used
chiefly in the production of animals or animal pro-
ducts. These will be treated in another chapter.
One farm industry is so important and interesting
in its rapid spread and development that it deserves
at least brief recognition. No agricultural interest
of the country has had a more striking growth since
the Civil War than has the dairy. Prior to i860,
while much butter and a good deal of cheese were
manufactured, dairying received special attention
in but few parts of the country. The methods of
manufacture were primitive, and much of the pro-
duct was inferior in quality. Associated dairying —
the manufacture of butter and cheese in large fac-
tories, which often receive the milk produced on
many farms — may be claimed as a system of Amer-
ican origin ; and its introduction and rapid spread
soon after the close of the Civil War probably did
more to cause prosperity and increased intelligence
among the farmers over large areas of the country
than did any other one thing in connection with our
agriculture. In quite recent years there have been
most important improvements in methods, and while
there has been serious decline in prices, — in part
218
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
caused by the introduction of substitutes for butter,
made from other animal fats, — it seems certain that
American dairying is to continue to advance in the
extent of the products and, if wise measures be
pursued, in the quantity of these exported. Already
the value of the dairy exports in a single year has
closely approximated $200,000,000. So large a
proportion of the milk given by the more than 16,-
500,000 dairy cows in the country is consumed on
the farms where produced that it is almost impossi-
ble even to approximate the total quantity.
As was the case with our government, so in
relation to agriculture it may be said that all that
had preceded the century under consideration was
but the preparation for a great and rapidly develop-
ing system. Our agriculture, like our government,
has characteristics which more or less sharply sepa-
rate it from that of other countries. The contrasts
between our agricultural systems and those of Great
Britain are especially striking. Most noticeable of
all is the vast extent of our agricultural domain and
the vast aggregate of our products. Agriculture is
here not only the basal but the chief industry of the
country. We export very much more of the pro-
ducts of the farm than we import. In the past,
and in large degree in the present, we have had
low-priced lands and relatively high-priced labor.
Naturally this has given great stimulus to the inven-
tion, improvement, and general introduction of agri-
cultural machinery, and we need not be surprised at
the fact that a larger percentage of farm work is
done with the aid of machinery over much of our
country than in any other land. Systems of manage-
ment are simple, not firmly established, and relatively
readily modified. Probably in no other country are
farmers more ready to take up the cultivation of new
crops or new varieties of plant or animal crops, new
machinery, new markets or methods of marketing.
The system of land tenure is still, as a rule, abso-
lute ownership of moderate-sized farms. The per-
centage of tenant farmers is, unfortunately but
perhaps inevitably, somewhat rapidly increasing as
the average price for farm lands advances in the
more newly settled regions ; but more than seven
out of ten of the farms of the whole country are still
cultivated by their owners. The average size of the
farms, estimated at 137 acres, indicates that the
division has, as a rule, been for the purpose of
direct personal management by the owner, with
comparatively little hired labor. Of the 4,564,641
farms reported by the census of 1890, only 58,207
were returned as containing over 500 acres, while
there were over 2,000,000 containing between 100
and 500 acres, and over 1,100,000 with between 50
and 100 acres.
As has been noted, our agriculture is still expand-
ing; the acreage in farms, and in a much greater
degree the acreage under cultivation, is steadily in-
creasing. This fact suggests an explanation of the
apparently uncomplimentary fact that the average
yields per acre of our great crops are below those
of some other countries with certainly no better
soils. In the past the abundance of low-priced
lands — much of them to be had almost for the ask-
ing— led to their occupation by many who had little
experience in farming, little capital, and too often
had more expectation of profit from an advance
in the price of the land than from the growth and
sale of farm crops. Much of the criticism passed
on American farming and American farmers has
not, however, been just. Compared with their fel-
lows in other lands, the actual working farmers of
the United States are more cosmopolitan, coming
from many lands, and changing location within the
country with too great readiness ; they have at least
equal intelligence and education, and more of abil-
ity to adapt themselves to new conditions and suc-
cessfully solve new agricultural problems.
Space will not permit an extended review of the
causes of the marvelous development of agricultural
products in the United States in the last century.
Mention may be made of some of the more notice-
able ones, however. ' Of course the most obvious
one was the existence of such almost immeasurably
large tracts of fertile soil, inviting tillage not only
by the descendants of the early colonists, but by
millions of immigrants from the more densely pop-
ulated countries of Europe. But until better means
of transportation were discovered than existed a
centtu"y since it was practically impossible that re-
gions distant from the seaboard or navigable rivers
should be settled. Few things have done more to
stimulate settlement and the cultivation of the soil
than the introduction of the steamboat, the canal,
and, most of all, the railroad ; but no student can
fail to realize that without the invention of improved
agricultural machinery it would have been absolutely
impossible to have grown, harvested, or prepared
for transportation one half of our present annual
farm crops.
These and like things well illustrate the great
truth, so often apparently forgotten, that no man,
and equally no class of men, lives to himself or for
himself. That graceful essayist and thoughtful
statesman, George William Curtis, well said, " The
test of national welfare is the intelligence and pros-
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
219
perity of the farmer," It is equally true that the
prosperity of the farmer depends on the prosperity
of the other workers of the nation. The govern-
ment, too, has officially attempted to aid and develop
agriculture in many ways. Without going into dis-
puted political questions or pronouncing on the
wisdom of all its efforts, it is obvious that the aid
granted to the building of railroads, notably the
offer of free lands to settlers, the establishment
of a national Department of Agriculture, of agri-
cultural colleges and experiment stations, were largely
or wholly designed to help agriculture and those
engaged in it.
We may not wisely attempt much of prophecy;
but the story of the past, with its alternations of
great prosperity and serious depression, always
tending, however, to advance when viewed for any
considerable series of years ; with its abundant illus-
trations of triumph over great obstacles and of the
solution of most perplexing problems, leaves no
room for pessimistic predictions. We are seeing the
beginnings of great changes in our farming systems ;
we are to see more severe competition with the
agriculture of other lands, narrower margins of
profit, the necessity for better preparation on the
part of those who are to be American farmers ; but
we need not fear that the agricultural products of
our country will decline in quantity or quality, and
so long as the nation endures we may confidently
expect agriculture to be our chief industry.
CHAPTER XXXIII
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK
THE tastes, habits, and character of a people
are indicated by the class of domestic animals
they breed ; and a nation's advance or de-
cline in civilization can readily be traced in the im-
provement or degeneration of the animals kept for
labor and pleasure, or raised to supply food and rai-
ment. This principle we see strikingly illustrated in
the horses and cattle brought to America by the
Spaniards in their invasion of South America. The
horses of Spain represented the best blood of Arabia
and the East, and her cattle that of Andalusia
and the Moors. These animals, left in a genial
climate, .spread through Central America northward ;
but through the negligence and ignorance of the
Mexican the blood of Spain degenerated into the
wiry and stubborn Mexican pony. This, again,
passing northward into the colder regions of the
Indian tribes, became the ungainly and dwarfed
Indian pony of the plains, destitute of the style and
beauty of the elegant Andalusian, but with all his
spirit and hardiness remaining to tell of his Eastern
and royal origin.
The animals that came with the emigrants from
Europe and the British Isles gave America such a
mixed aggregation of traits and types as the world
has never before witnessed. From this rare gather-
ing of blood from every civilized land came our
native cattle, our wild horses, and the common hog
and sheep. From these the pioneers bred, and their
sons, in turn, improved by importation and by selec-
tion, aided by a temperate climate, fertile soil, rich
herbage, and grasses and grains such as no other
country had ever furnished for the foundation and
development of domestic animals. The mingling
of bloods from every nation has given us a class of
domestic animals called native or common stock,
which has been easily impressed by the use of males
of definite or fixed type. The result has been to give
to the United States in one century the highest type
and greatest number of high-grade and pure-bred
animals of any nation on the earth.
The intelligence of man has more to do with fix-
ing the type and character of the horse than has food
or climate. Jacob was the first color speciahst of
history, and succeeded, by his skill in fixing color
and breeding from the strongest of the herds, in tak-
ing from his father-in-law the best that he possessed.
Darwin, in his " Domestication of Plants and Ani-
mals," shows that a damp climate does not favor
the development of the highest type of the horse.
Yet, notwithstanding this, under the courageous
and enterprising reigns of William the Conqueror
and Henry I., England bred a strong and fleet type
of horses for her cavalry, and under WiUiam we find
the first mention of the horse being used for the pur-
poses of agriculture. In the reign of James, English
racing was fostered by matches against time and trials
of speed and endurance that verged on cruelty. But
the pluck and push of Britain was tending steadily,
meanwhile, against the climate, ungenial as it was to
the horses brought from Spain and Flanders, to give
speed, courage, and weight to the horses of England.
So valuable proved this Eastern blood that the stud-
book was established in 1791, although the first vol-
ume did not appear until 1808. By judicious cross-
ing, training, and feeding, with the selection of the
fittest, was evolved the blooded horse, whose descen-
dants in America, under a more favorable climate and
brighter skies, have eclipsed the records of Arabia
or Barbary.
The type of the thoroughbred was heavier at the
beginning of this century than it is now, as the
blooded horse was then more used for the improve-
ment of the horses for cavalry and parade. In
America the horse has been bred more for business
than pleasure. The invention of the elliptic spring
and the use of American hickory in the production
of light vehicles for pleasure and business, together
220
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK
221
with the invention of macadam and Telford roads,
turned the demand from the running to the trotting
horse. Up to that time the best horses were used
for the saddle, in parade, pleasure, sport, or war. It
needed a country devoted to business, and seeking
advancement by the arts of industry rather than
those of war, to evolve that purely American type,
the trotter. Until the present century the horse was
a minor factor in the uses of business and agriculture,
the ox, the ass, and the camel being more important
servants of the trades and the husbandman. The
first private coach was introduced into New York in
1745 ; but coaches were scarce until after the Revo-
lutionary War, and not until after 1840, when the
light one-horse vehicle came into use, did the
changed conditions of travel develop a harness-
horse for purposes of business and pleasure. The
attention of horse owners once attracted to the new
demands, a revolution was brought about in the busi-
ness of breeding and training horses. Along with
the change in vehicles incident to the evolution of
the trotter came as great a change in the style of har-
ness and trappings. The effect upon trade and com-
merce of the new lines of industry made possible by
the evolution of the trotter is not surpassed by the
changes now coming with the bicycle, trolley, and
electric motor.
About the beginning of this century there came
out from the lines of breeding of the thoroughbred,
traceable to such noted horses as Flying Childers,
Byerly Turk, and the Darley Arabian, a gray, stoutly
built horse, of wonderful power and stamina, with
a slashing, open gait, just fitted to found a race of
trotters. This was Messenger, foaled in 1780, and
he became the progenitor of the trotting families in
America. In 1793 Justin Morgan was foaled, sired
by one believed to be thoroughbred. Three of his
sons, Bulrush, Sherman, and Woodbury, became
noted as the sires of horses of intelligence, courage,
and speed, and the get of some of them excelled as
roadsters and stage-horses. From Black Hawk Mor-
gan, sired by Sherman out of a fast-trotting English
mare, has come the beautiful, useful, and courageous
line of Morgans. The original horse could trot in
2.40, and died in 1856 at the age of twenty-three.
In 1826 or 1827, James McNitt, of Washington
County, New York, purchased in Montreal a large
dapple gray, "a. strong, active, and fast trotter,"
which has since become famous through the Morse
horse, sire of Alexander's Norman.
In 1849 was foaled Rysdyck's Hambletonian, the
founder of the most noted family of trotters. He
was sired by Abdallah, who traced to Messenger by
both the sire and dam, out of a dam by Bellfounder,
with Messenger crosses on the dam's side. As early
as 1876 the interest in breeding and rearing trotters
had become so great that fabulous prices were paid
for colts, simply on the strength of their breeding.
Two fillies, untrained, sold for $13,000. A lot of
thirteen young colts sold for $41,200. The three-
year-old colt Steinway was sold for $13,000 in 1879.
After the animals had proved their high quality
prices still further advanced, and Governor Sprague
sold for $27,000 as a five-year-old. Maud S.,bred
at Alexander's noted stock-farm in Kentucky, was
sold to Mr. Bonner for $21,000 when four years
old, with a record of 2.101^, and the title "Queen
of the Turf." Smuggler sold for $40,000, Pocahon-
tas for $45,000, Goldsmith Maid for $36,000, Dex-
ter for $36,000, and so on, until we come to Axtell,
who sold for $100,000 after he had eclipsed the time
of all staUions, and retired to the stud, where his ser-
vice fee was $1000.
As an illustration of the wealth invested and the
possible earnings of a successful breeding establish-
ment we may state that " the money value of the sons
and daughters of Rysdyck's Hambletonian that have
beaten 2.30 can scarcely be computed. The stal-
lion himself was purchased with his dam for $125,
and earned in the stud $205,750. Thirty-six of his
get have trotted in 2.30 or better, and the prices for
which they could have been sold in their best days
amounted to $325,000. Among them were Sentinel,
George Wilkes, Jay Gould, and Administrator, all
noted sires. Their united progeny was worth many
thousands for stud and track uses. Some of his sons,
without a 2.30 record, became successful in the stud.
Alexander's Abdallah was sold for about $3500, but
he got Goldsmith Maid, which made a record of 2. 14,
and won on the turf close to $250,000; Almont
sired twenty-two 2.30 trotters ; Belmont got nine with
records better than 2.30. So the descendants of
Alexander's Abdallah have been worth to their own-
ers hundreds of thousands of dollars." Volunteer
was another who ranked among the most success-
ful of the noted Hambletonian sires, having to his
credit twenty-three 2.30 performers.
Electioneer, bought by Governor Stanford, proved
to be a noted sire, getting the fastest yearling,
2.36^ ; the fastest two-year-old, 2.21 ; the fastest
three-year-old, 2.19^^ ; and the fastest four-year-old,
2.18^. The bracing climate of Palo Alto, and the
methods of handling peculiar to Governor Stanford's
breeding farm, aided in these accomplishments.
These are but a few of the thousands of good horses
that owe success to the Hambletonian blood. It is
222
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
not strange that the enthusiasm among lovers of the
trotting horse has led many beyond the Hmits of safe
business methods, and that a reaction should follow
and prices dechne. The value of trotters has been
measured largely by their speed, taken as a measure
of ability to win future races, or as evidence of blood
lines that will make the animal valuable in the stud.
Success in campaigning is undoubted evidence of
pluck and stamina; and the breeding and training
of the trotter, and his contests on the track, have
developed these qualities in so high a degree that
no other class can equal him. The evolution of the
trotting horse has also shown the value of a training
peculiar to America as a factor in breeding. Scien-
tific handling, joined with reinforced lines of trotting
blood, has led to a gradual reduction of time since
the first record was made at Haerlem race-course, the
following notice of which appeared in the " Connec-
ticut Journal," New Haven, June 19, 1806, copied
from the New York " Spectator " :
"Fast Trotting. — Yesterday afternoon the Haer-
lem race-course of one mile's distance was trotted
around in two minutes and fifty-nine seconds by a
horse called Yankey, from New Haven — a rate of
speed, it is believed, never before excelled in this
country."
The following table shows how, under skilful
breeding and tireless training, the trotting and pac-
ing records have been reduced from year to year :
TROTTING AND PACING RECORDS, 1806 to 1895.
Year. Horse. Time.
1806 Yankey (saddle) 2.59
1810 " A horse from Boston " (saddle) 2.58^^
1824 Top Gallant (saddle) 2.40
1830 Buster (saddle) , 2.32
1S34 Edwin Forrest (saddle) 2.31^
1843 Lady Suffolk (saddle) 2.28
1852 Tacony (saddle) 2.26
1853 Tacony (saddle) 2.25^^
18^6 F'lora Temple 2.24^^
1859 Flora Temple 2. I9|^
1865 Dexter 2. 18^
1866 Dexter 2.18
1867 Dexter 2.17^
1871 Goldsmith Maid 2.17
1872 Goldsmith Maid 2. 16^
1874 Goldsmith Maid 2. 14
1878 Rarus 2.1^^
1879 St. Julien 2.11^
1880 Maud S 2. io3^
1881 Maud S. 2.10^
1S84 Jay-Eye-See 2.10
1884 Maud S 2.09^
1884 Maud S 2.09X
1885 .Maud S 2.08^
1891 Sunol 2.08X
1892 Nancy Hanks 2.04
1894 Alix 2.03^
1895 No reduction.
From 1 810 to 1824 the record was not reduced.
It is pertinent to notice that about this time run-
ning races had become common in the Middle and
Southern States, while a strong sentiment against
racing prevailed in the Northern States. In 1820,
Pennsylvania, for example, not only forbade racing,
but also enacted that no person should "print or
cause to be printed, set up or cause to be set up, any
advertisement mentioning the time and place for the
running, trotting, or pacing of any horses, mares, or
geldings," etc. A similar law was in the statutes of
Connecticut until within twenty years. New York
passed an act to prevent horse racing March 19,
1802, which was amended March 30, 1821, permit-
ting the " training of pacing, trotting, and running
horses" in Queens County for five years. The
sheriff was required to be on hand to witness these
"trials of speed," as called in the statute. This
amendment was reenacted April 3, 1826, without a
time limit. In 1825 the New York Trotting Club
was organized, with a view of " improving the speed
of road-horses." This track was probably the first
trotting course in the world. The Hunting Park
Association was formed in Philadelphia in February,
1828, and the next year a trotting club was organized
in Baltimore. These facts show a changing public
sentiment, and the records begin to fall. The keep-
ing of records became an established custom as early
as 1829, when the American Tmf Register began.
The English had not then begun to keep records,
but the American custom has enabled us to mark
the development of speed and establish well-defined
breeds during the threescore and more years it has
been in use. Wallace's American Trotting Register
was started in 187 1 by J. H. Wallace, New York,
since which time the business of breeding trotters has
increased, until now it is estimated by good authority
that the number of registered standard-bred trotters
exceeds 120,000. In the early history of the record
many animals were admitted to registry that are not
now classed as standard-bred. The term " standard "
indicates to-day ability of one or more ancestors to
trot within 2.30.
The lovers of the Morgan horse have organized an
association to publish a stud-book and to breed Mor-
gan horses to meet the growing demand for stylish-
going roadsters with the sense and stamina character-
istic of the Vermont Morgans early in this century.
Except the produce and incidental benefits to
other breeds from the use of the blooded horse of
England, no nation or age has produced a race of
horses that exempHfies so forcibly the intelligence,
pluck, enterprise, and thrift of a people as the full his-
tory of the evolution and successes of the trotting
horse shows the character of the Americans. He
has won his way against the prejudices of every
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK
223
nation and rival, until we find the English, French,
German, and Russian are buying the American trot-
ter for the uses of pleasure, business, and breeding.
Before the days of macadam roads and light
vehicles, saddle-horses were as common as trotters
are to-day. They were of no particular breeding,
but traced to the thoroughbred, the Narragansett
pacer, or the Scottish Galloway. Herbert suggests
that they were of Spanish origin, their ancestors com-
ing from Cuba. They were not only of general use,
but were shipped in large numbers from New Eng-
land to Cuba and the Southern coasts. There is now
a revival of interest in the saddle-horse as a luxtu-y,
the demand being beyond the supply. A stud-book
has been started, and some breeding farms, especially
in Kentucky, are engaged in breeding and training
saddle-horses of high excellence. The originators of
the stud-book hope to establish a breed of American
horses of this class that shall combine the highest
intelligence with great style and ability to go in any
of the acquired gaits, and not to be limited to the
walk, trot, and canter. From the ideal set up, and
the success that has thus far attended these efforts,
it is safe to predict that an improved breed of Ameri-
can saddle-horses will soon have its representatives in
every horse show or fair that will give them a class.
Prior to the introduction of railroads Vermont had
what Herbert called a distinct breed of cart-horses.
He described them as " the models of what draft-
horses should be, combining immense power with
great quickness, a very respectable turn of speed,
fine show, and good action." They had "none of
the shagginess of mane, tail, and fetlocks which indi-
cates descent from the black horse of Lincolnshire,"
and none of the curliness of mane and tail which
marks the Canadian or Norman blood. " The pecu-
liar characteristic of these horses is the shortness of
their backs, the roundness of their barrels, and the
closeness of their ribbing up." The only other breed
of American horses we have to notice is the Cones-
toga, which before the days of the Pennsylvania
Railroad was common on the farms and highways
of Pennsylvania. It seems to have descended from
the stock brought by emigrants from Flanders, Den-
mark, and Germany. It was a mixture of several
breeds, resulting in a large, patient burden bearer,
held in high esteem by the Germans of that State.
Although we have not originated and permanently
established any American breed of draft-horses, the
number of heavy horses has greatly increased, and
the quaHty has improved. The increasing heavy
business of factories, jobbers, importers, and transfer
and express companies in oiu* well-paved cities has
called for a great number of powerful horses. This
demand has led to the importing of heavy horses
from France, England, Scotland, and Germany. The
Vermont cart-horse and Conestoga draft-horse ex-
celled the types of foreign heavy horses, as a rule ;
and, with the start thus made in such breeds, it is to
be regretted that our pride in American animals has
not led our people to perpetuate and further develop
these useful horses.
Tens of thousands of dollars have been sent abroad
since the fad of importing heavy elephantine horses
became common in the Western States. The enter-
prising importers took advantage of the American
love of a big thing, and scoured France, England,
Scotland, and Germany for the heaviest animals.
They imported more than they could sell, and then
adopted the plan of leasing stallions for a term of
years. Since 1890 there have been many disastrous
failures among this class of importers. There were,
however, several importers who had truer ideals, and
who imported the best type of the draft and heavy
coach breeds to be found abroad, establishing breed-
ing farms not excelled in the world. These men will
weather the storm and disseminate some of the best
blood of the Old Worid.
The earliest importer of high-class draft-horses was
Edward Harris, of Moorestown, N. J. In 1839 he
imported two mares and the stallion Diligence, who
was in many respects similar to the McNitt horse,
but heavier and more compactly built, being a little
over fifteen hands high. He left an impress upon
the stock of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania
which has been of great value. The next valuable
importation was made by Charles Fullington, of
Union County, Ohio, in the spring of 1851. He
bought and brought home from France the famous
Louis Napoleon, a "short-legged, closely ribbed,
blocky, and compact gray, three years old." The
style of the horse was ridiculed by horsemen of that
region. In 1853 he was sold to A. P. Cushman, of
De Witt County, Illinois. After his colts in Union
County proved his worth, a company was formed for
importing other horses of his type. The author of
the " Percheron- Norman Stud-Book " says of him
that he was undoubtedly the best-known and most
popular French horse ever brought to America.
Thus the French blood was introduced into the
fertile plains west of the Alleghanies.
The first importations west of the Wabash were
made in 1868 by W. J. Edwards, of Chicago, in the
great stallions Success and French Emperor. The
latter went to Iowa as the property of Hon. J. B.
Grinnell. Success was sold to the Fletcher Horse
224
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Company, of which M. W. Dunham, of Wayne, 111.,
was an active member. In 1874 he purchased the
entire interest of the company, establishing his cele-
brated importing and breeding farm at Wayne. Of
the great horse Success it may be said he was truly
named. His colts at the average age of two years
and eight months sold at the average price of $450
per head, and in 1874 alone the sales of his get
amounted to $36,000.
The Clydesdale has been the strong rival of the
Percheron- Norman at the horse shows and fairs.
This breed is popular in Canada, and has its most
numerous representatives in the Northwest. The
secretary of the American Clydesdale Association,
Alexander Galbraith, says : " No importations into
the United States appear to have been made until
about 1870 and 1872, when John Reber, of Lancas-
ter, O., and the FuUingtons of Union County, began
the work. From that date small importations were
made by various parties, the most prominent being
the Powell Brothers, of Shadeland, Pa. Importations
steadily increased up to 1888. To-day the largest
breeder in America is Colonel Holloway, of Illinois ;
N. P. Clarke, of Minnesota, and R. B. Ogilvee, of
Wisconsin, coming next. These three breeders have
among them about 175 brood-mares, and have the
very cream of Scotland both in blood and individ-
ual merit. As high as $10,000 has been paid for
one Clyde. Eight volumes of the ' American Clyde
Stud-Book' have been published, containing 8000
entries."
The Shire horse is little esteemed in Canada, but
in the American craze for heavy horses he finds ad-
mirers. There is an American stud-book of three
volumes, with 4100 entries, 3500 of which represent
imported horses.
Of the foreign coach-horses the French and
German have creditable representatives in the West,
where Mr. M. W. Dunham has imported many high-
grade specimens of the French, and some other firms
have introduced the German breeds.
The hackney is gaining rapidly, and there are some
enterprising breeders and importers who are diU-
gently introducing them at the present time. As the
importation of heavy draft-horses wanes, farmers
and horsemen are becoming interested in breeding
horses of more action and style, so that the hackneys
and foreign coach breeds are now receiving more
attention.
In the West and South the mule, as a draft and
farm animal, has long been of great service. Gen-
eral Washington, with his practical nature, appreci-
ated the mule as an animal suited to the plantations
of the Southern States. He was America's first suc-
cessful breeder of mules. Mr. Ciu-tis says the king
of Spain presented Washington with a jack from his
royal stud in 1 7 8 7 . General Lafayette also presented
him one which proved of great value, and which sired
Washington's favorite jack, named Compound. To
him he bred his best coach-mares, and produced such
valuable animals that the Southern planters began to
use their thoroughbred mares for raising mules. The
mule being more steady at a draft, less liable to in-
jury or disease, less subject to lameness, and being
able to endure heat and hardship better than the
horse, his price for heavy work has kept as high as
that of draft-horses. The number of mules in the
United States increased from 559,331 in 1850 to
2,295,532 in 1890. The number of horses increased
from 4,336,7 19 in 1850 to 14,969,467 in 1890, which
gives one horse to every family in the Union, more
than is possessed per capita by any other nation.
We are still importing horses for breeding purposes
at the rate of 10,402 in 1890, at a cost of $2,881,-
657 ; and 37,675 horses for other pmposes the same
year, valued at $1,882,976. The number exported
for breeding purposes is on the increase, as well as
for sporting and general service.
The quality of our horses will undoubtedly im-
prove more rapidly in the next decade. The pres-
ent low prices have forced the sale and destruction
of many thousands of inferior animals. The rapid
increase of the low grade of horses from the ranches
of the West and Southwest has tended to lower the
price of farm and common draft and street horses.
The rapid displacement of horses in street-car service
by the trolley has had its effect in lowering prices.
During the past year new avenues for disposal of
the sm-plus have been opened, as it has been found
that the price is now so low that horse-meat, cured,
can be shipped to Belgium and Germany at six
cents per pound. Fertilizer factories have been
known to buy cast-off horses as low as $2 per head.
The hide is worth, on an average, $3.25, the bones
$1.25, and the fat and tankage about as much more.
At these figvu"es many unemployed and disabled
horses will find their way to fertilizer establishments,
and the land be doubly blessed.
In the salubrious and temperate climate of the
United States, with its various elevations and depres-
sions, and with the wealth of rich herbage of the
mountains and hillsides supplemented by the vari-
ety and abundance of grains throughout the valleys
and plains, we have conditions more favorable for
the raising of cattle than those enjoyed by any other
nation. Our herds have been singularly free from
Lazarus N. Bonham,
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK
225
any of the diseases which have swept off the cattle
of middle and southern Europe by the thousands.
Pleuropneumonia and anthrax have entered our
shores with cattle imported from lands where such
diseases have a hold, but in no case have any of
these plagues spread over any great extent of coun-
try. Under the efficient organization of our Bureau
of Animal Industry, outbreaks of any contagion have
speedily disappeared ; and while to-day the cattle
of the United States are spread from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, and from the everglades of Florida to
the plains of Dakota, numbering nearly 50,000,000,
every cargo of cattle leaving our ports carries with
it a clean bill of health. Every epidemic of conta-
gious disease that has ever visited our herds, if we ex-
cept the epizootic among horses, has been traceable
directly to a foreign source. In our herds is rep-
resented the blood of the choicest of the Devon, the
shorthorn, the longhorn, the Hereford, the Sussex,
and the Norfolk of England ; the Ayrshires, Angus,
and Galloway of Scotland ; the Kerrys of Ireland ;
the Alderney, Guernsey, and Jersey of the Channel
Islands ; with the Holstein from Holland, and the
cattle from highland and lowland of every land where
good cattle are produced. In the century just clos-
ing our enterprising farmers and dairymen have im-
ported every year cattle at a cost of many thousands
of dollars.
The first English colonial settlement on the James
River, we are told, brought cattle from England as
early as 1607. Succeeding colonies brought cattle
from the countries whence they emigrated. In 1625
the settlers of New York made an importation from
Holland, which was followed by further importa-
tions, each leaving its impress on the cattle of that
region. The English colonies in Massachusetts and
New Hampshire, the Dutch in New Jersey, the
Swedes in Delaware, and the Danes on the Piscata-
qua River, all brought cattle from the countries near-
est the ports from which they sailed. The cattle of
Normandy came in with the French around Quebec,
and the Spanish cattle from South America and
Mexico made their impress on the Southwest, as seen
in what are now called Texas cattle. From all this
motley and diverse stock have sprung the common
or native cattle of America, giving the foundation
on which we have builded. The shorthorns have
been more used, perhaps, than any other beef breed
for improvement of this native stock ; and the early
settlers were more interested in developing cattle that
could concentrate the wealth of grass and corn of the
fertile valleys into beef than into butter and cheese.
During the last quarter of the century great atten-
15
tion has been paid to the improvement of dairy cat-
tle. The importation of Channel Islands cattle and
Holstein- Friesians has been large, and even the dairy
qualities of shorthorns have attracted attention, some
of the milking families of the breed bringing ad-
vanced prices. The World's Fair dairy test of short-
horn, Jersey, Guernsey, and Ayrshire cattle, continu-
ing through several months, gave a new impulse to
the breeding of Channel Islands cattle and dairy
shorthorns.
Soon after the Revolutionary War a few short-
horn cattle were imported into Virginia. They were
well fleshed, and the cows gave as much as thirty-
two quarts of milk a day. In 1 783, Matthew Patton,
Sr., of the South Fork of the Potomac, imported a
longhorn bull. In 1785 three of his sons moved to
Kentucky, taking with them some of the half-bred
heifers. In 1795 they sent back to Virginia and
Maryland for cattle known as "milk cattle." In
1803 the Pattons brought out the "milk bull " Pluto
825, which proved a noted breeder. Descendants
of this bull and another named Mars, and a cow,
Venus, found their way into the Virginia Reservation
of Ohio, and thus Mars, Pluto, and Venus laid the
foundation for future improvement of cattle in the
West.
In 181 7, Lewis Sanders, of Lexington, Ky., im-
ported three bulls and three heifers from England,
which were of so good a quality that they laid the
foundation of many excellent herds. In 181 8, Cor-
nelius Coolidge, of Boston, Mass., imported a heifer
and a bull. About 1820 several public-spirited men
in the neighborhood of Boston brought out at differ-
ent times a number of valuable animals, whose de-
scendants are still numerous in New England. In
1823, General Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany,
N. Y., imported the bull Washington and two heifers.
In 1824, Colonel John Hare Powell, of Philadelphia,
began to import shorthorns, and bred largely at his
estate near the city, selling them to go into Ohio
and Kentucky.
The first drove of fat cattle from the fertile Scioto
country and the Virginia Reservation crossed the
Alleghanies on the hoof in the spring of 1805. Of
the sixty-eight head, twenty-two were disposed of
at Morefield, Va. The remainder were driven on
to Baltimore, where they were sold at a net profit
of $31.77 per head. The problem of getting cattle
from the grazing lands of the West to the Eastern
markets was solved, and its effects were as great as
those of the successful shipment later of the first
cargo of fat cattle to England, or the first efforts of
Swift & Company in sending dressed beef from Chi-
226
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
cago to New England. In 1817 Mr. Felix Renick
took a drove of 1 00 fat cattle to Philadelphia, which
sold for $134 per head. In 181 8 Joseph Harness
sent the first drove from the West to New York City.
The 100 were sold at $69 per head. From Ohio
and Kentucky, also, cows and oxen were driven to
Michigan as early as 1825-40, to supply the demands
of immigration into that State.
The Virginians of Ohio and Kentucky cooperated
in the exchange and improvement of their best cattle.
Not content, however, with the slow improvement
of cattle, ex-Governor Duncan McArthur, Felix Re-
nick, George Renick, and nineteen others from Ross
County, Ohio ; William Renick, S. S. Denney, and
fourteen others from Pickaway County ; M. L. Sul-
livan and two others from Franklin County ; and
seven others from Fayette, Highland, and Pike
counties, resolved " to try the experiment of direct
importation from Great Britain." A company was
formed on November 2, 1833, with ample capital
and unlimited public spirit, as no subscriber expected
any profit on the money invested. Mr. Felix Re-
nick, with E. J. Harness and Josiah Renick, were sent
to England to buy the best cattle they could find,
regardless of price. Their first importation consisted
of seven bulls and twelve cows and heifers. Further
importations followed. In 1835 ^^^ 1836 Felix
Renick had charge of the company's business and
the breeding of the cattle, continuing up to the
closing sale in 1837, when those remaining were
sold at prices ranging from $425 to $2500. Other
companies were afterward formed in Kentucky and
Ohio. The success of this pioneer company led
also to heavier importations by the Eastern men ;
and Mr. Whitaker, an English breeder, sent 100
head to Philadelphia, which were sold on the farm
of Mr. Powell, an extensive breeder and importer.
During the thirties, and even up to this date, the
Devons and Herefords had stanch admirers. Henry
Clay had been to England and imported Devons,
Herefords, and shorthorns, and in a letter to Gov-
ernor Trimble he advised the Ohio company to
bring out Devons and Herefords, as they were " bet-
ter for the yoke." The Devons were at that time
the favorites in New England. " The battle of the
breeds," spoken of by Cassius Clay, still wages. The
Herefords have been vastly improved in the prairie
States, and have been used in great numbers on the
plains, to the vast improvement of the range cattle
of the West. As beef-cattle they have carried off in
later years a full share of prizes with the shorthorns
at the Chicago fat-stock shows.
As the farms of the country became improved, and
cattle no longer wintered in the forests or open fields,
farmers found horns to be an expensive and unneces-
sary appendage, and a constant menace to the quiet
and peace of the herd inclosed in yards and sheds.
The shipper, too, finds the horns a source of loss in the
pens and the cars of the railroads. Buyers of feed-
ing cattle prefer those without horns, since they can
accommodate a greater number with peace and quiet
at the feeding racks and troughs. These causes have
led to the practice of dehorning cattle intended for
the dairy and feed lots. The polled breeds of Scot-
land and England have been imported extensively
within the last decade ; and the polled Durham, a new
breed of cattle originated in the Miami Valley, is so
far established that already the number of breeders
and their favorites are numerous, and the tjrpe so
well fixed that the first volume of the "American
Polled Durham Herd-Book " has been issued. At
present there are successful herds of polled Durhams
in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa.
Wc now turn from the hornless type to the long-
horned Texas cattle. These ungainly beasts are but
one remove above the buffalo. They doubtless are
of Spanish origin, introduced into Mexico, of which
Texas was then a part, about the year 1500. They
overran the plains of the Southwest, and were for
years killed for their hides and tallow. Before the ad-
vent of railroads into the Southwest, Texas was sup-
posed to have one seventh as many cattle as all the
other States and Territories. Until Kansas became
settled they were driven by trails into the North-
west, and made the base for founding the numerous
and extensive cattle-ranches which utilized the wild
grasses of government lands. These ranches made a
market for thousands of bulls from the older States.
The grade steers were a vast improvement on the
cattle of the Southwest, and came into competition
with the cattle of the States east of the Missouri, in
the Chicago and Kansas City markets. The set-
tlers have pushed west and taken up lands along the
watercourses of the mountain-ranges, and the ranch-
men have reluctantly retired before the plowmen.
The vast ranges of the Northwest invited millions of
capital from the States and from England and Scot-
land, until the boom in the cattle business burst, leav-
ing wrecked fortunes and a clearer field for the legit-
imate production and improvement of cattle on the
farms.
The necessity of greater attention to live stock,
and of plowing less and grazing more, is recognized
by the more intelligent. More capital and thought
have gone into the improvement of dairy cattle
within the last decade than were ever employed at
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK
227
any other period in the history of the country. The
Jersey, Holstein, and Ayrshire can be found in every
community, and our milk records and dairy tests
show that our improved cattle and our methods of
breeding and feeding enable us to excel any records
made even in the countries in which dairy breeds
originated. Our experiment stations and agricultural
colleges are investing in dairy plants and employing
every means known to science for the fostering and
development of the dairy interests of the people.
The States of New York, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana,
and Ohio have their dairy schools and courses of
lectures, stimulating their residents to higher stan-
dards and more economical production.
Oiu" foreign trade in dairy products is older than
the government. During a part of the first half of
this century our shipments of butter exceeded those
of cheese. This continued until about 1842, when
the introduction of cheese factories led to increased
exports of that product. Instead of our American
cheese growing in favor abroad, it deservedly lost
standing, because of the process of " filling cheese "
with lard, unmerchantable butter, etc. The history
of the dairy business in America is one of vast fluc-
tuations. The legitimate manufacturer has had to
cope with the most ingenious substitutes. The fats
of swine and cattle have come into competition with
butter fat, by the introduction of oleomargarine, lard
neutral, and filled cheese. The business has been
demoralized, and the reputation of American butter
and cheese impaired. There is no longer any mys-
teiy about the character of oleo and filled cheese.
Some States have regulated their sale by law, com-
pelling them to be sold on their merits. The change
in the values of butter and cheese for the last thirty
years has been steadily downward, as shown by the
following table taken from the Department of Agri-
culture report, December, 1890:
BUTTER AND CHEESE, 1861 to 1890.
Period.
Butter.
Cheese.
Pounds.
Price.
Cents.
Pounds.
Price.
Cents.
1861-70
1871-80... .
1881-90...
13,398,053
15,245,288
18,820,780
23.0
iS.O
17.2
44,657,282
99,992,441
104,158,600
143
12.7
lO.O
The fact that the average price of butter imported
into England was 23 cents, while our exports of but-
ter the same year averaged only 14. i cents at ports
of shipment, is discreditable to American enterprise
and skill. The causes for this disparity of prices are
many, the chief being that our best butter and cheese
find a ready market at home, and only the lower
grades are shipped abroad.
As our dairy exports have declined with the qual-
ity of goods offered, our exports of beef-cattle have
increased, the quality of stock being improved in the
same ratio. One of the first attempts to export cat-
tle from the Southwest was made by a company of
ranchmen of Texas. It was before the days of re-
frigerator-cars and cold storage in vessels. Only
fifteen per cent, of a large cargo of the Texas long-
horns reached Liverpool. I believe the first cattle
exported for beef went to Glasgow about twenty-five
years ago. Only two consignments a week were first
sent out. The number increased to fifty per week,
but as the cost of export was $48.66 per head, ship-
ments were discontinued in 1874. Freights declin-
ing, the basiness was resumed, and has gradually in-
creased as the prejudice against American beef gave
way to enthusiasm in its favor. Freights have de-
clined to $ I o or less per steer. Since the first trials the
business of exporting beeves, either alive or dressed,
has grown to mammoth proportions. To Mr. East-
man, of New York, belongs the credit of successfully
inaugurating and establishing the business. He is
still the largest exporter, his weekly shipments run-
ning up into the thousands. His success has been
followed by the organization of other similar firms.
The effect of the transfer of the choicest beeves to
a foreign market has been to stimulate the price of
prime cattle. Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio for years
furnished the bulk of export cattle, but now Iowa
and Missouri also send many. Mr. J. R. Dodge has
estimated that the average value of beeves exported
by this country in 1861 was $19.65. In 1878 the
average value had risen to $46.68, and in 1894 to
$93.14; but this last estimate includes the export
of some of the finest breeding cattle sent to Great
Britain, twenty-eight head of which averaged $5850.
There was but a small surplus of cattle in this coun-
try prior to 1850. About that time grass-fed beeves
began to find market in Cuba. The real commence-
ment of our export business was in 1877, when the
improvement started in Ohio and Kentucky, and
worked westward, where cows and grass were abun-
dant and cheap. In 1877 50,000 head were ex-
ported to Great Britain, Cuba, the British West
Indies, Canada, and Mexico. More than half of
this number went to Cuba, and only 5091 to Great
Britain. The quality of cattle having improved,
the export trade to Great Britain in eighteen years
increased to 355,852, worth nearly $32,500,000.
France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands took
228
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
less than $2,000,000. The dressed-meat trade, fresh
and salt, represented in 1894 $28,259,863, which,
with live animals exported, makes an aggregate of
$61,721,785, mostly for animals of improved grades.
In 1877 the first shipments of fresh beef in refrigera-
tor-ships were made. In 1870 the value of all ship-
ments of beeves and beef products was $6,194,626.
In 1 89 1 the total value was $65,533,564, taking more
than 1,000,000 of the choicest cattle from the cen-
tral corn-growing States. In 1870 an export beef
was worth $15.98. In 1891 the average price was
$81.26 each, showing that as quahty improves
price advances. There is no longer any demand
for good cattle among country butchers, and the
farmer who formerly could fatten one to six prime
bullocks has now no market, hence has become a
dairyman or grain grower, to the injury of the land.
The receipts and shipments, as now recorded at our
principal markets, embrace, therefore, a large per
cent, of the actual production of the country, the
bullocks, pigs, and lambs being all bought up to-
day by the country shipper, and in promiscuous lots
dumped into the great stock-yards.
The hog crop of America is most closely related
to the com crop. The States in the com belt west
of the Ohio River furnish the surplus pork for ex-
port and for home consumption in States where com
is not largely grown. Hogs came with the Cavaliers
and Pilgrims, and in the common hog of the country
was early found a mixture of types and races from
every country where pork was produced. This mon-
grel was the base, easily impressed by the blood of
the China, Neapolitan, Berkshire, Tamworth, and
other breeds, known as early as the second quarter
of the century. After the settlement of Ohio and
Kentucky improvement in hogs was marked. The
corn in the valleys and the mast in the timber fur-
nished food in such abundance that the energies of
the early settlers were bent upon producing pork
and cattle to utilize the superabundance. The West
Indies furnished a market for all surplus pork of the
Eastern States, and under the stimulus of this trade
heavy hogs were produced along the Delaware, be-
fore the development of the interest in the country
around Cincinnati. The production of hogs in Ohio,
Kentucky, and eastern Indiana increased so rapidly
that Cincinnati early became the packing center of
the West. As the Wabash, the Illinois, and the Mis-
souri valleys and the prairies became vast com-fields,
and the railroad pushed westward, the center of pork
production also moved west. Ohio is no longer the
leading corn and hog State, being now the seventh ;
and Cincinnati is excelled as a packing city by
Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, St. Louis, and
Indianapolis.
The China and Berkshire, along with the Russian
and Irish grazer, were earliest used to cross upon the
common hog. In New Jersey the red hog formed
the foundation for the large hogs to furnish the
heavy meat for the West Indies and the Carolinas.
In Chester County, Pennsylvania, the white hog was
the favorite, and was improved, and the type called
Chester white was estabUshed. In the Miami Val-
ley the China, Berkshire, Wobura, Russian, and
Irish grazer blood mingled with that of the common
hog, and the Poland China breed was evolved and
improved to meet the wants of the packer and feeder.
In northern Ohio, in the dairy districts, where the
conditions of feed, soil, and handhng were very
different, the white hog of Pennsylvania has been
improved, and we find a breed known as Todd's im-
proved Chester whites. The red hog of New Jersey
has come West into a land of plenty, and has filled
out, and is taking on the plumpness and refinement
of bone, ear, and head peculiar to the breeds in a
com- growing country. In northern Indiana we find
a breed of white hogs called Victorias, finer in type
than the Chester whites, and of more growth than
the small English breeds.
The above-named American breeds have become
so well fixed and established that each has its record.
The Poland China holds about the same relation
to other breeds of swine that the short horn does to
other breeds of cattle. Pigs of this breed have been
shipped to Germany, Russia, Australia, the Argentine
Republic, Cuba, and Canada. The improvement
of the swine of America has been greater than that
of its horses, cattle, or sheep, and with a far smaller
outlay for imported animals for breeding purposes.
Swine are raised in every State in the Union and on
almost every farm. The cotton States consume more
pork than they produce. The States producing the
surplus are Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana,
Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kentucky,
Minnesota, and Michigan, and their rank is about
in the order named. It has been estimated that
ninety-five per cent, of the exports of pork, eighty-
six per cent, of the exports of lard, and ninety-three
per cent, of the total exports of hog products from
the United States come from the surplus of these
States.
Our unequaled system of transportation is one of
the prominent factors which have helped to the re-
markable development of the pork business. Pork
products are carried from Chicago or St. Louis to
New York for only about one third of a cent per
AMERICAN LIVE STOCK
229
pound, a distance of 900 miles. The ocean charge
from New York to Bremen is about the same.
Direct consignments from St. Louis or Chicago to
Bremen have been shipped for a little more than half
a cent per pound. Lard production has suffered
somewhat since the discovery of the process of util-
izing a waste product of cotton. Cotton-seed oil
has now come into such extensive use as a substitute
for lard and lard-oil, for culinary and manufacturing
purposes, that its present annual sale is estimated to
exceed the equivalent of 70,000,000 pounds of lard.
The production of oleo from beef suet has also fur-
nished the by-product of stearine, which enters largely
into the manufacture of lard substitutes, to give body
and consistency to imitation lard. This adulteration
of lard has brought American lard into disrepute in
foreign markets, and reduced the demand. The sur-
plus of pure lard continues great, and its extent fixes
the price.
The healthfulness of American pork, like that of
our beef, has been a distinguishing feature of our
meat products. Our herds have been singularly free
from disease ; and the superior quality of our pork
products, and their low cost compared with that of
European products, gave us an immense and grow-
ing trade abroad, furnishing a wholesome and cheap
meat-supply to the densely populated districts of
Germany and France.
On the 25th of June, 1880, the German govern-
ment issued an edict prohibiting the importation of
"chopped, or in a similar manner divided or pre-
pared, pork, and of sausages of all kinds, from
America." In the following February France gave
a blow to our rapidly growing trade by prohibiting
the importation of all hog-meats from the United
States. Our pork trade in 1891 with France was
$267,804, and in 1883 $4,987,673. Germany not
only prohibited the use and sale of American pork,
but prevented our using the free ports of Hamburg
and Bremen in shipping to other countries. And yet
these blows have not paralyzed us, as the improve-
ment of our swine and sales of pork go bravely on,
and the farmers of America look upon the porker as
their mortgage lifter and taxpayer. The census enu-
merations for the past fifty years show the increase
in the number of hogs raised as follows: 1850, 30,-
354,313; i860, 33,512,867; 1870, 25,184,569;
1880,47,681,700; 1890, 57,409,583.
Exportations as early as 1872 increased to an
encouraging degree, amounting to over 500,000,000
pounds, and continued to increase until more than
1,000,000,000 pounds were shipped in 1881. The
edicts of exclusion, referred to above, reduced ex-
15*
ports to 651,109,020 pounds in 1882, but they shortly
ranged up again to 853,298,881 pounds, and by 1890
had reached 1,205,814,813 pounds. In other words,
foreign demand has taken about 6,000,000 hogs per
annum of our siuplus, which is less than one fifth of
the entire hog product of the United States. The
lowest price of pork per 100 in thirty-three years
was $2,85 in 1878-79, and the highest $11.46 in
1864-65, when gold was at its highest premium.
The specified imports and exports of the various
pork, cattle,, and dairy products, together with live
stock, for 1890 are given in the subjoined tables:
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF HOG PRODUCTS
IN 1890.
Exports.
Imports.
Hops
$909,042
697,772
663,343
39.149.635
7,907,125
15,406
4.753.488
33.455.520
753.409
Sausage casings
$484,958
Lard-oil
Bacon
-,
Hams ........
Fresh pork
Salt pork
> 339.178
Lard
Bristles
Grease
1,286,219
i^2,o8q
Total
$88,304,740
$2,242,444
EXPORTS OF CATTLE PRODUCTS IN 1890.
Kind. Value.
Cattle $31,261,131
Bones 271,533
Glue 88,484
Hides 1.828,635
Canned beef 6,787,193
Fresh beef 12,862,384
Salt beef 5,250,068
Cured beef 9^223
Tallow 5,242,158
Oleo 6,476,258
Butter 4,187,489
Cheese 8,591,042
Milk 303-325
Grease 753.409
Total $83,912,312
IMPORTS OF CATTLE PRODUCTS IN 1890.
Kind. Value.
Cattle $244,747
Butter 13.679
Cheese 1,295,506
Glue 471.829
Grease 132,044
Hair 3,026,566
Hides
Hide cuttings, etc
Hoofs, horns, etc.
Preserved meats . .
Other meats
Milk
Oil
Unenumerated . . .
21,881,886
348,440
236,648
203,579
136,099
102,954
3.235
371.795
Total $28,468,547
230
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Adding the values of 3501 horses exported in
1890, amounting to $680,410; of 3544 mules, $447,-
108; of 67,521 sheep, $243,077 ; and of all other ani-
mals and fowls, $97,360, making the grand total of
exports of live stock and animal products for 1890,
$175,986,750. Our total exports of animals, bread-
stuffs, cotton, and articles made from these three
leading classes of farm products are $627,216,656.
The value of all exports other than of animals and
farm products is $218,087,172, thus making the
percentage of agricultural products exported 74.2,
as compared with the total exports, and the percen-
tage of animals and animal products 80, by the same
comparison.
The inhabitants of the United States are singularly
rich in horses, cattle, and swine. For every 1000 in-
habitants we have 239 horses, 264 milch cows, 557
neat cattle, and 917 swine. Great wealth has grown
up with ovu: herds, and vital interests surround them.
In many parts of the country dairying and animal
production have driven out the growth of wheat
and oats or other cereal crops, and although the
population is not as dense in those regions as else-
where, the inhabitants seem more prosperous, their
houses and outbuildings are larger, and the annual
profits are as great. In her live stock America has
done more during a century than many older nations
have accomplished in ten times that period. Her
rise has been rapid, her achievements great, and her
future may safely be predicted to bring forth results
far more wonderful than those I have been attempt-
ing to review.
^»*$$^p$*^lp^*$^* *^^p$*^#«^^$^^$$$$
CHAPTER XXXIV
AMERICAN COTTON
^:?^J
THE introduction of the Whitney cotton-gin
laid the foundation for the cotton industry,
the present magnitude of which may be
judged from the statement of Mr. Thomas EUison, of
Liverpool, the leading authority on cotton statistics,
who has said: "The cultivation of the cotton-plant,
the manufacture of its fiber, and the distribution of its
product afford employment to a much larger amount
of capital and labor than any other branch of me-
chanical industry." Mr. EUison adds : " And yet, so
far as Europe and America are concerned, this vast
agricultural and manufacturing system has been built
up almost within the limits of the past century."
A number of cotton-machinery inventions made a
few years prior to Whitney's had brought about an
increasing demand in England for cotton for manu-
facturing purposes, and there was considerable
anxiety on the part of mill-owners in Great Britain
as to whether production throughout the world
could be so stimulated as to cause it to keep pace
with consumptive requirements.
While it is supposed that the cotton-plant is in-
digenous to America, and it is known that it was
cultivated in Virginia as early as 1620, its produc-
tion was very limited until after the invention of the
saw-gin. The total crop in 1791 is estimated to
have been 2,000,000 pounds, equal to 4000 bales,
of which about 200,000 pounds, or 400 bales, are
supposed to have been exported to Great Britain.
A shipment of eight bags had been made to Liver-
pool in 1784, though there are reports of trifling
shipments prior to that date, but these are supposed
to have been of West India cotton exported via
Charleston. This shipment, however, was sold to
an English firm, in whose mill was employed at the
time Samuel Slater, who in 1790 built in Pawtucket,
R. I., a mill for Messrs. Almy & Brown, of Provi-
dence. It is supposed that the first mill built in
the South was in the same year (1790), and that it
was in South Carolina. An old report states that a
mill was estabHshed in South Carolina in that year.
" driven by water " and having " spinning-machines
with eighty- four spindles each." Though Slater is
regarded as the father of the New England cotton-
mill business, cotton manufacturing to a limited
extent had been carried on for some years prior to
his coming to America, especially household manu-
facture, Thomas Jefferson having " employed two
spinning-jennies, a carding-machine, and a loom
with a flying shuttle, by which he made more than
2000 yards of cloth, which his family and servants
yearly required."
In 1739 it was testified in an English court
that " cotton grows very well in Georgia, and can
be raised by white persons without the aid of
negroes." When the colonies undertook to en-
courage the manufacture of cotton goods the home
government did everything in its power to hinder
the progress of the industry, with a view to com-
pel them to confine their attention to the produc-
tion of food and raw materials and to purchase
their manufactured goods from Great Britain. At
the request of English merchants, who were dis-
turbed by the efforts of American manufacturers to
export their goods, an act of Parliament was passed
imposing a fine of ;^5oo for every offense of ex-
porting such goods, and, this not proving effectual,
a law was enacted forbidding the exportation of
textile machinery from Great Britain, in order to pre-
vent American manufacturers from getting cotton
machinery. Despite all these disadvantages, how-
ever, more and more attention was given by Ameri-
cans to the study of methods to develop the cotton
industry. Massachusetts especially took active steps
to encourage cotton manufacturing, and in 1786 the
legislature gave ;^2oo to two brothers to help them
establish carding and spinning machinery. Later
;^5oo was granted to assist another factory, and
afterward ^2000 to another. Up to this time the
progress in cotton cultivation and manufacture had
been very slow, and it was felt that some improved
method of ginning cotton must be invented before
•Sdi
232
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
the cotton business could attain much larger propor-
tions. This was a subject of frequent discussion.
In 1792, Eli Whitney, a native of Massachusetts,
while in Georgia, had his attention called to the
need of a machine to separate the seed from the
lint, and .succeeded, in 1793, in perfecting a gin
which did this.^ With the introduction of the gin
the cotton business in all branches advanced with
leaps and bounds. The South's crop jumped from
2,000,000 pounds in 1790 to 10,000,000 pounds in
1796 and to 40,000,000 pounds in 1800, or only-
four years later; while the yield of 1810 was 80,-
000,000 pounds, and that of 1820 160,000,000
pounds.
The rapid increase in the demand for cotton, and
the profitableness of its cultivation, caused a con-
centration of the energy and capital of the South in
planting; and other industrial interests which had
been floxurishing declined under the craze for cotton
raising. According to Donnell's " History of Cot-
ton," in 18 16 the tariff on cotton goods was largely
increased, the measure being strongly supported by
the South on the ground that it would promote the
consumption of its cotton, and opposed by some of
the Northern States because of their large shipping
interests — another illustration of how tariff sentiment
changes as conditions change. From a crop of about
400,000 bales in 1820, production rapidly increased)
the growth of this industry probably surpassing in
extent and wide-reaching importance any other crop
in Europe or America. The energy of the South
was turned into cotton raising, and production really
increased in advance of the world's needs. Other
agricultural interests were not, however, neglected.
Diversified farming was the rule, and the South was
more nearly self-supporting in the way of foodstuffs
— corn, bacon, etc. — than it has been since the war.
In general, prices were well maintained for forty
years, though gradually tending downward after the
beginning of this century. In 1801 the average
New York price was forty-four cents a pound, and
from this it slowly declined, often with an upward
spurt for a year or two, to thirteen and one half
cents in 1839.
With prices ranging from thirteen to forty-four
cents, and averaging for forty years, from 1800 to
1839, a fraction over seventeen cents a pound,
cotton cultivation was so profitable that it is not to
be wondered at that the disposition of the people of
the South was to concentrate their efforts more and
more on cotton cultivation to the exclusion of other
industrial interests. Beginning with 1840 there
came a period of extremely low prices, and the
cotton States suffered very much from this decline.
In that year the average New York prices dropped
to nine cents, a decline of four cents from the pre-
ceding year ; and this was followed by a continuous
decline until 1844-45, when the average was 5.63
cents, the lowest average price for a year ever
known to the cotton trade. Moreover, in 1844-45
the seed was without market value, while now the
sale of seed adds largely to the value of the crop,
transportation being also very much cheaper than
in 1845. In 1847 the crop was short and prices
advanced sharply, only to drop back to eight and
then to seven and one half cents, the average for the
1 As there has been much discussion as to who is really
entitled to the credit of the invention of the cotton-gin, the
following extract from a pamphlet entitled " Cotton as a Fac-
tor in Progress," by Mr. D. A. Tompkins, who has made a
careful investigation of the subject, is of interest :
" It appears to be commonly believed that the successful
production of large cotton crops in the United States is due to
the invention ot the gin alone. While this has been an essen-
tial element in the problem, yet Egypt, India, and South
America, which have the advantage of perfected gins, due to
the inventions made in America, produce cotton neither so
cheaply nor in such quantities as the United States. I am
far from wishing to take from Mr. Eli Whitney any of the
credit that attaches to his name for the invention of the cotton-
gin. He stands in my estimation at the head of the list of all
those whose inventions have been of benefit to mankind. In
the invention of the cotton-gin there is glory enough to im-
mortalize Whitney's name, with plenty to spare for the credit
of others who did valuable and essential work in the develop-
ment ol what he produced.
" When Mr. Wliitney first visited Savannah much had al-
ready been accomplished in the way of creating conditions for
the more economical production of cotton. A commission had
been appointed by the State of Georgia, charged v/ith the duty
of causing a machine to be devised for the separation of the
lint of the cotton from the seed. Mr. Josiah Watkins had in
operation a crude machine similar in many respects to the
more nearly perfect gin which Whitney constructed. The
substitution of the saw for wire spikes seems to have been
first made by Colonel O. A. Bull, of La Grange, Ga., and a
little later, but independently, by Hogden Holmes, of Fair-
field County, South Carolina ; and it was this improvement,
more than any other one thing, that put the cotton-gin in
shape to become such an important factor in the development
of the cotton interest.
" While the times were ripe for the invention of the cotton-
gin, and many persons were working at the problem, and
while the gin would probably have been invented even had
Whitney never gone to the South, he was just the right man
quickly to take up the suggestion of the Georgia State commis-
sion. He saw the Watkins machine, worked on the problem
himself, heard of Holmes's improvement and went to see it,
and to his own ideas and work he added the best of what he
gathered from various other workers on the same problem.
The result was the Whitney gin."
Whitney realized comparatively little from this invention.
Richard H. Edmonds.
AMERICAN COTTON
233
decade from 1840 to 1849 being the lowest of any
decade in the history of cotton.
These excessively low prices brought about a re-
vival of public interest in other pursuits than cotton
cultivation ; and the natural tendency of the people
to progress in other industrial matters, as evidenced
by the history of the Southern colonies prior to the
Revolution, but which had long been dormant, was
again aroused, and for some years there was a very
active spirit manifested in the building of railroads
and the development of manufactures. With 1850
a period of much higher prices was ushered in, and
for the next ten years the average was about twelve
cents. Then came the war, with its accompanying
scarcity of cotton, prices rapidly advancing until
1863-64, when the New York average was ioij4
cents. When the war ended the world was bare of
cotton. The demand was pressing, and the prices
continued very high. But the South was bankrupt.
It had no capital on which to operate ; its planters
were burdened with debt ; their houses and fences
were destroyed ; their labor system was disorganized ;
and in this condition they were in no position to buy
foodstuffs, live stock, and agricultural implements.
Money lenders, however, were ready to make ad-
vances on mortgages on unplanted cotton, but not
on other crops. Most of them were factors or com-
mission merchants who would agree to advance a
certain sum of money, or rather to grant a certain
amount of credit at their stores for merchandise of
all kinds, for every acre planted in cotton. Under
these circumstances diversified agriculture had to be
abandoned, and the planter was forced to buy West-
ern corn and bacon from his commission merchant.
By the time he had paid nearly double the cash
values for his suppHes, and had paid commission,
storage and drayage, and insurance on his cotton
when marketed, the planter usually ended the year
in debt to his factor. The profits of the factor,
though, were sufficiently large to justify him in con-
tinuing his credit, and by doing so the farmer was
kept in debt from year to year. The negroes and
the tenant class of whites could borrow money on
cotton in the same way, and this developed a ten-
antry system for raising cotton which prevented any
attention being given to the improvement of the
land. Year after year the farmer was forced into
cotton raising to the exclusion of everything else,
until it became only too true that " the South kept
its corn-crib and smoke-house in the West."
After 1880, although the Southern farmers were
still heavily in debt, they commenced to give in-
creased attention to the cultivation of grain and to
the raising of early fruits and vegetables. The pro-
gress made since then has been very remarkable,
but, despite this great increase, the production of
corn in the central cotton States does not yet equal
the average prior to i860. In the mean time the
cotton crop has increased rapidly, rising from
5,456,000 bales in 1881-82 to 9,900,000 bales
in 1894-95. Summing up in tabular form the
statistics of the cotton crop since 1 840, we have :
COTTON SINCE
1840.
Average
Price
Year.
Crop.
Consumption
IN U. S.
Exports.
PER Lb.
Middling
Uplands
Bales.
Bales.
Bales.
IN N. V.
Cents.
1840-41
1,634,954
267,850
1,313,500
9-50
1841-42
i>683,574
267,850
1,465,500
7-85
1842-43
2,378,875
325,129
2,010,000
7.25
1843-44
2,030,409
346,750
1,629,500
7-73
1844-45
2,394,503
389,000
2,083,700
5-63
1845-46
2,100,537
422,600
1,666,700
7.S7
1846-47
1,778,651
428,000
1,241,200
11.21
1847-48
2,439,786
616,044
1,858,000
8.03
1848-49
2,866,938
642,485
2,228,000
7-55
1849-50
2,223,718
613,498
1,590,200
12.34
1850-51
2,454,442
485,614
1,988,710
12.14
1851-52
3,126,310
689,603
2,443,646
9.50
1852-53
3,416,214
803,725
2,528,400
11.03
1853-54
3,074.979
737,236
2,319,148
10.97
1854-55
2,982,634
706.417
2,244,209
10.39
1855-56
3,665-557
777,739
2,954,606
10.30
1856-57
3,093,737
819,936
2,252,657
13-51
1857-58
3,257,339
595,562
2,590,455
12.23
1858-59
4,018,914
927,651
3,021,403
12.08
1859-60
4,861,292
978,043
3.774,173
11.00
1860-61
3,849,469
843,740
3,127,568
13.01
1861-62]
f 31-29
1862-63 1
0/1 n r
War Period.
War Period.
War Period.
1 67.21
1863-641
) 101.50
1864-65J
I 83.38
1865-66
2,269,316
666,100
1,554,664
42.30
1866-67
2,097,254
770,030
1,557,054
31-59
1867-68
2,519,554
906,636
1,655,816
24.85
1868-69
2,366,467
926,374
1,465,880
29.01
1869-70
3,122,551
865,160
2,206,480
23.98
1870-71
4,352,317
1,110,196
3,169,009
16.95
1871-72
2,974,351
1,237,330
1,957,314
20.48
1872-73
3,930-508
1,201,127
2,679,986
18.15
1873-74
4,170,388
1,305,943
2,840,981
17.00
1874-75
3,832,991
1,193,005
2,684,708
15.00
1875-76
4,632,313
1,351,870
3,234,244
13.00
1876-77
4,474,069
1,428,013
3,030,835
11.73
1877-78
4,773,865
1,489,022
3,360,254
11.28
1878-79
5,074.155
1,558,329
3,481,004
10.83
1879-80
5,761,252
1,789,978
3,885,00-,
12.02
1880-81
6,605,750
1,938,937
4,^89,346
11-34
1881-82
5,456,048
1,964,535
3,582,622
12.16
1882-83
6,949,756
2,073,096
4,766,597
10.63
18S3-84
5,713,200
1,876,683
3,916,581
10.64
1884-85
5,706,165
1,753,125
3,947.972
10.54
1885-86
6,575,691
2,i62,S44
4.336.203
9-44
1886-87
6,50=5,087
2,111,532
4,445,302
10.25
1887-88
7,046,833
2,257,247
4,627,502
10.27
1888-89
6,938,290
2,314,091
4.742,347
10.71
1889-90
7,307,281
2,390,959
4.955,931
"•53
1890-91
8,652,597
2,632,023
5,847,191
9-03
1891-92
9.035,379
2,876,846
5,933-437
7.64
1892-93
6,700,365
2,481,015
4,402,890
8.24
1893-94
7,549,817
2.319,688
5,287,887
7-67
1894-95
9,901,251
A study of the foregoing figures will show that
during a period of seven years, from 1885-86 to
234
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
1891-92, there was an annual increase in production,
a continuous growth unprecedented in the history of
the cotton trade. It is doubtful if any leading crop
raised can show such an unbroken increase for seven
years. Jumping from 5,700,000 bales in 1884-85
106,500,000 bales in 1885-86, there was practically
no halting, as the variations in two years were too
small to be noticeable, to 9,035,000 bales in 1891-
92, a gain of 3,300,000 bales, or nearly sixty per
cent, advance in seven years. After this came two
smaller crops, but the following year (1894-95) gave
a yield of 9,901,251 bales. Moreover, the average
weight of the bales that year was considerably above
that of preceding years. Based on the same average
weight per bale, the crop of 1894-95 was equivalent
to 10,089,000 bales of 1893-94 weight, and to
10,099,000 bales of the weight of the next largest
crop, that of 1891-92 ; so that as a matter of fact
the yield of 1894-95 was equal to 1,064,000 bales
in excess of the largest previous crop.
The average total value of crop and average yield
per acre of late years have been as follows :
COTTON AVERAGES, 1875 to 1894.
Year.
Acres.
Total Value
Net Lb.
Bale
OF Crop.
PER Acre.
per Acre.
1875-76 ....
1 1,635,000
$399>44S.i68
177
0.39^
J 876-77 . . .
11,500,000
252,602,340
171^
0-39
1877-78 . .
11,825,000
255,768,165
i8i|^
o.apYi
1878-79 ....
1 2,240,000
236,586,031
185^
0.41K
1879-80 ....
12,680,000
313,696452
206X
0.45;^
1880-81 . ..
16,123,000
356,524,911
i88>^
0.41
1881-82 ....
16,851,000
304,298,744
HSH
0.32^
1882-83 ...
16,276,000
327.938,137
200>^
0.42H
1883-84 ....
16,780,000
288,803,902
^57/2
0-34
1884-85 .. .
17,426,000
287,253.972
iSo%
0-33
1885-86 ....
18,379,444
313,723,080
^^^%
0.36
1886-87 • ■ ■
18,581,012
298,504,215
162;^
0-35
1887-88 . . .
18,961,897
336.433.653
173K
0.37
1S88-89 ...
19,362,073
344,069,801
167^
o-35^
1889-90 ....
19,979,040
373,161,831
i73l<
o.36>^
1890-91 . . .
20,583,935
429,792,047
200^
0.42
1891-92
20,555.387
391,424,716
209;^
0.44
1892-93 ...
18,057,924
284,279,066
176
0.37
1893-94 • • ■ •
19,684,000
294.495.711
182
0.38
In the nineteen years from 1875-76 to 1893-94
cotton brought into the South over $6,300,000,000,
a sum so vast that the profits out of it ought to have
been enough greatly to enrich that whole section.
Unfortunately, however, the system (which was de-
veloped by the poverty following the war) of raising
cotton only and buying provisions and grain in the
West left at home but little surplus money out of
the cotton crop. The West and North drained that
section of several hundred million dollars every year,
because it depended upon them for all of its manu-
factured goods, as well as for the bulk of its food-
stuffs. Hence, of the enormous amount received
for cotton, very little remained in the South. The
increase in diversified farming, the raising of home
suppUes, the development of truck farming, and the
building of factories are now all uniting to keep at
home the money which formerly went North and
West.
The importance of cotton in our foreign trade re-
lations can be appreciated from the simple statement
that from September i, 1875, to August 31, 1895,
our exports of this staple were valued at over
$4,200,000,000, while the total exports of wheat and
flour combined for the same period were $2,610,-
000,000, showing a difference of $1,600,000,000 in
favor of cotton. Moreover, during the same period
we exported over $200,000,000 of manufactured
cotton goods, making the full value really $4,400,-
000,000. Compared with the exports of wheat,
flour, and corn combined, the value of which for the
period named was a little less than $3,200,000,000,
there is a difference in favor of cotton of $1,200,-
000,000. Going back to 1820, it is found that the
total value of flour and wheat exported for seventy-
five years was $4,000,000,000, or $400,000,000 less
than the value of the cotton exported during the
nineteen years from 1875 to 1894.
The growth of the cotton manufacturing industry
in this country has not kept pace with the increase
in production, nearly three fourths of the crop being
annually exported to Europe. With an annual yield
of from 7,500,000 to 9,900,000 bales, the total con-
sumption by American mills is a little less than
3,000,000 bales a year. Nevertheless this industry
has grown rapidly, and the capital invested aggre-
gates in round figures about $400,000,000. The
census rettu*ns, being compiled for fiscal years end-
ing with June, always differ somewhat from the
commercial reports which cover crop years ending
with August. It is necessary, therefore, to bear this
in mind.
The number of spindles at present is estimated at
about 17,000,000. The "Textile Manufacturers*
Directory" of 1894-95 reports this number, and
credits the leading cotton manufacturing States with
the following: Massachusetts, 6,755,000; Rhode
Island, 2,000,000; New Hampshire, 1,350,000;
Connecticut, 1,088,000; Maine, 945,000; South
Carolina, 720,000; North Carolina, 703,000; New
York, 673,000 ; Georgia, 569,000 ; New Jersey,
419,000; Pennsylvania, 424,000; and Alabama,
240,000.
The progress of cotton manufacturing in the
United States from 1830 to 1890, according to the
census reports, was as follows :
i
AMERICAN COTTON
SIXTY YEARS OF COTTON MANUFACTURE.
235
Year.
Capital
Employbd.
Number of
Spindles.
Cotton Con-
sumed.
Reduced to
Bales of 400 Lbs.
Hands
Employed.
Wages
Paid.
Value op
Products.
1830
1840
$44,914,941
51,102,350
74,500,931
98,585,269
140,706,291
208,280,346
354,020,843
1,246,503
2,284,631
3.633,693
5.035,798
6,621,571
10,768,516
14,088,103
184,000
340,000
721,393
1,056,762
995,770
1,875,859
2,794,864
62,208
72,119
92,286
122,028
135,369
174,659
221,585
$12,155,723
14,000,000
17,276,112
23,940,108
39,044,132
42,040,510
69,489,272
$32,036,760
46,350,453
65,501,687
115,681,774
177,489,739
192,090,110
267,981,724
1850
i860
1870
1880
1890
During the last two years this industry has made
rapid progress in the South, and that section promises
to dispute New England's supremacy within a com-
paratively few years. In 1880 the Southern States
had 667,000 spindles, representing a capital in cotton
manufacturing of $21,900,000. By 1890 this had
increased to 1,712,000 spindles and $61,000,000
capital. In September, 1895, the South had 3,000,-
000 spindles, representing an aggregate investment
of about $100,000,000; and the mills under con-
struction would add about 800,000 spindles to this
number. The annual report for 1895 of the New
Orleans Cotton Exchange gives the relative growth
of consumption of cotton in Northern and Southern
mills of late years in commercial bales (as dis-
tinguished from 400-pound bales) as follows:
MANUFACTURING IN THE NORTH AND SOUTH.
Crop Years
Northern
Mills.
2,083,839
1,601,173
1,687,286
2,190,766
2,027,362
1,799,258
1,785,979
1,804,993
1,710,080
Southern
Mills.
862,838
718,515
743,348
686,080
604,661
546,894
479,781
456,090
401,452
Under the activity prevailing in cotton manufac-
turing interests during 1894-95 Northern mills re-
gained most of the loss of the two preceding years,
but their purchases were still 107,000 bales less than
in 1891-92, while during the same period Southern
mills increased their consumption 176,800 bales
compared with 1891-92. The " Commercial and
Financial Chronicle " distinguishes between the tak-
ings or purchases and the actual consumption, and
makes the figures as follows :
CROPS AND CONSUMPTION.
Crop Years.
1889-90
1890-91
1891-92
1892-93
1893-94
1894-95
Actual Consumption.
Northern
Mills.
Commercial
Bales.
1,800,000
1,925,000
2,025,000
1,950,000
1,675,000
1,840,769
Southern
Mills.
Commercial
Bales.
519478
605,916
681,471
733,701
723,329
853,352
According to these figures the actual consumption
in Northern mills, while larger, of course, than during
the panic year 1893-94, was less than for any year
since 1890-91, having been 85,000 bales smaller than
in the latter year, and 185,000 bales smaller than in
1891-92. Southern mills, on the contrary, gained
nearly 250,000 bales compared with 1890-91, and
172,000 bales compared with 1891-92. In 1890-91
the South consumed less than one third as much
cotton as Northern mills ; last year Southern con-
sumption was nearly one half as much as Northern.
The Cotton Exchange report gives the following
comparison in commercial bales, since 1850:
COTTON TAKEN BY AMERICAN MILLS.
Year
Northern
Southern
Commercial
Crops.
ENDING
Mills.
Mills.
Total Bales.
Aug. 31 ST.
Balks.
Bales.
1850 ....
475,702
87.067
562,769
2,171,706
i860 ....
786,521
178,107
964,628
4,823,770
1870 ....
806,690
90,000
896,890
3,154,946
1880 . . .
1,573,997
221,337
1,795,334
5,701,252
1890
1,789,258
546,894
2,346,152
7,3 ",392
1892 ....
2,190,766
686,080
2,876,846
9,035,379
1895 ■ • • •
2,083,839
862,838
2,946,677
9,901,251
The figures of Southern mills represent actual
consumption ; those of Northern mills the takings
or purchases for the year.
CHAPTER XXXV
AMERICAN WOOL
FOOD is essential to human existence ; clothing
is a concomitant of civilization, and an abso-
lute necessity for mankind outside of equa-
torial limits. The use of animal food for our race
has the sanction of Holy Writ, general usage, and
adaptation to support life, impart vigor, and secure
health. The science of dietetics has demonstrated,
and experience proves, that mutton is generally bet-
ter adapted to satisfy a cultivated taste, furnish nu-
trition, and insure health than any other meat-food.
Sheep fiu-nish wool for the making of clothing, which,
for sanitary reasons, diu-ability, and economy, is su-
perior to that manufactured from other fibers or
materials. The food and clothing thus provided are
suited to every climate and latitude, and sheep, in
their numerous species, find a suitable habitat in all.
These considerations add to the teleological evidence
that all things are ordered by divine wisdom and
power, and that sheep husbandry, which in the pas-
toral state preceded, and in many localities exists
even without agriculture, is of universal utility, and
deserves the favor of mankind and of governments.
The antiquity of sheep, wool, and woolen goods
is attested in history, sacred and profane. "Abel
was a keeper of sheep," and Abraham gave sheep
to Abimelech. The sacred record testifies of woolen
garments also. The purple robes of the Roman
emperors were woven from the merino fleece. The
Roman conquest of England brought to that
country the first knowledge there of the use and
manufacture of wool, which grew in importance
until early in the nineteenth century, when English
wool manufactures were unsurpassed in perfection.
This result was aided by legislation. In 1261, Eng-
land by statute prohibited the export of wool, or the
wearing of foreign woolens. This was followed by
other more stringent statutes having the same ob-
jects, up to that of 1660, which remained substan-
tially in force until 1824, when wool was admitted
free of duty.
The western hemisphere had no sheep when
European discoverers and conquerors first visited it.
The first mission established in California, in 1697^
found two varieties of animals (the Ovis montaiiay
" or a species closely allied to it "), one the Rocky
Mountain goat, the other the Rocky Mountain sheep.
Their bodies were covered with coarse hair, under
which was a coat of fur-like fibers, corresponding
with noils in our present varieties of sheep. This
fur was fine, and adapted to the manufacture of
clothing. A subspecies of these animals is found
in Alaska — the Ovis montana dalli. Spanish sheep
were introduced into California in 1773, under the
care of the Catholic priests, and woolen manu-
factures of coarse varieties were produced soon
afterward. In South America the European dis-
coverers found " four forms of the genus Auchenia
— the guanaco and vicugna^ in the wild state, and the
llama and alpaca, known only in the domesticated
state." These animals furnished fibers used in
making clothing.
The mouflon {Ovis aries), even yet found wild in
the mountains of Sardinia, Corsica, Barbary, Greece,
and Asia Minor, with short, coarse fleece resembling
hair quite as much as wool, is the parent stock from
which all our various breeds have been produced by
domestication and breeding. The effect of breeding
and feeding is shown in the increase of the weight
of fleeces in the United States, as follows : " Weight
of fleece, 1840, 1.9; 1850, 2.4; i86o, 2.7; 1870,
3.5; 1880,4.8; 1887, 5.1; 1891, 5.5; 1893, 5.3;
1894, 5-33; 1895, 6.375 pounds."
The first importation of sheep was made from the
Canary Islands by Columbus, on his return voyage
to the New World, to stock the island of Hispaniola.
Other importations followed from Spain to the same
island and to Cuba. Woolen cloth was made in
New Spain in 1560. These Spanish sheep "were
the progenitors of the immense herds in Mexico,
New Mexico, Utah, and Texas. In 1736 there
23G
AMERICAN WOOL
237
were over 1,500,000 sheep in the Mexican State of
Nuevo Leon." These are the parent stock from
which came the common coarse, or so-called native,
Mexican sheep. Spanish sheep were subsequently
imported into South America. Prescott recounts,
in his " History of the Conquest of Mexico," that
Cortes imported large numbers of merino sheep
into what is now Central America. From all of
these early Spanish importations sprang the immense
ilocks of Mexico and all the southwest territory.
Wool manufacturing developed rapidly, even the
Indians learning to weave. By 1750 sheep raising
was the principal business in Mexico.
The first sheep introduced into the American
colonies were brought from England to Jamestown,
Va., in 1609. In 1633 a few sheep were brought
from England to Massachusetts. In 1625, and
again in 1630, the Dutch brought some sheep to
the New Netherlands. In 1663 a Swedish colony
in Delaware imported eighty sheep. In 1645 ^^^
1656 Massachusetts passed laws encouraging the
raising of sheep. In 1657 Virginia, by statute,
prohibited the export of sheep, and in 1662 a stat-
ute prohibited the export of wool, and provided a
bounty in tobacco for every yard of woolen cloth
made in the colony. In 1664 looms were estab-
lished by the General Assembly, and provisions
made for weavers in each county. In 1682 a statute
affixed heavy penalties against the export of wool,
hides, and iron. Other colonies, by local statutes,
encouraged sheep husbandry.
The Parliament of Great Britain passed an act
providing that "after the ist of December, 1699,"
no wool produced in the colonies should be ex-
ported to the mother country, the preamble to the
act reciting that the colonial industry would "in-
evitably sink the value of land " in England. Other
hostile legislation followed, but space will not per-
mit a statement of the details.
In 1798 Hon. William Porter, of Massachusetts,
is said to have smuggled from Spain two ewes and
a ram, worth, each, $1500, which he presented to a
friend, Andrew Craigie, who, in ignorance of their
value, consumed them as mutton. They were the
first merino sheep introduced into the United States.
Seth Adams, at Dorchester, Mass., founded a flock
of merinos from a single pair imported from France
in 1801. He removed to Zanesville, O., in 1807,
and there bred merinos. In 1802 Hon. R. R. Liv-
ingston, American minister to France, sent two pairs
of French merinos to his New York farm. In the
same year Colonel David Humphreys, of Connecti-
cut, United States minister to Spain, sent twenty
merino rams and seventy ewes to this country. In
1803 Dr. James Mease, of Philadelphia, imported
two black Spanish merinos. In 1807 Dr. MuUer
imported a few merinos from Hesse-Cassel. In
1809 William Jarvis, United States consul at Lis-
bon, sent to the United States 3850 Spanish
merinos. In 1823 Saxon merinos were imported.
Since then the increase in the number of sheep has
been too great for such specific mention.
In January, 1895, the sheep in the States and
Territories of the United States were as follows :
SHEEP BY STATES AND TERRITORIES, 1895.
States and Terri-
tories.
Maine
New Hampshire .
Vermont
Massaciiusetts . . .
Rhode Island. . . .
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania ....
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina . .
South Carolina . .
Georgia
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
Arkansas
Tennessee
West Virginia . . .
Kentucky
Ohio
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa
Missouri
Kansas
Nebraska
South Dakota ....
North Dakota . . .
Montana
Wyoming
Colorado
New Mexico
Arizona
Utah
Nevada
Idaho
Washington
Oregon
California
Oklahoma
Number.
284,435
106,233
226,938
49»3»3
11,279
37.934
1,096,560
50,662
1,178.795
12,873
138,174
449.357
357494
78,384
402,946
110,627
326,640
390,904
178,745
3,738,117
212,328
493,782
635,535
1,046,788
3,577,419
1,961,946
836,217
857,370
895,756
489,192
627,930
860,820
274,883
183,448
323,482
367,171
2,808,717
1,222,538
1,305,989
3,008,824
746,546
2,039,226
544,077
919,865
748,857
2,529,759
3,526,341
22,778
Average
Price.
Pi-93
1.97
1.60
3-43
2.79
3-25
2.27
3-41
1.95
2.64
2.62
2.17
•34
.64
■33
•56
•45
.24
•37
.21
•36
•55
•79
•85
.72
.04
•65
•79
.06
.67
•85
•55
.68
•51
.64
•52
.90
.21
•47
•42
.41
•74
.16
•65
2.80
Total j 42,294,064 I $1.58
Value.
$549,670
208,961
363.464
169,137
31,468
123,243
2,486,449
172,849
2,304,309
33,921
361,519
974,027
480,472
128,863
537,530
172,357
474,804
484,331
244,112
4,541,812
288,278
767,633
1,137,734
1,934,046
6,139.924
3,697091
1,581.454
1.747,835
1,474,414
876,241
1,292,028
1,401,587
458,808
339.783
532,969
616,701
4,227,400
2,004,107
1,984,058
2,692,898
901,081
2,998,885
1,316,667
1,299,770
1,304,360
2,945,905
5,817,052
63,760
$ 65,685,767
In January, 1895, there were in the world 5 7 1,1 63,-
062 sheep. The wool product of 1894 was 2,692,-
986,7 73 unwashed pounds, or something less than half
238
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
this amount clean. The sheep, January, 1895, were,
in North America, 48,129,537 ; in Central America
and the West Indies, 505,825 ; in South America,
101,308,583; in Europe, 192,080,003; in Asia,
74,245,090; in Australasia, 119,204,376; in Africa,
35,689,648.
The production of wool throughout the world for
the first fifty years of the present century was
32,360,881,950 pounds, and the yearly average for
the first fifty years, 647,217,639 pounds.
The following shows the world's production of
wool, in pounds, from 1810 to 1890 inclusive, to-
gether with the increase in population :
The sheep in the United States are owned by
about 1,000,000 flock-masters. In January, 1893,
there were 47,273,533 sheep, of the value of $125,-
909,264, with a wool product of 348,538,138 pounds.
The decline in numbers, value, and product in two
years is great. That this decline is not the result of
a diminished consumption is shown by the following
statement, which gives the annual consumption of
wool during the last five fiscal years. (See Table i,
on following page.)
Our annual consumption was equal to nearly
one fourth of the world's wool product, and more
per capita of population than in any other nation.
WORLD'S WOOL PRODUCT, 1810 to 1890.
Year.
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1S60
1870
1880
1890
Total
Population.!
269,400,000
298,900,000
337,450,000
384,060,000
435.223,740
480,800,450
537,183,250
641,858,085
729,591,430
Years.
1801-IO
181 1-20
1821-30
1831-40
1841-50
1851-60
1861-70
1871-80
1881-90
Production.
Pounds.
5.109
5427
5.753
6,867
9,102
".035
14.883;
17,080,
19,462;
,663,200
,612,600
,904,200
,524,000
.177.950
,584,400
,648,300
.363.490
,037,826
94,722,416,960
Yearly Average.
Pounds.
510,966,320
542,761,260
575.390,420
686,752,400
910,217,795
1,103,548,540
1488,364,830
1,708,036,349
1,946,203,782
1,052,371,299
1 The population in this table includes eighteen nations of Europe. In America: the United States, Mexico, the Argentine Republic, and the
Dominion of Canada, In Africa: the Cape Colonies. InAustralia: the whole continent. In Asia: India and Turkey.
PRODUCTION OF WOOLS IN THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC, AUSTRALASIA, AND ASIA FROM 1800
TO 1890, FOR YEARS STATED.
Year.
Argentine Republic.
Australasia.
Asia.
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
i860
1870
1880
1890
1891
1894
Pounds.
1,200,000
2,800,000
3,750,000
5,940,000
14,965,250
24,864,300
55,885,760
166,987,500
259,824,840
360,000,000
376,700,000
443,000,000
Pounds.
No returns.
No returns.
No returns.
2,860,650
13,860,780
42,958,645
69,964,320
179,459.780
345,010,338
400,879,240
550,000,000
581,000,000
Pounds.
52,498,150
56,993,200
68,837,420
70,571,200
85,149,270
104,941,500
121,910,890
134,507,120
135.095.140
264,860,050
TABLE SHOWING NUMBER OF SHEEP ON
DIFFERENT DATES.
Year.
1871.
1891
1892.
i860
1870
iNHo.
1S87
1801.
1 888.
Country.
Australasia
... do
Australia
Argentine Republic.
. ... do
. ... do
. ... do
....do
Cape of Good Hope .
Number of
Sheep.
49.773.584
114,628,301
111,998,504
16,262,827
61,707,827
91,582,206
103,413,817
13,177,285
Of the wool product of 1894, about 47,000,000
pounds were "pulled wool," the residue, fleece
sheared.
Continuing still further, the following figures,
which are from oflScial sources and have the ap-
proval of the National Association of Wool Manu-
facturers, show clearly the comparative consumption
of wool in the United States since 1840. It will be
seen that while our population has increased four-
fold, our consumption and production is more than
eightfold. (See Table 2, on following page.)
AMERICAN WOOL
TABLE I.
Total Consumption of Wool for
Years ending Junk 30.
1891.
i8ga.
1893.
1894.
1895.
Domestic wool (clip of the pre-
vious year)
Imported wool
Wool imported in shape of goods,
shoddy, rags, and waste
Pounds.
309,474,857
129,303,647
123,180,240
Pounds.
307,101,507
148,670,652
106,697,637
Pounds.
330,018,405
172,433,838
114,145,545
Pounds.
364,156,666
55,152,558
55,318,050
Pounds.
328,457,858
206,181,890
109,627,188
Total
561,958,744
562469,796
616,597,788
474,627,274
644,246,936
Estimated total consumption for fiscal year ending June 30, 1895 644,246,936 lbs.
Estimated average total consumption for the past five fiscal years 571,980,107 lbs.
Estimated increased consumption for 1895 over the average of five years .... 72,266,829 lbs.
TABLE 2. — WOOL CONSUMPTION, 1840 to 1896.
Year.
Imports of
Wool entered
FOR Consump-
tion, Year end-
ing Junk 30.
Pounds. 1
Home Produc-
tion of Wool,
Year ending
January i.
Pounds.
Domestic
Exports.
Pounds.
Net Supply.
Pounds.
Imports of
Wool Manufac-
tures, allowing
3 Pounds of
Wool to the $i
IN Value.
Pounds.
Total
Consumption.
Pounds.
Per Capita
Consumption
OF Wool.
Pounds,
1840
1850
i860
1870
1880
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
2 9,813,212
18,695,294
26,125,891
38,634,067
99,372,440
109,902,105
119,390,280
134,622,366
175,636,042
45,726,056
3 206,133,906
35,802,114
52,516,969
60,264,913
162,000,000
232,500,000
295,779,479
309,474,856
307,101,507
333,018,405
348,538,138
325,210,712
294,296,726
35,898
1,055,928
152,892
191,551
231,042
291,922
202456
91,858
520,247
4,279,109
45,615,326
71,176,365
85,334,876
200,481,175
331,680,889
40^,450,542
428,573,214
441,521417
508,562,589
393,743.947
527,065,509
31,095,276
58,178,613
128,497,923
105,289422
95,503,641
162,496,269
129,706,230
107,378,718
110,963,712
58,784,262
109,627,188
76,710,602
129,354,978
213,832,799
305,770,597
427,184,530
567,946,811
558,279,444
548.900,135
619,526,301
452,528,209
636,692,697
4.49
5-58
6.80
7-93
8.52
9.07
1 Quantities for 1840, 1850, and i860 are imports less reexports. 2 Year ending September 30th.
3 Gross imports ; imports for consumption not yet reported.
Other interesting figures bearing on this point,
taken from the United States census, give us a com-
parative statement of domestic and imported wool
manufactures, with per capita value and percentage
of total consumption :
The financial panic which commenced July, 1893,
reduced consumption of wool in the fiscal year
1894, and this in turn necessitated increased con-
sumption in the fiscal year 1895. The imports of
wool in the fiscal year 1893 were 172,433,833
DOMESTIC AND IMPORTED WOOL MANUFACTURES, 1820 to 1890.
Domestic Manufactures.
(Census.)
Value per
Capita.
Per Cent.
of Total
Consumption.
Net Importations.
(Average for Ten
Years.)
Value per
Capita.
Per Cent.
OF Total
Year.
Value.
Value.
Consumption.
1820
$4,413,068
14,528,166
20,696,999
49,636,881
80,734,606
217,668,826
267,252,913
337,768,524
$0.46
I-I3
1. 21
2.14
2 57
5-65
5-33
6.30
60
79
72
^7
§7
89
$6,859,702
8,290,862
13,950,772
13,005,852
31,333.273
33,046,521
39,537,694
43,345,981
$0.71
0.64
0.82
0.56
1. 00
0.86
0.79
0.69
61
1830
1840
1850
36
40
i860
1870
28
13
13
II
1880
1890
240
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
pounds, but in 1894 the imports fell to 55,152,588
pounds. In 1895 the imports, with the first two
months under the tariff act of 1890, and the last ten
months under the free- wool act of 1894, were 206,-
181,890, at an import value of $25,556,421, besides
rags, noils, and waste.
The total value of imports of wool manufactures
for fiscal years specified, with the pounds of raw
wool therein, were as follows :
Year.
1891
1892
1893
1S94
1895
Total
Value of
Wool Imports.
$41,060,080
35.565.879
38,048,515
19,439.372
36,542,396
$170,656,242
Pounds of Raw
Wool in
Manufactures.
123,180,240
106,697,637
114,145,545
58,318,116
109,627,188
511,968,726
In the fiscal year 1894, the last under the tariff
act of 1890, the imports of shoddy, rags, waste, mun-
go, flocks, and noils were only 143,002 pounds of
the import value of $47,522. For the fiscal year
1895, and almost wholly during the ten months of
the tariff act of August, 1894, 14,066,054 pounds of
similar adulterants, of the import value of $1,980,-
464, were imported — an increase of over 1000 per
cent. However, it is not within the province of this
chapter to discuss the political aspects of wool tariff
legislation,nor consider the economic questions grow-
ing out of sheep husbandry.
The condition in which wool is marketed depends
considerably upon the section of country where it
is grown. Wools produced west of the Mississippi
River are generally sold unwashed; east thereof
much of it is washed on the sheep's back. The
average shrinkage in scouring of the fleece-wool of
1894 is estimated at 59.71 per cent. ; of the pulled
wool, 40 per cent. ; the product of all in scoured
pounds, 140,292,268. The average weight of fleece
in the grease was 6.395 pounds ; of the year's pro-
duct as marketed, "washed and unwashed," 5.33
pounds.
In 1870 the wool product was 163,000,000
pounds, of which there were marketed, washed on
sheep, tub-washed, and pulled, 130,000,000 pounds,
and 33,000,000 unwashed, from California, Oregon,
Nevada, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and
sundry Southern States. At that time only twenty-
six per cent, of the sheep, or 7,418,000, were west
of the Mississippi River; but in 1893 there were
west of that river 27,614,699 sheep, or fifty-six and
one half per cent, of all, leaving 19,658,854 east of
it. With the development of the new States and
Territories, with their cheap pasturage, the wool in-
dustry westward " took its way," and a compara-
tively small part of wool is now marketed unwashed.
Fleece-wool is marketed as (i) "unwashed,"
that is, as shorn from the sheep; (2) "washed,"
that is, washed in cold water on the sheep ; and (3)
"scoured," that is, cleaned ready for manufacture.
" Pulled wool " is that pulled from pelts. " Tub-
washed " includes fleeces broken and washed more
or less by hand or machinery. " Unmerchantable "
is wool partially washed on the sheep's back, but
not sufficiently so to be classed as " washed." After
the year 1870, in order to evade the full effect of
the wool tariff of 1867, Australasian wool was im-
ported " skirted " ; that is, with the belly, head, and
breech wool removed from each fleece, thereby
adding to its value.
The wool product for the last ten years has been :
Fleece and Pulled Wool in the Grease.
year.
pounds.
decrease.
INCREASE.
1886
323,031,026
302,169,950
301,876,121
295.779.479
309,474,856
307,401,507
333,018,405
348,538,138
325,210,712
294,296,726
20,861,076
293,829
6,096,642
2,073.349
23,327,426
30,913,986
1887
1888
1889
1890
i8gi
13.699.377
1892
25,606,898
15.519.733
1893
1804.
1895
Scoured Wool.
YEAR.
POUNDS.
DECREASE.
INCREASE.
1886
149,365,625
140,556,685
136,591.955
134,795.350
136,628,220
139.326,703
145.300,318
151,103,776
140,292,268
125,718,690
8,808,940
3,964,730
1,796,605
301,517
10,811,508
14,573.578
1887
1888
1889
1800
4,832,870
I89I
1892
5.973.6IS
5,803,458
189^
1894
1895
The clip this year is the smallest since that of
1889, which was again smaller than that of any
preceding year since 1 88 1 . These figures may aid
in illustrating results under the wool tariff acts of
1883, 1890, and 1894.
The following is the estimate of the National As-
sociation of Wool Manufacturers, for years specified,
of the wool product of the United States :
William Lawrence^
AMERICAN WOOL
WOOL PRODUCT OF THE UNITED STATES CLASSIFIED, 1893 to 1895.
241
1895.
1894.
.1893.
States and Territories.
Maine
New Hampshire . . .
Vermont
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia ...
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
Arkansas
Tennessee
West Virginia
Kentucky
Ohio
Michigan
Indiana
Illinois
Wisconsin
Minnesota
Iowa
Missouri
Kansas
Nebraska
California
Oregon
Nevada
Colorado
Arizona
North Dakota
South Dakota
Idaho
Montana
New Mexico
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Oklahoma
Total
Pulled Wool .
Total Product
Wool, Washkd
AND Unwashed.
Pounds.
1,657,116
719,838
1,632,462
253.038
65,508
215.538
6,250,392
245.45s
5,899,867
70,801
661,165
1,952,455
1,662,320
362,135
1,494,126
4«5.655
1,255,280
1,663,295
630,970
22,669,809
1,198,806
2,033,150
2,149.393
5,272,312
18,534,610
12,140,524
4,701,210
5,271,968
5,202,552
2,841,228
4,219,691
4,906,674
2,296,785
1. 475. 1 03
23.153.956
19,610,688
4,352,616
8,233,609
6,678,603
2,097,282
1,869,078
6,747,210
19,031,866
13,948,907
11,391,114
5,158,125
9,747,300
155.141
Average
Weight of
Fleece.
6
6
6
6
k
5
5
5
S ^
\'A
5
5
6
4K
S%
5K
SVz
^%
6
(>%
6
6
7
6
8>^
8X
7
8
8
6^
9
6
6
1%
7
4^
6
Scoured Wool.
Pounds.
944.556
302,332
652,985
139. 171
37.340
120,701
3,000,188
127,437
2,772,937
38,233
343,806
1,112,899
847.783
199,174
866,592
276,823
715,510
581,749
328,104
6,800,943
479,522
1,057,238
1,139,178
.3,163,387
8,896,613
5.341,831
2,585,666
2,635,984
2,601,276
1,136,491
1,603,483
2.453.337
757,939
„ 542,531
8,566,964
6,471,527
1,349,3"
2,881,763
1,803,223
817,940
757,631
2,026,579
6,661,153
6,277,008
4,100,801
1,650,600
3.1 '9,136
51.197
Per
Cent, of
Shrink-
age.
Washed and
Unwashed.
43
5»
60
45
43
44
5^
48
4^
48
43
49
45
42
43
43
53
48
70
60
48
47
40
52
56
45
50
50
60
62
50
67
70
63
67
69
65
73
61
60
67
65
55
64
68
68
67
1,889,040
768,691
2,036,138
303,708
64,224
232,152
8,432,413
274,900
8,664,144
68,888
699.595
2,361,570
1,802,520
• 377.025
1.772,550
539.025
1,483,808
1.952.440
876,220
23,529.15s
1,290,408
2,440,320
4,030,290
6,089,980
20,090,031
15,194,316
5,589,042
6,465,914
6,199,908
3,015,480
5,247,480
5.831,550
2,535.472
2,421,522
26,275,158
19.853.552
4,047,936
8,861,328
6,221,214
2,243,825
1,916,628
5,788,140
17,642,079
'3.389,994
11,756,043
5.655,531
9,861,811
127,554
Washed and
Unwashed.
2,392,224
950,936
2,472,090
318,192
73.560
212,395
9,328,300
306,230
9,823,296
74.531
681,777
2,492,000
1,980,575
391,920
1,947,641
532,475
1,611,71 1
1,862,936
959,753
30,341,857
1,441.956
2,977,849
4,627,887
6,805,359
21,893.625
16,370,536
6,482,298
7,717,638
7,189,050
2,999,646
5,537'30i
6,599,688
3,117,016
2,452,518
26,808,444
19,648,616
4,441,448
9,236,130
5,227,911
2,440,000
1,994,000
6,114.096
17,696,686
12,285.369
14,823,039
5,766,775
10,187,820
254,296,726
40,000,000
6.3^
101,718,690
24,000,000
60
40
278,210,712
47,000,000
301,538,138
47,000,000
294,296,726
125,718,690
325,210,712
348,538.138
The average weight of fleeces is 6.375 pounds.
The London " Meat Trades' Journal " shows that
of the world's sheep nearly one half are of merino
blood— so-called "fine wools." A change has re-
cently set in in favor of the long-wool or mutton
breeds. The 16,000,000 sheep which Australia has
added to her flocks dtu-ing the last five years have
been chiefly " fine wools." Of the total 1 22,000,000
sheep in Australasia, 110,000,000 are merinos. In
South America the increase of the merino has been
phenomenal during recent years. Of the sheep in
16
the Argentine Republic not fewer than 45,000,000
are merinos; of the 28,500,000 sheep in Mexico,
Chili, Peru, and Brazil, 16,000,000 are merinos; of
the sheep in the United States more than three fourths
are merinos. In Europe there are said to be nearly
65,000,000 merinos. Spain has more than 12,-
000,000 merinos ; and France, Germany, and Russia
each have almost as many fine-wooled sheep as
Spain ; while the merino either predominates or is
bred extensively throughout every other European
country outside of the British Isles. Asia and
242
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Africa, with 78,000,000 sheep, have at least 15,-
000,000 merinos. In addition to these there are
various other breeds which have one or more
crosses of the merino in them. The British Isles
and Canada grow the mutton breeds almost exclu-
sively. The merino is the oldest of all the breeds
now known. Its origin is completely lost in the
night of antiquity. After the merino the Cotswold
can be traced farthest into the realms of the past.
With the exception of the Southdown, all our dark-
faced mutton breeds are of recent origin. The fol-
lowing estimate of the different kinds of sheep in the
United States in 1894 will be found substantially re-
liable : Pure merinos, 5,000,000 ; registered merinos,
1,000,000; other merino grades, 17,000,000; cross-
breeds (got by merino ewes and rams of English
blood), 15,000,000 ; pure-bred Enghsh blood, 2,500,-
000 ; registered of English blood, 500,000 ; natives
and inferior grades, 3,000,000; scrubs, 1,000,000.
The classes of sheep in different countries are
somewhat variously reported. The census report of
1890 on "Agriculture," differing a little from statis-
tics in the Department of Agriculture, gives the
number of sheep in this country as follows:
Sheep on farms 35>935»364
Of these merino "fine wool" (one-
half to full blood) 16,725,415
English breeds, long or medium wool
(one-half to full h>lood) 7,435,471
All others 1 1,774,478
Total of these 35,935-364
Sheep on ranges, breeds not desig-
nated, but to a large extent merino 6,828,182
Total of all 42,763,546
The magnitude of the sheep and wool interests of
this country can be best presented through the me-
dium of figures. The wool industry was estimated
in 1893 as representing capital, product, labor em-
ployed, and wages paid as follows :
Capital in sheep $120,000,000
Capital in farms and barns for sheep $400,000,000
Number of flocks and flock-masters 1,000,000
Number of men employed a portion of the year 100,000
Wool produced, pounds 329,410,542
Value $80,000,000
Number of sheep 45,000,000
Value of sheep sold for pelt and food $35,000,000
Amount paid in wages $25,000,000
Value of services of flock-masters $50,000,000
Cost of washing and shearing sheep ... $5,000,000
Total amount paid for labor $80,000,000
Here is an aggregate capital invested of $520,-
000,000, giving partial employment to more than
1,000,000 people, with wages and value of services
$80,000,000, and with a total product of $1 15, 000,-
000 annually. This is an underestimate of the value
of sheep, based too much on assessors' returns for
taxation.
These figures give a correct view of sheep hus-
bandry now, except as the number and value of
sheep and the product and price of wool have de-
clined since 1892, and especially since the tariff act
of 1894.
The imports of sheep in the fiscal year 1895
were, for breeding purposes, 1942, of the value
of $30,885; for mutton, 288,519, of the value of
$651,733-
Mulhall's " Dictionary of Statistics " (London,
1892) gives the annual production, in tons, of
mutton as follows :
Pbkiod.
United
Kingdom.
Continent.
United
States.
Colonies,
ETC.
TOTAU
1831-40..
1851-60
1874-84..
1887
480,000
430,000
390,000
365,000
1,320,000
1,390,000
1 ,420,000
1,480,000
170,000
220,000
310,000
390,000
80,000
163,000
350,000
474,000
2,050,000
2,203,000
2470,000
2,709,000
The wool tariff acts of 1867 and 1883 placed
wools in three classes : First, " clothing," including
the various types of merino and " Down clothing " ;
second," combing," the wools of the " mutton breeds,"
including Leicester, Cotswold, Lincolnshire, Down
combing, Shropshire, Canada long wool, and simi-
lar types ; third, " carpet," including Donskoi, na-
tive South American, Cordova, Valparaiso, native
Smyrna, China, Scotch black-faced, and similar
wools. To this third class belongs our American
"common wool" — that from the so-called native
Mexican sheep. These classes or designations are
preserved in the London wool sales, the advertise-
ments frequently specifying twenty-four varieties of
clothing, thirty-two of combing, and seventy-seven
of carpet.
Under the tariff act of 1890 the Secretary of the
Treasury collected 234 samples of foreign wools and
other animal fibers used in manufactures, each differ-
ing more or less from all others in quality or condi-
tion. This act omitted the designations " clothing,"
" combing," and " carpet," and substituted instead
" class one," " class two," and " class three," because
by improvements in machinery much of the merino
is now combed in manufacturing, and many of the so-
called carpet wools are used in the manufacture of
clothing goods. The wools of Montana, New Mex-
ico, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona,
North and South Dakota, Idaho, Washington, and
Wyoming are frequently designated in market re-
ports as " Territory " wools.
AMERICAN WOOL
243
Certain terms are used to denote various kinds of
wool, so that it has a language of its own. Thus
" X and above " means wool of full merino blood ;
the designations "X," "XX," " XXX," respectively,
indicate variations in quality produced by breeding,
care, or local influences. " No. i " means three-
fourths blood merino ; " No. 2," half-blood merino ;
" No. 3 and coarse," one-fourth to one-half blood.
These include wools of merino blood with crosses of
other bloods, such as English and native Mexican.
" Medium" includes wools of mixed blood, neither
finest nor coarsest in staple.
The merino wools grown in the United States are
the best in the world — especially those grown east
of the Mississippi River. Thus in Switzler's " Wool
Report " of 1888 it is said :" In 185 1, at the World's
Exhibition in London, four prize medals were
awarded to American sheep ; and at the Interna-
tional Exhibition of 1863 at Hamburg, where all
the finest flocks of Europe were represented, two
first-class prizes were awarded to merino sheep from
Vermont."
It has been conclusively shown that under proper
conditions this country can produce all wools of
every kind needed for consumption therein. This
would require an increase to about 110,000,000
sheep for existing conditions, with a prospective in-
crease which would more than double the present
capital and the wool and mutton product. Among
the benefits accruing through such increase would be
the achievement of national independence in peace
and war for wool supplies ; the enlargement of tax-
able wealth, resources, and power; an increased
demand for labor, pasturage, hay, and grain, and
thus profits to farmers ; the means of preserving the
fertility of lands ; the utilization of mountain and
other regions now waste ; the retention of gold
otherwise exported to buy foreign wools ; and
other considerations, all elsewhere amplified. (See
U. S. Senate Mis. Docs. Nos. 35, 77, and 124, 53d
Congress, 2d Session.)
The annual mutton supply would, with an ade-
quate number of sheep, reach 20,000,000, of a farm
value of $80,000,000. A great benefit that would
result directly, also, from this advancement in sheep
husbandry would be the supply of healthful meat-
food it would furnish. The statistics of Denmark
and Germany show that in the four years from i8go
to 1893, inclusive, there were slaughtered at Copen-
hagen 132,294 cattle, of which 33,305 showed evi-
dence of tuberculosis; in 185,755 calves, 339 were
more or less tuberculous; in 8292 swine slaugh-
tered 1272 were tuberculous ; while in 337,014 sheep
slaughtered there was but one in which tuberculosis
was found. The figures at Berlin for one year, cov-
ering parts of 1892 and 1893, show that in 142,874
cattle slaughtered 21,603 showed signs of tuber-
culosis ; in 1 08,348 calves 125 had tuberculosis ;
in 518,063 swine 7055 were tuberculous; in 355,-
949 sheep slaughtered there were but 15 in which
there was any sign of tuberculosis.
No less than twenty-five acts of Congress have
prescribed, modified, or regulated tariff duties on
wool, commencing with the Calhoun act of April 27,
1 81 6, and ending with that of October i, 1890, re-
pealed by the act of August 28, 1894, which, after a
period of seventy-eight years of wool duties, placed
wool on the free list. The four acts of March 2,
1867, March 3, 1883, October i, 1890, and August
28, 1894, mark eras in sheep husbandry. The act
of 1867 imposed the heaviest duties. Under it the
sheep and wool product was as follows :
Year.
Number of Sheep.
Pounds Wool Product.
1870
28,477,591
50,626,626
100,102,387
337,500,000
1884
The act of 1883 reduced duties somewhat.
Under it the sheep and wool product was as
follows :
Year.
Number of Sheep.
Pounds Wool Product.
1884
50,626,626
44,336,072
337,500,000
309,474,856
i8qo
The act of 1890 increased wool duties. Under
it sheep and wool were :
Year.
Number of Sheep.
Pounds Wool Product.
1890
44,336,072
47,273,553
309,474,856
348,538,138
1893
The act of 1894 placed wool on the free list.
Under it the following statistics appear:
Year.
Sheep in
U.S.
Wool
Product.
Pounds.
Value of
Sheep.
1893, January
1895, January
47,273.553
42,294,064
348,538,138
294,296,726
$125,909,264
60,824,621
Decline
4,979,489
54,241,412
$59,084,643
244
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
These are statistical facts, without a consideration
of the effect of legislation, or other causes, if any,
operating to produce them.
The wool tariff of 1867 was the outgrowth of a
meeting of wool growers and wool manufacturers of
The "Wool Book" of 1895, by S. N. D. North,
secretary of the National Association of Wool Manu-
facturers, gives the number, average price, and value
of sheep on farms in the United States, 1810-95, ^^
follows :
STATISTICS OF AMERICAN SHEEP, VALUE AND WOOL PRODUCT, 1810 to 1895 INCLUSIVE.
From the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Agriculture.
Date of Report.
1810. .
1820. .
1830..
1840 . .
1850. .
i860.
18671.
1868..
1869 .
1870..
1871..
1872. .
1873..
1874..
1875..
1876. .
1877..
1878 .
1879..
1880..
1881 .
1882..
1883..
1884. .
1885 . .
1886..
1887..
1888..
1889..
1890.
1891..
1892 .
18932.
1894..
18953.
Number.
10,000,000
19,311,000
21,723,000
22,471,275
39.385.3«6
38,991,912
37,724,279
40,853,000
31,851,000
31,679,300
33,002,400
33,938,200
33.783.600
35.935.300
35,804,200
35,740,^00
38,123,800
40,765,900
43.576,899
45,016,224
49.237.291
50,626,626
50,360,243
48,322,331
44.759.314
43.544.755
42,599,079
44,336,072
43,431,136
44,938,365
47.273.553
45,048,017
42,294,064
Average
Price.
$3-37
2.52
2.17
2.28
2.32
2.80
2.96
2.61
2.79
2.60
2.27
2.25
2.07
2.21
2-39
2-37
53
37
14
91
01
05
2.13
2.27
2.51
2.58
2.66
1.98
1.58
Value.
$132,774,660
98,407,809
82,139.979
93.364,433
74.035.837
88,771,197
97,922,350
88,690,569
94,320,652
93,666,318
80,892,683
80,603,062
79,023,984
90,230,537
104,070,759
106,596,954
124,365,835
119,902,706
107,960,650
92,443,867
89,872,839
89,279,926
90,640,369
100,659,761
108,397,447
116,121,270
125,909,264
89,186,110
66,824,621
Pounds of Wool Grown.
Department
of
Agriculture.
Pounds.
13,000,000
14,100,000
1 7,829,000
35,802,114
52,516,969
60,264,913
160,000,000
168,000,000
180,000,000
162,000,000
160,000,000
150,000,000
158,000,000
1 70,000,000
181,000,000
192,000,000
200,000,000
208,250,000
211,000,000
232,500,000
240,000,000
272,000,000
290,000,000
300,000,000
308,000,000
302,000,000
285,000,000
269,000,000
265,000,000
276,000,000
285,000,000
294,000,000
303,151,055
287,105,930
294,296,726
1867 to 1885 esti-
mated BY James
Lynch, New
York ; 1886 to
1891, BY J. P.
Truitt, Phila-
delphia.
Pounds.
160,000,000
1 77,000,000
1 62,250,000
163,000,000
146,000,000
160,000,000
174,700,000
1 78,000,000
193,000,000
198,250,000
208,250,000
211,000,000
232,500,000
264,000,000
290,000,000
300,000,000
320,400,000
337,500,000
329,600,000
323,031,026
302,169,950
301,876,121
295.779.479
309,474,856
307,101,507
333,018,405
348,538,138
325,210,712
1 The figures previous to 1867 are from the United States Census Reports.
2 See U. S. Senate Mis. Doc. No. 77, 53d Congress, 2d Session, chart, p. 54; Senate Mis. Doc. No. 35, S3d Congress, ad Session, p. 81.
3 Estimate of National Association of Wool Manufacturers.
sundry States at Syracuse, N. Y., December i, 1865,
at which a committee representing these two inter-
ests was appointed, which drafted a bill, subsequently
passed by Congress with modifications, especially re-
ducing the proposed rates on so-called carpet wools.
(" Special Rep. Dept. Agriculture on Sheep In-
dustry," 1892.) It is a part of the history of this act
that President Johnson had decided to veto the bill,
but was finally prevailed on by Hon. Henry Stan-
berry, his attorney-general, to approve it. The wool
tariff of 1883 was the result of the report of the
Tariff Commission under the act of Congress of
May 15, 1882.
But it has been shown that the foregoing is not
accurate as to number of sheep prior to 1871. Ac-
cording to the census statistics the sheep were as
follows :
Number of
Year. Sheep.
1840 19,31 1,374
1850 21,723,220
i860 22,471,275
1870 28477,951
1880 35,192,074
Statistics prior to 18 10 are not obtainable.
The free-wool provision in the tariff act of August
28, 1894, was first inaugurated in the annual report
of the Secretary of the Treasury, December 6, 1886,
AMERICAN WOOL
245
indorsed by President Cleveland's message to Con-
gress, December 6, 1887, repudiated by the people
in the presidential election of November, 1888, but
by a change in political parties finally carried into
effect and made law in the act of 1894.
The ravages of dogs, wolves, coyotes, and foxes
have been a serious obstacle in the way of rearing
sheep. In many States legislation has attempted to
remedy this by placing bounties on scalps of wolves,
coyotes, and foxes, by making the owners of dogs
liable for sheep killed, and by taxes on dogs, creat-
ing a fund from which to pay for sheep killed. In
1894 the loss of sheep in the United States from all
causes was estimated at five and one half per cent.
For some years prior to 1892, the loss by dogs in
Alabama was estimated at twenty per cent, annually
of the sheep. Legislation against dogs has en-
countered much opposition in many of the States,
especially the Southern. Shepherd dogs of five differ-
ent kinds have been successfully used in herding
sheep in many of the States.
Sheep husbandry has diffused its wealth in every
State and Territory. Apart from the wool, mutton,
pelts, and fertilizer directly produced, it affords an
economy of natural resources in the utilization of
lands and vegetation otherwise waste. Concerning
the single article of wool an eminent authority says :
"The value now of the world's wool clip is easily
$250,000,000 in first hands; any status which seri-
ously and permanently influences that value cannot
safely be ignored." The value of the clip in the
United States can be ascertained with comparative
accuracy by computation of pounds produced in
specific years, with prices. The number of sheep
and amounts of wool produced in the United States
from 181 o to 1895, inclusive, have been heretofore
stated.
There is a difference between farm value and the
usually quoted prices at Boston and other Eastern
cities, where most of the wool is manufactured and
finds its ultimate market. The difference between
farm value and the Eastern prices is affected by
cost of shipment to market, and other considerations.
A rehable authority says of wool freights: "From
London [to Boston] freight rates are one third of a
cent per pound. From the Western plains it costs
from two and one half to three cents a pound to bring
wool to Boston ; and this difference is practically so
much against the Western sheep growers as against
the prevailing prices in the London market."
Freights from Melbourne to Boston cost no more
than to London. The freight to Eastern markets,
local wool buyers' profits, commissions of wool
16*
brokers, etc., from Ohio, reach three cents per
pound, and from the Rocky Mountain region still
more. (Senate Mis. Doc. No. 35, 53d Congress, 2d
Session, pp. 66, 249, 250, 253, 271, 273, 329, 379,
380; see Senate Mis. Doc. No. "j-j, passim.)
Wool purchased in large lots at the London wool
sales costs but little for commission. In addition
to freight charges the wool growers of the United
States lose the profits of local wool buyers ; some-
times, too heavy discounts, for difference between
wool in the grease and scoured ; the commission
of Eastern wool brokers, insurance, and other ex-
penses. The London price fixes that for the whole
world, and forms the basis on which purchases are
made, except as values may be enhanced by wool
duties. The prices of wool in London and Boston
from 1824 to 1895 are given in official documents,
(See Special Rep. Dept. Agriculture Sheep Industry,
1892, pp. 569-574 ; U. S. Senate Mis. Docs. Nos. 35,
77, and 124, 53d Congress, 2d Session ; Bulletin Na-
tional Association Wool Manufacturers, June, 1895 ;
House Mis. Doc. No. 94, 5 2d Congress, 2d Session,
being Treas. Dept. Rep. Chief Bureau Statistics,
1894.)
On the basis mentioned the Boston and the farm
values of the wool clip of the United States have
been estimated by an eminent authority — Theodore
Justice — for specified years as follows:
Year.
Pounds Wool.
Farm and
Ranch Value.
Boston Value.
1880....
1890 . . .
1895- ••
264,000,000
309,474,856
294.296,726
$80,000,000
73,000,000
28,000,000
$90,000,000 under tariff.
84,000,000 " '•
37,000,000 free wool.
For a decade prior to 1893 the average annual
farm value may be estimated at $70,000,000 ; farm
value of mutton sheep at $35,000,000; value of
pelts, chiefly in hands of butchers, at $7,000,000;
the fertilizers, farm value, at $4,000,000 ; or a total
of all, $116,000,000. Theodore Justice, in a let-
ter of September 19, 1895, estimates that the wool
values above given for 1880 and 1890 are probably
too small by $8,000,000. Mr. Justice adds : " Our
estimate of the scoured value of wool in 1880 would
be not less than seventy-five cents per pound nor
over eighty cents per scoured pound. Our estimate
for the scoured value in 1890 would be not less
than sixty cents nor over sixty-five cents, and we are
quite confident that for 1895 thirty-five cents scoured
is nearly correct." This is Philadelphia value.
The total product exceeds the average annual
value of that of all the gold and silver mines of the
246
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
country during the same decade, which was $919,-
964,000, or an annual average of $91,996,400. In
the calendar year 1893 our gold-mines produced
1,739,323 fine ounces, of the value, in round num-
bers, of $35,955,000. The silver product of 1893
was, in round numbers, 60,000,000 fine ounces, of
the commercial value of $46,800,000, and of the
coinage value of $77,575,757- And as the domestic
production of wool is now less than half the needs of
the American people, the product of our flocks can,
under proper conditions, be more than doubled.
The price of wool has been gradually declining in
all the markets of the world since i860, because of
(i) the vast increase of sheep; (2) the increase of
wool in fleeces ; (3) the extension of wool growing
into Australasia, South Africa, and Argentine, where
pasturage costs but Httle and winter feeding is rarely
required ; (4) the extension of wool growing in the
new States and Territories, with much of the graz-
ing free on public lands; (5) since 1873 the de-
monetization of silver in most of the states of
Europe, depressing prices generally (see Vol, U. S.
Coinage Laws, 1894, 4th Ed. Government Print);
and finally (6), in the aggregate, over-production —
the world's supply exceeding the world's demand.
Hence in the " Annual London Report " on wool for
1894 of Helmuth, Schwartze & Company it is said :
" The value of wool, though starting from about
as low a level as had ever been known, has yet in the
course of 1894 suffered a fresh fall of ten to twelve
per cent. ; and a bale of colonial wool, which during
the preceding decade was worth ^£14. on the aver-
age, and in former times (1871) ;i^2i, was last year
barely worth j£ii}4, and on the basis of the clos-
ing sales of the year only ;£ioyi. The process of
depreciation has during the past five years been
continuous, and, though more prominent in merino
than in coarse descriptions, has not affected one
class of wool to the exclusion of another, but has
extended to all." (See Bulletin National Association
Wool Manufacturers, June, 1895, p. 116.)
This is shown by the following statistics :
IMPORTATION OF COLONIAL WOOL
INTO EUROPE AND AMERICA FROM 1860 TO 1 894, WITH APPROXIMATE AVERAGE VALUE PER BALE.
IMPORTS PER SEASON.
Year.
i860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867,
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
Australasian
Bales.
187,000
212,000
227,000
242,000
302,000
334.000
351,000
414,000
483,000
504,000
546,000
573.000
554,000
571,000
659,000
720,000
769,000
835,000
801,000
826,000
869,000
957,000
993,000
1,054,000
1,112,000
1,094,000
1,196,000
1,207,000
1,315,000
1,385,000
1411,000
1,683,000
1,835,000
1,775.000
1,896,000
Cape
Bales.
79,000
84,000
82,000
94,000
113,000
109,000
128,000
135,000
156,000
153,000
152,000
186,000
189,000
1 76,000
1 70,000
197,000
167,000
186,000
169,000
189,000
219,000
204,000
197,000
199,000
191,000
188,000
236,000
237,000
289,000
310,000
288,000
322,000
291,000
299,000
256,000
Total
Colonial
Bales.
Average
Value
PER Bale.
266,000
296,000
309,000
336,000
415,000
443,000
479,000
549,000
639,000
657,000
698,000
759,000
743,000
747,000
829,000
917,000
936,000
1,021,000
970,000
1,015,000
1,088,000
1,161,000
1,190,000
1,253,000
1,303,000
1,282,000
1,432,000
1444,000
1,604,000
1,695,000
1,699,000
2,005,000
2,126,000
2,074,000
2,152,000
£2sH
23X
22H
22^
23H
24}4
16%
20%
26K
24^
23H
22X
814:
6/2
20%
r/2
6
4
3K
4'
3K
5M
4H
3K
2
2/2
Total Value.
^6,850,000
6,882,000
7,030,000
7,644,000
10,271,000
10,521,000
11,735,000
1 1,392,000
11,822,000
10,348,000
11,691,000
15,560,000
19,690,000
18,115,000
19,274,000
20403,000
17,550,000
19,144,000
18,187,000
16,748,000
22,032,000
20,027,000
20,825,000
20,988,000
20,848,000
1 7,948,000
19,332,000
20,216,000
21,654,000
26,272,000
25,060,000
27,067,000
25,512,000
25,925,000
24,748,000
;^7,ooo,ooo
Period.
;^ 11,000,000
' Period.
Year of
Transition.
> ;^20,000,000
Period.
^ ;^26,000,000
Period.
AMERICAN WOOL
247
The average weight of the Cape and Natal bales
is about 315 pounds, and the average weight of an
AustraUan is about 365 pounds. But this is an
aggregation of greasy and scoured wools and of
wools from colonies, which vary in the weight of
wool bales. The bales given above, therefore,
mean the actual number received in the London
market, without reference to their weight. It is
impossible, therefore, to compute from the bales
any average value per pound. Still the value of
bales from i860 to 1894 sufficiently shows the de-
cline in prices.
But notwithstanding this decline in price, sheep
husbandry was fairly remunerative and prosperous
under the operation of the wool tariffs of 1867 and
1890, under conditions then existing. The cost of
producing wools in the several States and in foreign
countries has been elsewhere fully shown. (U. S.
Senate Mis. Doc. No. 35, 53d Congress, 2d Session,
pp. 83, 293 ; Bulletin National Association Wool
Manufacturers, June, 1895, p. 117; Senate Mis.
Docs. Nos. 77 and 124, 2d Session, 53d Congress.)
A contrast of the cost of production and the Amer-
ican farm values, or rather prices of wools based on
London sales, will form a basis for judging of the
reasons for the decline in numbers and value of sheep
and wool in the United States, and the necessity for
legislation in aid of the wool industry.
The South Carolina Agricultural Society, the
pioneer of its character in the United States, was
the first to offer a premium for the introduction of
merino sheep, in 1785. In 1796 the Massachusetts
Society for Promoting Agriculture urged the impor-
tance of improving the breeds of sheep. The Penn-
sylvania Society for Improving the Breeds of Cat-
tle organized at Philadelphia in 1809, and offered
1 The reader will find valuable matter on the subject of
this chapter in the documents therein referred to and in the
following: North's " Wool Book," Boston, 1895; Bennett's
"American Shepherd's Year Book," 1895 ; Tariff Hearings be-
fore Committee of Ways and Means, 51st Congress, ist Ses-
sion, 1889-90, p. 216; U. S. Senate Finance Committee,
Rep. 2332, 50th Congress, ist Session, 1888, Part 3, p. 1984;
U. S. Senate, Ex. Doc. No. 3, 53d Congress, Special Ses-
premiums for sheep. In November, 1809, a so-
ciety was organized at Georgetown, D. C, for the
purpose of encouraging home manufactures and the
rearing of domestic animals, including sheep.
The Ohio Wool Growers' Association was organ-
ized in 1863. The National Wool Growers' Asso-
ciation was organized at Syracuse, N. Y., December,
1865, with the Hon. Henry S. Randall, LL.D., of
Cortlandt, in that State, president ; William T. Greer,
of Ohio, secretary ; and Henry Clarke, of Vermont,
treasurer. Its first work was at its organization, on
conference with representatives of the wool manu-
facturing industry, to formulate a wool and woolen
goods tariff bill to be presented to Congress, and
which resulted in the act of March 2, 1867.
The subsequent presidents of the association were
Hon. A. M. Garland, of Illinois, a member of the
Tariff Commission of 1882 ; Hon. Columbus De-
lano, of Ohio; and since October 5, 1893, WiUiam
Lawrence, of Ohio, with Hon. John T. Rich, of
Elba, Mich., and governor of that State, vice-
president ; WiUiam G. Markham, of Avon, N. Y.,
treasurer; and a board of directors. (Senate Mis.
Doc. No. 35, 53d Congress, 2d Session, p. 324.) The
association has rendered effective service in aid of
sheep husbandry, and has been fully heard on all
legislation affecting it.
Among all the American industries none is more
important or more useful than sheep husbandry. It
feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, gives health,
vigor, and happiness to mankind, adds to industrial
and national wealth, independence, and power. It
has never been allied with any evil ; it never united
with any conspiracy against personal or pubHc right.
Its purpose and effect have been to elevate and bless
mankind.
sion, March, 1893; Senate Ex. Doc. No. i, 53d Congress,
1st Session, March, 1893 ; Senate Mis. Doc. No. 149, 53d Con-
gress, 1st Session, p. 42; " The American Wool Interest"
(Lawrence), New York, 1892 ; Switzler's Special Rep. on
Wool, U. S. Treasury Dept., 1887; Tariff Hearings before
the Committee of Ways and Means, 53d Congress, ist Ses-
sion, 1893, p. 929; Rep. 01 Tariff Commission, 1882.
/iLICou^
CHAPTER XXXVI
AMERICAN HORTICULTURE
THE pursuit of horticulture, that department
of the science of agriculture which relates to
the cultivation of gardens, including the
growing of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, is the most
ancient and honorable of callings. It was Bacon, I
think, who remarked that "God Almighty first
planted a garden," and he further emphasizes his
respect for the gentle art of gardening by saying " a
man shall ever see, that, when ages grow to civility
and elegancy, men come to build stately sooner
than to garden finely; as if gardening were the
greater perfection." Dr. Johnson treated the sub-
ject humorously when he remarked to one of his
friends : " If possible, have a good orchard. I know
a clergyman of small income who brought up a
family very reputably which he chiefly fed on apple
dumplings."
In looking over the field of our own literature of
horticulture for the past one hundred years, we en-
counter, with few exceptions, nothing very coherent
or comprehensive until we open Downing's " Treat-
ise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gar-
dening adapted to North America" (1841), together
with his " Rural Essays." From that time an occa-
sional American milestone in horticultural literature
is passed and rapidly noted until we come to Peter
Henderson's first published work. In 1858 Freder-
ick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux issued a " De-
scription of a Plan for the Improvement of Central
Park." In 1859 came Copeland's " Country Life,"
and Charles Pollen's " Suggestions on Landscape
Gardening." "The Art of Beautifying Home
Grounds of Small Extent," by F. T. Scott, appeared
in 1870. H. W. S. Cleveland's " Landscape Archi-
tecture as applied to the Wants of the West " was
published in 1873, as was William Hammond Hall's
"The Influence of Parks and Pleasure Grounds."
In 1881 Mr, Olmsted pubhshed " A Consideration
of the Justifying Value of a Public Park." In 1889
" The Garden's Story," by George H. EUwanger, was
told, and the " Report of the Metropolitan Park
Commission of Boston" appeared in 1893.
In addition to these landmarks of the science of
horticulture, its progress has been marked by the ap-
pearance of other useful books from time to time.
One of these was " Elliott's Fruit Book, or the Amer-
ican Fruit Grower's Guide in Orchard and Garden,"
pubhshed in New York in 1857. Notwithstanding
the publication of so much valuable matter upon the
subject by such writers as Coxe, Lindley, Downing,
and Thomas, Elliott's work was welcomed as a use-
ful addition to the literature of the art. This branch
of horticulture is a subject so boundless in a country
of such extent and capacity of soil and climate as
ours that it can only be lightly touched on here. It
will doubtless surprise the casual reader to learn that
in this little book, published nearly forty years ago,
upwards of 1050 varieties of apples alone are enu-
merated and described as having been the object of
experiments.
The student of American horticulture, in delving
into this branch of the subject, will have his task
lightened by keeping in mind a few of the pioneers
who have helped in a large measure, by their labors
and investigations, to bring the time-honored pursuit
to its present state of importance. In Massachusetts
they were M. P. Wilder, C. M. Hovey, Boston;
Samuel Walker, Roxbury ; B. V. French, Braintree ;
Robert Manning, J. M. Ives, Salem. In New York,
Peter Henderson ; Charles Downing, Newburgh ; S.
B. Parsons, Flushing; P. Barry, George EUwanger,
Rochester; John J. Thomas, Macedon; David
Thomas, Aurora. In Pennsylvania, W. D. Brinckle,
Philadelphia; Thomas Meehan, Germantown. In
New Jersey, Thomas Hancock, Burlington. In
Ohio, George Hoadley, J. P. Kirtland, Cleveland;
A. H. Ernst, J. A. Warder, Cincinnati ; M. B. Bate-
ham, Columbus. In Michigan, Daniel Cook, Jack-
248
AMERICAN HORTICULTURE
249
son. In Indiana, John C. Teas, Raysville. In Wis-
consin, F. K. Phoenix, Racine.
It is somewhat remarkable that in a pursuit like
horticulture, so largely regarded as a luxurious one,
and in a country so young as ours, we should find as
far back as 1728 an account of the establishment of
a botanic garden in Philadelphia by John Bartram.
We of New York were later in the field, although as
early as 1750 places were advertised for sale on Long
Island, in which, among the inducements offered to
purchasers, it was stated that they had " flower gar-
dens attached." In 1756 others were offered as hav-
ing " greenhouses filled with tropical plants."
To show beyond question that at that early period
there was some general taste in regard to the culti-
vation of flowers, we find that in 1751, at White-
stone, L. I., a pottery was under way which
advertised that " any persons desirous may be sup-
plied with urns and flower-pots to adorn their gar-
dens."
In i767Winiam Prince, of Flushing, N.Y., offered
for sale a large variety of fruit trees, " so packed that
they can safely be sent to Europe." He was an en-
thusiast in all departments of horticulture, and at the
opening of the present century had added to his
nursery a greenhouse department which contained a
very full collection of plants for that time.
American horticulture must always remain greatly
indebted to Mr. Prince, who was the pioneer nur-
seryman in the New World, and laid the foundations
of the business here.
In 1 80 1 Dr. David Hosack originated the Elgin
Botanic Garden in New York. Its curator in its
earlier years was a Mr. Dennison, who began busi-
ness as a florist in 18 14 at a point near where the
Fifth Avenue Hotel now stands. Mr, William Wil-
son was the author of a book on " Kitchen Garden-
ing," and was, with Dr. Hosack, one of the
originators in 1818 of the first Horticultural Society
in New York. Another prominent horticulturist of
that day was Mr. Thomas Bridgman, who was the
author of "The Young Gardener's Assistant," to
which hundreds of European gardeners, coming here
unacquainted with the American climate and plants,
were much indebted. To enumerate the various
magazines and periodicals devoted to horticulture
from an early period of the century up to this time
would be of no special interest, although most of
them have done yeoman service in diffusing horti-
cultural knowledge all over the land. But I must pay
a passing tribute to such pioneers in the art as
Charles M. Hovey of Boston and Robert Buist, Sr.,
of Philadelphia, both of whom in their day were ac-
knowledged high priests of American horticulture.
Later on, towards the middle of the century, came
such kindred spirits as Patrick Barry, Peter B. Mead,
A. S. Fuller, E. P. Roe, and many others of less
prominence.
No review of horticulture would be complete
without a reference to its real culmination in land-
scape-gardening, and the history of that branch of
the art in America is most interesting. The first and
unquestionably the greatest American landscape-gar-
dener was A. J. Downing. His book on the subject,
published in 1 841, sprang Minerva-like into the arena,
and it remains to this day without a superior, or even a
competitor, worthy of the name. A true genius in his
calling, it remains a great pity that he did not live long
enough to complete his labors. In addition to this
work on landscape-gardening, he had in course of
preparation a book on the fruits and fruit trees
of America, which was left unfinished, but which was
completed by his brother Charles. The influence of
A. J. Downing on American ornamental horticulture
cannot be overestimated ; in fact, it might not be too
much to say that he created it. He had a worthy
pupil in Frederick Law Olmsted. It was the latter
who took charge of the improvements in Central
Park, and practically created that grand pleasure-
ground upon what had been a barren waste of rock
and swamp. Only this summer, the city of New
York set apart, in Bronx Park, a large area of land
for the establishment of a Botanic Garden, with an
appropriation of $500,000 which has been increased
by public-spirited citizens to $750,000.
Another potent factor in developing ornamental
horticulture has been and is still an institution which
is peculiarly and distinctively American — the rural
cemetery. To Jacob Bigelow of Boston is due the
original conception of this idea. He agitated the
question in 1825, and soon the Massachusetts Horti-
cultural Society lent its aid to the movement, the
result being the formation of the Mount Auburn
Cemetery Association at Cambridge, Mass. This was
the forerunner of Greenwood, Woodlawn, Forest
Hills and the numerous park-like cemeteries which
now dot the country from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
where nature, softened and subdued by man's cun-
ning touch, lends beauty and repose to what would
otherwise be only a place of harrowing memories.
Every cemetery has its cluster of florists, who derive
profit from the sale of plants, with which loving
hands make beautiful the last resting place of those
dear to them.
By 1840 commercial horticulture had come to be
liberally patronized, and nurseries, greenhouses, and
250
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
market-gardens had been established in Long Island,
New Jersey, and New York Island, so that the mar-
kets were fairly supplied with fruits, flowers, and
vegetables ; but scantily, however, compared to the
present time.
In 1866 a most important epoch in a century of
the art was reached when Peter Henderson sent forth
his earUest work, " Gardening for Profit," the first
book ever written on market-gardening in this coun-
try. This work brought a national reputation to its
author, and its value to the United States is beyond
computation. Its appearance just after the close of
the war rendered it of special and inestimable value
to the Southern States. The enormous market-gar-
dening or trucking interests which have been for
years and are to-day such a factor in the prosperity
of the South, owe their birth and subsequent devel-
opment entirely to the teachings of " Gardening for
Profit." Stimulated by the success of his first book,
Mr. Henderson in 1868 issued his " Practical Flori-
culture," written to show how flowers and plants could
best be grown for profit. This book did for esthetic
gardening what its predecessor had accomplished for
material horticulture, and established thousands of
people in a pleasant, safe, and profitable business.
In 1875 Mr. Henderson's prolific pen produced
" Gardening for Pleasure," a work intended to meet
the wants of those desiring information on gardening
for private use. In 1884 he published *' Garden and
Farm Topics," a series of interesting and instructive
essays; and also, in 1884, he, with Mr. William Cro-
zier, wrote " How the Farm Pays." Finally, in 1889,
he finished just before his death his most pretentious
work, " Henderson's Hand-Book of Plants."
Besides his published works, Mr. Peter Henderson
was for thirty-five years previous to his death, in 1890,
a constant contributor to the leading American horti-
cultural and agricultural papers. His name is in-
separably linked with commercial gardening and
floriculture in the United States. Not only by his
teachings, but through his wonderful business success,
by precept and example, he blazed the way for com-
mercial horticulture, and stands in the same relation
to it that A. J. Downing does to its ornamental
branch. He it was who saw the possibilities of our
varied soils and climate in the production of many
plants, seeds, and bulbs which, previous to his time,
had been imported from Europe. In the one item of
tuberoses alone he changed the current of trade, so
that, instead of importing, we now export, thousands
of dollars being thus saved to the country annually.
He it was who predicted "that CaHfomia before fifty
years will be the great seed and bulb-growing coun-
try of the world, as it has the exact conditions of cli-
mate necessary for their growth." His prophecy is
being fulfilled, and bids fair to be realized even sooner
than he anticipated.
When " Practical Floriculture " was issued, florists
were few and far between, and their establishments
were crude and insignificant in comparison with those
of to-day. There are no trustworthy statistics to be
obtained of the number engaged in the trade at that
time, or the extent of glass in operation; and even
now exact information is unobtainable, as the last
census is obviously imperfect. Through information
gleaned by the Society of American Florists and
from private sources, it is safe to estimate that there
are in the United States to-day, say, 10,000 florists,
the principal ones owning a glass area ranging from
50,000 to 100,000 square feet; while the least among
them would own, say, 1000 square feet. After care-
ful consideration, I estimate that there would be a
grand average of 5000 square feet to each florist,
making a total area of 50,000,000 square feet of glass
devoted to commercial floriculture, a small portion
being used for raising vegetables during the winter
months. Estimating the average yield at one dollar
per square foot, we have a total output of $50,000,000
in plants, flowers, and vegetables. Many florists also
use the space under the greenhouse benches to grow
mushrooms, an industry which is rapidly assuming
importance.
In addition to the above, the private conservato-
ries, greenhouses, and fruit houses, and the green-
houses in connection with public gardens, cemeteries,
and experiment stations, should be considered in
estimating the amount of glass devoted to plant and
flower-culture. These combined would probably
amount to one fourth of the commercial area, or
12,500,000 of square feet; and their contents are of
equal value proportionately.
The interest of the people of the whole country in
horticulture cannot be better shown than in the per-
fection to which that marvelous flower, the chrysan-
themum, has been brought, and the remarkable
exhibitions that take place annually in every city
and town of any importance. To show the strides
that have been made in greenhouse structures, I
may say that I doubt if there was previous to 1845
in all the United States a greenhouse in use for
commercial purposes having a fixed roof; and at
this point it seems pertinent to give a short history
of the rise and growth of greenhouse construction in
the United States. The first one, as far as my re-
searches have been able to discover, was erected
early in the last century for Andrew Faneuil in Bos-
AMERICAN HORTICULTURE
251
ton. The credit of having owned the first green-
house in this country is generally given to James
Beekman, the claim being made that it was erected
for him in New York in 1764. Be that as it may,
however, we have authoritative proof by Gardiner,
Hepburn, and McMahon, that greenhouses were in
existence in 1804 and 1806, and also that Dr. Ho-
sack had extensive greenhouses in his botanic gar-
den in 1 80 1. Many of these early structures had
very little, if any, glass in the roof, and it is the
wonder of modem horticulturists how the gardeners
in those days were able to grow plants with such
crude facilities. It would seem ludicrous now to
attempt it in one of the greenhouses described by
McMahon as a "modem" structure. "One third
of the front side of the roof, for the whole length of
the house, to be formed of glass-work"; and so as to
get all the light possible, he stated that "to have as
much glass as possible, the piers between the sashes
are commonly made of good timber from eight to
ten inches thick according to their height ; the width
of the windows for the glass sashes may be five or
six feet. The panes of glass in the roof should be
six inches by four, this size being not only the
strongest, but much the cheapest, and they should
lap over each other by half an inch." Compare this
with our modem greenhouse structure, its glass
16x20, and even larger, its light iron purlins and
supports, its light sash-bars, the pitch of the roof —
everything calculated to get the greatest amount of
light possible, so that flowering plants may get the
needed carbon to maintain them in health, and en-
able them to perfect their blossoms. It is little won-
der that perpetual spring and summer seem to reign
in the modern home when we have such facilities for
the propagation of nature's choicest products. The
first published advocacy of the fixed-roof system was
made by Mr, Peter B. Mead in the " New York Hor-
ticulturist" in 1857. Before that all greenhouse struc-
tures for commercial purposes were formed of por-
table sashes, and nearly all were constructed as
"lean-to's," with high back walls, and none were
connected. All were separate and detached, being
placed at all angles, without plan or system. Then,
too, the heating was nearly all done by horizontal
smoke-flues, or manure fermenting, although there
was a crude attempt at heating by hot water by some
private individuals as early as 1835. The first use of
heating by hot water on anything like a large scale,
however, was in 1839, when Hitchings & Co., of this
city, heated a large conservatory for Mr. William
Niblo of New York ; and yet for nearly twenty years
after this time heating by hot water was almost ex-
clusively confined to greenhouses and graperies on
private places, as few professional florists in those
days could afibrd to indulge in such luxuries.
All this is changed now. The use of steam, hot
water under pressure, and the gravity system of hot-
water heating are almost universally in operation, the
hot-air flue having been relegated to the past. The
best evidence of progress is in the fact that the flo-
rist has not waited for the tradesman, but has brought
about these improvements himself. In many places
to-day the florist puts up his own heating apparatus,
and there are many men in the trade who are com-
petent to give learned dissertations on the various
systems of greenhouse-heating. It may not be out
of place here to refer to the " blue-glass craze "
launched upon the country by the late General
Pleasanton. Absurd as it seems now, yet there
were many hard-headed, practical men among the
gardeners and florists who adopted it to a limited
extent. In many of the private places it may still
be seen, at Newport and along the Hudson River,
the owners being either too uninterested to remove
it, or perhaps still having a lingering faith in the ex-
ploded "fad." In weak imitation of the "blue-glass
theory " came the era of " blue whitewash," but that
also has disappeared. One thing worthy of record
is the great advance made in producing glass in this
country. Up to within a very short period all the
glass for greenhouses was imported from France
and Belgium, the American product being so full of
" blisters " that it was useless for the purpose. The
consumption of glass in greenhouse structures, both
old and new, is something enormous, and undoubt-
edly stimulated the American manufacturers to bet-
ter efforts. The result is that for the past few years
our American natural-gas-made glass is used exclu-
sively, and is found to be superior to the foreign
article.
While we have undoubtedly made great strides in
the past thirty years in every department of horti-
culture, perhaps the most wonderful advance of all
has been in the construction of cut flowers into bou-
quets and other designs. The late Mr. Henderson
used to relate that in 1844 he was an assistant in one
of the largest floral establishments then in New York
City. If a wreath was to be made its base was usu-
ally a piece of willow or a barrel-hoop. If a cross,
two pieces of lath formed the groundwork, and the
work when done was usually such as to reflect but
little credit on the " artist," The wire-design-man
did not put in an appearance until twenty years
later. Bouquets in the forties were usually flat, one-
sided affairs. Occasionally a round bouquet was at-
252
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
tempted by some artist of local fame, but with a re-
sult that must have done violence to the feelings of
the flowers that were used in the structure.
The growth of the use of cut flowers at funerals
in elaborate symbolic designs is one of the features
of modern horticulture. At first it was confined
chiefly to the realms of wealth and fashion, but it
spread quickly into all ranks. When a public offi-
cial or popular man in private life died, the offerings
of friends and acquaintances in the shape of wreaths,
crosses, crowns, anchors, broken columns, gates ajar,
etc., etc., were something enormous ; in fact, during
the early seventies, it is safe to say that " funeral
work" was the sheet-anchor of the flower stores.
But a change occurred about twenty years ago;
exaggeration and bad taste had brought great floral
displays somewhat into disfavor. What Murray Hill
frowned upon, however, was taken up enthusiasti-
cally by Cherry Hill, and a man's popularity during
life was soon gauged by the number of " set pieces "
sent to his funeral by admiring friends. New de-
signs were created to meet the demand, and a florist
on the Bowery — an artist in this particular line —
showed much originality in inventing symbolic de-
signs to express the grief of the sender. Lettering
on designs came into greater prominence under his
regime, and many a good story, tragic and ludicrous,
has he told of the composition of these expressions
of regard for the dead. One of his best is about a
young man who in life belonged to several East
Side social organizations. Each club was anxious to
outdo the other in the matter of flowers, and great
was the display of designs at his funeral. One com-
mittee, who ordered a pillow, wanted some original
lettering on it. The florist showed them his book of
set phrases, " At Rest," etc., etc., but to no purpose.
They retired and held a long consultation, and at
length ordered the words " He was a Brick " to be
lettered on the pillow. It was in vain that the florist
mildly suggested a change; and the young man went
to his last resting-place with the inscription "He was
a Brick" boldly staring out from the pillow in purple
letters on its snowy ground of flowers. It was, no
doubt, incidents such as this which turned many
people against the use of cut flowers in designs at
funerals; but the practice, under certain restrictions,
must always be appropriate.
There has been a radical change in the character
of the flowers used for cut-flower purposes. Fifty
years ago camellia flowers retailed freely for a dollar
each, and during the holidays Philadelphia used to
send thousands to New York florists, getting $500
per 1000; while roses then went begging at one
tenth these figures. Now, the rose is queen, and
the poor camellia finds none so poor to do her rev-
erence. Decided as the change has been from one
class of flowers to another — a vagary of that erratic
jade. Dame Fashion — the evolution in the rose itself
is more pronounced. As I write, there stands on
my desk a vase of roses, Bon Silene, Safrano, The
Bride, Catherine Mermet, Maman Cochet, Souvenir
de Wootton, La France, Bridesmaid, Perle des Jar-
dins, Sunset, Belle Siebrecht, Meteor, Papa Gontier,
Niphetos, Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, Mme. Cusin,
Mme. Caroline Testout, Mme. Hoste, Mme. de
Watteville, and, crowning all in regal splendor,
American Beauty ; the latter name, by the way, is a
misnomer, as the variety is not of American origin.
Paltry, indeed, appear the Bon Silene and Safrano
in comparison with the others, and yet, twenty years
ago, they were the leading roses grown for the New
York market, and they sold, too, around the holi-
days, at eighteen to twenty-five dollars per 100.
During the holiday season of 1894-95 the first one
was rated as being worth two to three dollars per 100,
and the second was not even given the poor honor
of being named in the market list ; American Beauty,
during the same time, sold at from $30 to $150
per 100; the others, except Belle Siebrecht and Mrs.
Pierpont Morgan, which have yet to go through
the season — having made their d^but this year —
were quoted at from five dollars to twenty dollars
per 100, the difference between the quotations being
entirely due to quality, showing the varying skill of
the growers.
Only five of the above roses are of American ori-
gin : Sunset, a " sport " from Perle des Jardins, which
originated with and was introduced by Peter Hen-
derson in 1883; The Bride, a "sport" from Cathe-
rine Mermet, which originated with James Taplin
and was introduced by John N. May in 1885 ; Sou-
venir de Wootton, — named in remembrance of the
visit of the Society of American Florists to Wootton,
the home of G. W. Childs, — a seedling raised by J.
Cook and introduced in 1 889 ; Bridesmaid, a " sport "
from Catherine Mermet, which originated with F.
L. Moore, and was introduced by him in 1892;
Mrs. Pierpont Morgan, a " sport " from Mme. Cusin,
which originated with F. W. Miles of Plainfield,
N. J., in 1895. All the others are of European
origin. I confidently believe that the time is not far
distant when we shall compete seriously with the
foreign grower in the production of new varieties of
roses. In the realm of garden varieties of the ever-
blooming class, which is separate from the winter-
forcing section, we have already produced many fine
5.' ioCS:mi'h
Alfred Henderson.
AMERICAN HORTICULTURE
253
sorts, which, being raised under the conditions in
which they must live, are, for the most part, better
adapted to our climate than many imported sorts
which are magnificent on their native heath. Amer-
ica can, however, claim the honor of having given
to the world one of the greatest classes of roses, viz. :
the Noisette class, originally produced by M. Noi-
sette at Charleston, S. C, in 1817, and sent to his
brother in Paris, by whom it was introduced into
European gardens; thus the latter is commonly
credited with the honor of having originated it.
Among the many famous roses belonging to this
class are Marechal Niel, Cloth of Gold, Wm. Allen
Richardson, Gloire de Dijon, and Lamarque. These
grand roses festoon the walls and verandas of South-
ern and Pacific Slope homes, as well as in France and
England; and along the Riviera millions of their
flowers breathe incense, telling to the American trav-
eler, in their mute way, that his country has done
something for rose culture of which he may be proud.
Our prairie roses have been improved greatly ; such
fine sorts as Baltimore Belle, Prairie Queen, Gem
of the Prairies, and others adorn walls and fences in
our Northern States, where the Noisette roses would
not survive the winters. The culture of tuberoses
came a little later. The books of Peter Henderson
& Co. show that in 1865 their receipts from a house
of tuberoses, 10 x 100 feet, were $1500 ; now they are
rarely grown under glass, being mostly a summer
crop, and but it\^^ are sold in New York, except to
the poorest classes.
The increase in the sales of all products of flori-
culture in the past fifty years has certainly kept pace
with most other industries. In 1844 the sales at re-
tail of a New York florist on New Year's Day footed
up the sum of $200, and yet this florist did nearly
the entire business of the city at that time. In spite
of the general depression of business, which, of
course, bears heavily against the sale of cut flowers,
in all probability the sales at retail on the first of
January in 1895, in New York City, reached $500,-
000, and the aggregate for the past year Avould
run up in the neighborhood of $5,000,000, probably
double that of any European city of its size. The
greater profits in cut-flower-growing, with compara-
tively less labor than in general plant- growing, at-
tracted capital, hence the great advance made.
With competition has come a cheapening of the
product, an advance in its quality, and a consequent
shrinkage in the profits of the grower ; but up to the
present time there has been no apparent check to the
growth and sale, but rather the reverse, as on all sides
new structures for growing cut flowers are going up
and old ones are being remodeled to adapt them
for this use.
A few years ago nearly all the growers for the
large cities sold their own product by sending men
from store to store with the day's cut, but this is no
longer possible, the output being too great for such
a primitive method. Then came the commission
dealer and the cut-flower exchange, and now an
association of cut-flower growers has been organ-
ized in New York City for the sale of their product
at wholesale to retail dealers. It is a company, and
it claims to control $750,000 worth of flowers.
Probably twice as much will be sold by the com-
mission dealers and the cut-flower exchange, amount-
ing to perhaps double what it was ten years ago.
The growth around New York, although more
pronounced than elsewhere, is not exceptional, as
every large city and town throughout the country
has felt the stimulus and advanced accordingly.
Taste has advanced as well. The day of huge
wads of flowers, by courtesy termed bouquets —
bare stems and wires, coarse garden flowers and
arbor vitae for green — has given way forever to the
light, graceful bunch, long, natural stems with foli-
age, of fine roses, liUes, carnations, violets, orchids,
etc., etc., with maiden-hair fern and filmy asparagus
fronds for garnishing.
Of the many remarkable developments in com-
mercial floriculture during the past ten years, there
is one that stands out prominently above all others,
being the expansion of the trade in decorative plants
— palms, ferns, and allied plants. The use of palms
and decorative plants has been general in Europe for
many years, and even now the American grower
draws heavily on Europe for his supplies. From
the present outlook, however, the day is not far dis-
tant when we shall produce all we need ourselves.
It is difficult to give trustworthy figures showing the
development of this branch, and we must depend on
comparative showings to get near the true result.
It may be safely stated that ten years ago it was
a rarity to see a group of palms in the average flor-
ist's establishment, and equally rare was the sight of
a palm in the windows of dwelling-houses. Even
five years ago, it was the exception to find them in a
commercial florist's greenhouses, yet to-day there is
not a florist doing a general plant trade, be it large
or small, who does not keep some in stock and buys
constantly. In all the large cities and towns palms
are found in the homes of people of taste and re-
finement, and even in country hamlets the catalogues
of the large seed and plant houses do their mis-
sionary work, and young palms, of which one firm
254
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
makes a specialty, are there found growing. Not
a ball, wedding, or social function of any pretension
is complete now without a decoration of palms.
Large greenhouse establishments are devoted ex-
clusively to their culture. Florida and the extreme
Southern States have their palm establishments, and
palm nurseries have been established in Trinidad
and Jamaica by American florists, in order to keep
pace with the growing demand for their product in
this country.
When an industry of any kind assumes imposing
proportions, one of the first things that occurs is
that it becomes broken up into departments, or spe-
cialized. American horticulture to-day is no ex-
ception to the general experience, for within the last
ten years, whether in practical work, in its different
associations and societies, or in its literature, the
tendency is to specialize. Not only have we ex-
clusive rose-growers, carnation-growers, and those
who devote themselves entirely to the cultivation of
the chrysanthemum or the violet, but even in the
representative national association, the Society of
American Florists, the minor divisions at their an-
nual meetings devote their time almost entirely to the
consideration of some particular plant, in whose cul-
tivation or management they have an absorbing
interest.
Up to this point I have dwelt but lightly upon
one division of American horticulture which, from
a financial point of view, far exceeds in importance
the ornamental department of the business. I refer
to market-gardening, or, as it is now known in the
Southern States, the trucking interest. For thirty
years previous to 1875, market-gardening was a
most profitable business in and around New York.
Thirty years ago the New Jersey market-gardener,
mainly located in Hudson County, grew better
vegetables than the Long Island men, but their
limited area of land becoming less and less annually,
in consequence of the inroads made for building
purposes, the Long Islanders forged ahead. The
Long Island men, however, have not had it all their
own way, for of late years a formidable competitor
has been met by them in the large truck-gardens of
the South. While this competitive factor has cer-
tainly lessened their profits, even at the lower prices
that prevail to-day there is still a fair profit in the
business for them, certainly more than in ordinary
farm crops.
It is a matter of regret that only a hurried addi-
tional reference can be made to that other great
branch of horticulture, fruit-growing. The truck-
gardener of the South has a valuable field for profit
in strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Flor-
ida owes much of her prestige to her orange groves,
and California is more indebted to her fruits than to
her gold-mines for her prosperity. All over the
length and breadth of the land are felt the beneficent
results arising from a variety of fruits. Our export
of apples is no mean item. This industry really be-
gan in 1845, when a trial shipment was made from
Boston to Glasgow. The season of 1880 and 1881
saw a total exportation to Europe of 1,328,806 bar-
rels, and in the season of 1891 and 1892, 1,450,336
barrels were exported. The history of the American
grape would of itself be sufficient for a separate arti-
cle. American horticulturists have taken our native
grapes and produced the fine named varieties now
known. The American grape has been the salva-
tion of European vineyards by providing stocks for
their vines which successfully resisted the phyllox-
era, and it has supplied us with cheap and whole-
some native wines; it has given employment to
thousands, and has taken millions of acres out
of idleness. Its usefulness is growing, and will
strengthen with the years. However brief this
sketch must be, I must refer to the debt of grati-
tude the country owes to John Adlum for his work
in connection with our native grapes. He it was
who first saw with accurate vision that it was ab-
solute folly to continue using the varieties imported
from the old country and to follow the methods of
culture practised there. To him, above all others,
is due the credit of rescuing our native grapes from
the danger of destruction by advancing civilization,
and the utilization of them to develop the fine va-
rieties of to-day after crossing with the imported
varieties. To establish his theory on a basis of fact,
he started an experimental vineyard at his own ex-
pense on Rock Creek, in the District of Columbia,
after vainly applying to the national government
for aid. He planted a complete collection of im-
ported and native sorts, and finally discarded the
imported varieties. The lessons of the past are
not fully understood, or else many who should
know are ignorant of them, and, as a consequence,
English and continental planters in the Southern
States since John Adlum's time have gone on
planting imported varieties, and in nearly every
case failure has resulted. Read what he said:
" The way is to drop most kinds of foreign vines
at once (except a few for the table), and seek for
the best kinds of our largest native grapes, and if
properly managed there can be no doubt but we
can make as much wine, if not more, than any part
of the world on the same space of ground, as far
AMERICAN HORTICULTURE
255
north as the forty-third degree, if not farther north,
and of good quaUty." In 1823 he pubHshed the
first book on indigenous-grape culture, and stated
that his only desire was to be useful to his country-
men. He has an additional claim to gratitude
from the people of to-day in the introduction of
the Catawba grape. He laid the foundations for
Rogers, Ricketts, Haskell, Rommell, Jaeger, Moore
and others, and, like Bull, who introduced the fa-
mous Concord grape, and who died very recently
a dependent on public charity, poor Major Adlum,
prodigal of his substance for the benefit of others,
passed away practically unnoticed, except for the
grateful recognition accorded to him by Rafi-
nesque, when he named our beautiful " mountain
fringe" Adiumia in his honor. The peach, also, has
found a congenial home here, and has added mill-
ions to the wealth of the nation. The blackberry,
although indigenous to this country, has been
greatly improved by American horticulture. Its
possibilities were foreseen many years ago by Down-
ing, when he wrote: "The sorts (blackberries) are
seldom cultivated in gardens, as the fruit is pro-
duced in such great abundance in the wild state ;
but there is no doubt that varieties of much larger
size, and greatly superior flavor, might be produced
by sowing the seed in rich garden soil, especially if
repeated for two or three successive generations."
As showing the wonderful diversity of our soil and
climate, the same authority remarks that many of
the so-called new varieties of fruits, especially from
the West, prove to be old and well-known kinds,
altered in appearance by new soil and different
climate.
The outgrowths from the results of successful
horticulture are many, and I am compelled, for
want of space, to pass many of them by in silence.
There is one, however, that is far too important to
be ignored, however brief the sketch may be. It is
the canning industry. What the metallic cartridge
is to the breech-loader and vice versa, canning may
fairly be considered in relation to small-fruit and
vegetable-growing; this must be obvious to the
most casual observer. This method of preserving
fruits and vegetables is credited to a Frenchman;
but it first became an assured and recognized suc-
cess in this country. To Ezra Daggett and Thomas
Kensett, in 18 19, is due the credit of having first
canned fruits and vegetables, and in 1825 Presi-
dent Monroe signed patents to them to protect them
in that industry. Its growth has been marvelous and
far-reaching in its benefits. At the present time it is
estimated that there are twenty thousand factories
in North America employing directly or indirectly
over a million hands during the canning season, a
result entirely traceable to the advance in American
horticulture. Following the process of canning came
drying fruit by fire heat ; then came the Alden drier,
about 1870; then Williams and others brought in
the " evaporated " product, now a staple article of
commerce and the salvation of the California fruit
grower.
In a brief summary of matters upon which the
exigencies of space will not permit mc to enlarge, it
may be stated that auction sales of plants and flow-
ers were started in New York about 1847.
America has led the way in improving garden and
farm-tools, and bettering the methods and systems of
horticulture, and as a result, while we pay more
wages and live better, the cost of trees and plants is
on an average less in America than in Europe, where
they still cling to slow and cumbersome methods.
This is noticeable in many important details, but
in none more than in packing plants for shipment,
the system in vogue here being of the simplest kind,
differing entirely from the European method, and
being a result of the necessities forced upon us by the
higher price of labor. In the old country the ball
of soil is generally wrapped in moss and then tied
round and round with string, the plants when so
prepared being laid in layers and each layer fastened
with a cleat — a process unnecessarily slow and ex-
pensive. With us, when the ball of soil is suffi-
ciently firm and well protected with roots, we wrap
it in paper, leaving the top uncovered. This wrap-
ping in paper not only serves to keep the ball of
soil intact, but it also, to some extent, relieves the
pressure of the plants upon each other. In packing
the plants in a box, they are placed alternately in
layers, with an inch or two of " excelsior " between.
In cold weather the boxes are lined with heavy felt
paper, with two inches of sawdust on the bottom,
sides, and top ; and rarely is there any injury from
frost even in the coldest weather. In spring and
summer light baskets and open boxes are used, and,
contrary to the European custom, no charge is made
to the customer for either boxes or packing. Mr.
Peter Henderson, in " Practical Floriculture," relates
how he sent some fifty plants to a London florist, in
a basket packed in the American style, and only two
plants failed to live. A return shipment of about
the sam.e quantity was sent by the florist referred to,
packed in hampers, each one of itself weighing forty
pounds, without the contents, and three-fourths of the
plants were dead when received, due, he states, en-
tirely to the cumbrous manner of packing. The ad-
256
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
vancement in our gentle art has been phenomenal in
America, and there is no symptom of halting. Both
national and State governments have recognized the
importance of horticulture, and special legislation has
been enacted to foster it. The scientific researches
which the business man could not undertake are ac-
compHshed at the experiment stations, founded on
the Federal law known as the Hatch Act, which went
into effect in 1887. There are now fifty-five of these
stations in the United States, constantly making tests
of new varieties and methods, as applied to agri-
culture and horticulture. They issue bulletins, which
have a free circulation, as often as necessary, and pub-
lish annual reports. In 1892 and 1893 these stations
issued 564 bulletins and reports, of which no were
devoted to horticulture. The agricultural colleges
lend valuable aid in this work, and there are a dozen
scientific bureaus and divisions connected with the
Department of Agriculture at Washington, three of
which are purely horticultural.
To attempt to record in a space as brief as this the
history of horticulture for a century must necessarily
result in an inadequate and imperfect account. At
the best I have only been able to touch upon what
seemed to me to be the most prominent features in
the history of the craft. Still, we who man the ships
composing the horticultural squadron of to-day, as
we look back over the billows of the past, have some
right to feel proud of the great development the
"most ancient of professions" has attained in the last
100 years. At the same time, we doubt not the
chronicler of our art in 1995 will have a still grander
record of progress to relate, for, paradoxical as it
may seem, the dawn of American horticulture is
only fairly above the horizon as the sunset of the
nineteenth century fades away.
CHAPTER XXXVII
AMERICAN SUGAR
THE history of the sugar industry in this
country forms one of the most interesting
chapters in the development of its resources
and growth. Sugar, which was known to the
ancients as a product of the far East, reached
Europe as an article of commerce in the fifteenth
century. Spain, in its colonies, was the first to
engage in its cultivation ; but for centuries it was
regarded as a luxury, and so slowly did it find its
way into general use that in England the consump-
tion for the year 1800 was but a little more than
100,000 tons, and in 1837 but 216,000 tons, or six-
teen pounds per capita, whereas the consumption in
England to-day is over seventy pounds per capita.
The first cultivation of the sugar-cane in the West
Indies was in St. Domingo, where it was found at
the close of the fifteenth centiu-y, and for a long
time the Europeans derived their principal supplies
from that island. By the beginning of the eighteenth
century the culture had been largely estabhshed in
the West Indies, as also in Central America, Mex-
ico, and the northern countries of South America.
In the earlier history of the United States the very
small amount of sugar consumed was imported chiefly
from the Spanish colonies and the West Indies.
Sugar-cane was first introduced into Louisiana by
the Jesuits in 1751, but they failed to produce a
merchantable article of sugar. In 1779 better
results were obtained, but it was not until 1795 that
sugar was successfully made in any considerable
quantity, fitienne Bore, of that State, having suc-
ceeded, meanwhile, in developing an improved
method of extraction. At the end of seven years
more, in 1802, the entire crop of the State of
Louisiana amounted to about 2500 tons. The
mills which produced the cane were driven by
horse or cattle power, and even at so late a date
as 1882 there were over 150 of such mills in oper-
ation in the State.
The success of Bore attracted general attention,
17 257
and additional capital was soon invested in the new
industry. Steam-mills were introduced, and thence-
forward the progress of the industry was rapid.
Planters from other States migrated to Louisiana
and engaged in the sugar culture, and the business
steadily increased. In the year 1816 a duty was
imposed upon imported sugars of three cents per
pound, which still further stimulated the production,
the crop of 1832 reaching 40,000 tons. In that
year the duty was reduced to two and one half cents
per pound, which apparently checked the sugar
production ; but after the panic of 1837 it revived
again, and in 1840 the number of sugar plantations
was estimated at 525, the production of that year
being 50,000 tons. In 1850 it reached 104,000
tons. From this time on, with a growing demand,
the yield steadily increased, notwithstanding a re-
duced protection against imported sugar, until, in
1 86 1, with a tariff of only one-half cent per pound,
the crop reached 240,000 tons. The outbreak of
the Civil War nearly obliterated the sugar produc-
tion of Louisiana, which in three years fell to less
than 6000 tons.
A generous protection from 1861 to 1870, in the
form of import duties equivalent to more than three
cents per pound, furnished an opportunity for the
rebuilding of the sugar industry in the South. The
increase of the crop, however, in view of these fa-
vorable conditions, was very slow, the entire amount
of cane-sugar raised in the United States in 1875
being only 75,000 tons ; and in 1 880, with an average
protective duty of two and one half cents per pound,
was less than 1 25,000 tons. In 1890 the import tax on
raw sugars was abolished, and a law passed giving
the planters a direct bounty equivalent to something
more than two cents per pound for fifteen years.
Under this stimulus large amounts of capital were
immediately invested in sugar culture, and the crop
of cane-sugar in the year 1894-95 is stated as being
more than 315,000 tons.
268
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
It remains to be seen what the effect will be of
the repeal of this bounty law in 1895, and the sub-
stitution of an import tax affording a protection to
the planter of about one half the amount. The
representatives in Congress of the Louisiana planters
insist that this industry cannot survive without a
larger protection in the form of import duties or
direct bounties, inasmuch as, in addition to the
danger from drought or floods, they are also con-
stantly in peril from early frost. Even in the most
favorable seasons it is necessary to cut and windrow
the cane before it matures, to save it from freezing,
thus reducing by a considerable amount what would
be its normal yield if the climate would admit of its
maturing in the field. The culture of sugar-cane
has been practised to some extent in Texas, and,
under the recent bounty law, gave promise of a
considerable development. The only other of the
Southern States in which any attempt has been made
to raise the sugar-cane is in Florida, where thus far,
however, it has not been commercially successful.
During the war repeated experiments were made
in different sections of the country — principally in
the West — with the hope of producing sugar from a
species of cane called sorghum. These experiments
were fostered by the government, and the reports
of the Agricultural Department from 1875 to 1877
promised practical results on a large scale. Facto-
ries were established in Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas,
and, on a smaller scale, in New Jersey and several
other States ; but after several years of experiment
the attempt was practically abandoned, the sugar
made being of inferior quality, and the cultivation
carried on at too great cost to make it commercially
profitable. Small amounts of sorghum-cane are still
raised in some districts, but the product is generally
used by the local community in the form of syrup.
There are but few facts to be obtained concerning
the production of maple-sugar in the United States.
In 1 860, as nearly as can be ascertained, this pro-
duct amounted to over 50,000,000 pounds, supplied
by the New England States, New York, Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, and Michigan. In 1870 it was less
than 30,000,000 pounds. The production has been
steadily diminishing, and it has ceased to be an
important factor in the sugar-supply of the country.
The extraction of sugar from the beet-root was
begun in France in the time of Napoleon I. The
production, fostered by the imposition of high duties
on foreign sugars, rapidly increased, until in 1838 it
reached about 40,000 tons. The cultivation of
sugar-beets extended to Germany, Austria, Belgium,
and Russia; but so recently as 1858 this industry
amounted to only 400,000 tons. Under the patron-
age of those governments, in the shape of bounties,
enormous strides have been made in beet-sugar cul-
tivation in Europe, until in the year 1894 the crop
amounted to 4,842,000 tons, or fifty-eight per cent,
of the entire sugar production of the world.
Fifty years ago attempts were made to introduce
the sugar-beet in this country, and during succeed-
ing years these efforts embraced several Eastern
States, Illinois, and Wisconsin ; but, owing to unfa-
vorable soil or climate, the results were unsatisfac-
tory, until the tide of experiment reached the Pacific
slope, where, at Alvarado, Cal., after repeated fail-
ures, the first approximation to success was reached
in 1887. This was followed by the erection, by
Claus Spreckels, of a large factory at Watsonville,
Cal., in 1888. The Oxnard Beet-Sugar Company,
in 1890, after a careful analysis of soil and climate,
established a large and well-equipped factory at
Grand Island, Neb., and, later, one at Norfolk, in
the same State. These factories have been yearly
in operation since that time, as has been for the last
three years, also, a factory located at Lehi, Utah.
The only place, however, where beet-sugar cultiva-
tion has been commercially successful on any con-
siderable scale up to this date is in California, a third
factory having been erected in that State in 1891
by the Oxnard Company, at Chino, which, in addi-
tion to those above named, is now in successful
operation. The entire output of the beet factories
in the United States during the year 1893 was about
20,000 tons.
In the earlier history of the country the sugar
consumed was almost entirely what is known as raw
sugar; that is, sugar as made from the cane-juice
on the plantation. This varied in color from a
dark brown to a light straw-color, but, owing to the
imperfect processes of manufacture then known, con-
tained more or less of syrup and a large amount of
impurity. Such refined sugar as entered into con-
sumption was imported in the shape of loaves,
which were counted a great luxury and were corre-
spondingly expensive.
The raw sugar came principally from the West
Indies and South and Central America, and was
imported in great tierces and hogsheads, weighing
from 1200 to 2000 pounds, in which form it was
delivered to the grocers. Before it could be weighed
out to the customer it was necessary to run it through
the grocer's hand-mill to break the coarse lumps,
and as the bottom of the hogshead was reached the
proportion of " foots " or syrup settlings increased.
This sugar was sticky and dirty, but sweet, and, in
AMERICAN SUGAR
2S9
ignorance of the insectivora and impurities it con-
tained, our forefathers consumed it with avidity.
Molasses, the drainings of the sugar in the plantation
sugar-house, being somewhat cheaper than sugar,
entered also largely into consumption, and was used
to sweeten tea and coffee, as well as to serve many
culinary purposes for which only sugar is now used.
Early attempts at sugar refining were crude in the
extreme. The first was made in England in the
sixteenth century. Melting in solution, removal of
some of the foreign matter by the laws of gravitation
assisted by the coagulation of bullocks' blood, filtra-
tion through linen bags for the purpose of separating
the floating particles, and boiling to the point of
recrystallization, constituted generally the tedious
and, compared with present methods, far from
effective process. For, while it is true that melting,
filtration, and recrystallization remain to-day the
fundamentals in the art of sugar refining, the means
of accomplishing them have greatly changed. Dis-
coveries from time to time improved the product of
the refinery in one respect or another. Seventy
years ago the claying process, which consisted in
washing the refined crystals in molds, produced a
very good quality of white sugar. Up to fifty years
ago the difference between the cost of the raw and
the refined sugar was ten cents per pound.
The first refinery in this country was probably
Rhinelander's, which stood on the present site of the
Rhinelander Building, at the head of William Street,
in New York City. The growth of population and
the increase of the per capita consumption were much
more rapid than the increase in the refined product,
and profits were large ; the result being competing
refineries, which, with new machinery, greatly re-
duced the time of refining, improved the quality of
the product, and augmented the capacity of the
plants, thereby reducing the cost of operating. In
1838 steam for heating purposes established itself
as a factor. The vacuum pan, for crystallizing the
sugar at a low temperature, — a most important in-
vention,— was adopted about 185 5, the charcoal filter
at a somewhat later date, and the granulating-
machine, for drying the damp white sugar and re-
ducing the grain, in 1848. In i860 the centrifugal
machine, for separating the syrup from the crystal-
hzed sugar, introduced a new era in sugar refining,
and the really active competition in the business
began.
But more radically important even than improve-
ments in machinery were the improvements in
methods which began to show themselves shortly
after the war. Soleil's polariscope, a French inven-
tion, made its appearance in this country about
1870, and exerted the most marked influence upon
the art and business of sugar refining. With a
single flash of light this wonderful little instrument
designated in accurate figures the commercial value
of any grade of sugar to a fraction of a degree.
The result was that the attention of the more pro-
gressive refiners was at once turned to the chemical
possibiUties involved in the industry. The exact
proportion of crystaUizable sugar, scientifically des-
ignated sucrose, and uncrystallizable, or glucose,
being determined by the polariscope, attention was
directed to methods of treatment which would
accomplish at once the preservation of the former
and the utilization of the latter. Improvements in
machinery had reduced the cost of operating,
enhanced the grade of the product, and greatly
increased the capacity of the refinery ; but the pos-
sibility of wresting from chemistry her long-kept
secrets brought new methods into prominence as a
factor in the art of sugar refining.
It soon transpired that, with equal advantages in
the matter of machinery, one refiner, by the discov-
ery of some simple fact and its application in the
matter of method, obtained a decided advantage
over another. Instead of two weeks, the usual time
for the refining process, the time was reduced for
" soft " refined sugars to sixteen hours, and for gran-
ulated sugar, of which by far the greatest quantity
is sold, to but a few hours longer. Sugar refining
became a thing of mysteries, each refiner seeking to
discover for himself the method of treatment which
would enable him to improve upon that of his com-
petitor. These changes of methods involved the
practical remodeling of the older refineries, and so
great was the advantage of the more modem houses
that the older and weaker ones were driven to the
wall.
Among the earlier firms engaged in the sugar-
refining industry the more prominent were those of
R. L. & A. Stuart and the Havemeyers. The
Stuarts, who had flourished and acquired great for-
tunes under the old conditions, when the margins in
the business were large, found themselves, through
the advent of new methods and the fierceness of
competition, unable to contend with their younger
rivals ; and, rather than attempt the remodeling or
rebuilding of their refineries, they went out of the
business.
The house of Havemeyer was founded in New
York in 1805 by A. & D. Havemeyer, in a little
building on Vandam Street, twenty-five by forty
feet; four or five employees, with the proprietors,
260
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
being sufficient to manufacture and deliver their
product. In 1828, William F. Havemeyer, after-
ward mayor of the city, and his cousin, Frederick
C. Havemeyer, who were sons of the original
Havemeyers, entered into a partnership in the same
business, and continued until 1842. F. C. Have-
meyer resumed business in 1851, and in 1861 the
firm of Havemeyers & Elder was formed. This firm
up to 1887 were the largest refiners in this country.
In 1875 there were forty-two refineries in the
United States, with an estimated aggregate output
of about 25,000 barrels per day. The margin be-
tween raw and refined sugar was reduced from ten
cents per pound in 1838 to three cents per pound
in 1876, at which time raw sugar costing eight cents
per pound was sold for eleven cents refined. The
forty-two refineries in existence in 1875 dwindled
to twenty-seven in 1880. Of these, twelve were
located in New York and vicinity, five in Boston,
four in Philadelphia, two in New Orleans, two in
San Francisco, and one each in Portland, Me., and
St. Louis, Mo.
It now became a question of the survival of the
fittest. The first movement in the direction of self-
preservation was made in the winter of 1882, when,
by mutual agreement, the refiners in New York and
Boston adjusted their meltings from week to week
to the demand of the market. This agreement was
in the nature of an experiment only, and necessarily
but temporary. It was repeated from time to time,
but at last found to be utterly futile. The move-
ment toward community of interest, in which direc-
tion only lay the possibility of permanence of coop-
eration, did not crystallize until the summer of 1887.
The number of refineries had been further reduced,
and the unequal war of methods and means had still
further reduced the margin between raw and refined
sugar, until the losses of the refiners brought rumors
of impending disaster to hitherto prosperous con-
cerns. Finally nineteen of the refineries, after
months of kborious negotiation, were brought into
an agreement by which they were capitalized on the
basis of $50,000,000, under the designation of the
Sugar Refineries Company.
Under this organization the autonomy of each of
the refineries was preserved, but all the capital stock
of the several companies was held by a board of
trustees, who issued against it certificates of com-
mon interest. These trustees, as the stockholders,
elected the directors and managers of the several
properties, thus insuring unity of action ; and, through
economy of management and prevention of over-
production, the financial results were eminently
satisfactory. The success of the company, and the
then popular notion that all combinations were of
necessity inimical to the pubhc interest, led to
attacks upon it, the result being that the form of
organization was adjudged illegal by the courts in
the State of New York, on the ground that it was
a combination of corporations; whereupon a new
company was incorporated under the laws of the
State of New Jersey, and in January, 1891, the
entire business of the Sugar Refineries Company
was transferred to The American Sugar-Refining
Company, with the same amount of capital. Under
this new organization the business was still further
unified, there being but one board of directors and
one set of officers, the result being still greater
simpHfication and economy in management.
At this time there were four independent refineries
in Philadelphia, two of them being of large propor-
tions. In 1892 all these refineries were acquired by
The American Sugar-Refining Company, its capital
stock being increased to $75,000,000, Under this
great corporation the American consumer is supplied
with the purest and best refined sugar made in the
world. At the same time, by new and improved
processes, the cost has been lessened, until the aver-
age margin at the present time between raw and
refined sugar is less than one cent per pound, as
against three cents per pound in 1876 — a net gain
to the consumer of two cents per pound.
The supplies of the refineries are drawn from all
parts of the world, wherever they can be purchased
to the best advantage. The lowest forms of crude
sugar from Jaggery and the Philippine Islands, as
well as the higher grades of the Dutch East Indies,
Hawaii, the West India Islands, South America, and,
in addition, a portion of the beet crop of Europe, are
put under contribution to supply the 1,500,000 tons
annually required for the consumption of this country,
in addition to the domestic crops of cane and beet
sugars, of which, also, about one half pass through
the refineries before going to the consumer.
The refineries of The American Sugar-Refining
Company are the largest and most complete in the
world. The collateral industries dependent upon
the business are themselves of great magnitude. In
the item of cooperage alone there are consumed
annually for barrels 200,000,000 staves, with corre-
sponding hoops and heading. This material fur-
nishes over 5000 car-loads of freight to be transported
by the railways from the Western States to the
refineries. Not less than 800,000 tons of coal are
annually consumed in the manufacture of refined
sugar. Fully one mile of the water-front in Brook-
fl<.^
John E. Searles.
1
AMERICAN SUGAR
261
lyn, N. Y., is occupied by these mammoth refineries,
their cooperage establishments, and the railway
terminals which have been constructed solely with
a view to handling their product. Other vast estab-
lishments are located in Jersey City, Philadelphia,
Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans, and San Francisco.
Each succeeding revision of the tariff laws has
witnessed a reduction of the protection to American
refiners against foreign refined sugars, until at the
present writing, with a forty per cent, ad valorem
duty on all grades of sugar, the discrimination in
favor of refined is but one eighth of a cent per
pound, as compared with one half to six tenths of
a cent under the McKinley law of 1890, and three
quarters to one and one half cents per pound under
the previous law. This has largely stimulated the
production of foreign refined sugar for the American
market. Under conditions existing prior to 1887
the American refining industry would be obliterated
by this law. It remains to be seen whether, with
the advantages growing out of large facilities in the
purchase of raw sugars, and the economies possible
only to so great a corporation, The American Sugar-
Refining Company, and the independent companies
which live under its lee, will be able successfully
to compete with the refined product of Germany,
where a direct bounty is paid on the exportation of
unrefined sugars to this country.
€
mm
ir
CHAPTER XXXVIII
AMERICAN RICE
RICE is the greatest of grains and the prin-
cipal diet of one half of the human kind, a
_ statement which cannot be made of any other
edible. It stands preeminent as regards the number
of persons who consume it, the area devoted to its
culture, and the amount annually produced. This
holds especially true in the far East, where its merits
are more thoroughly appreciated. In China and
its dependencies, with a population of 400,000,000,
or twenty-five per cent, of the total population of the
world, rice is the principal food-supply. The same
may also be said of India with its population of
275,000,000, and Japan with its 40,000,000. In ad-
dition to these, it is a chief article of diet with
other peoples of Asia and Africa, whose population
is estimated to amount to 100,000,000. The total
reaches 815,000,000, or, as above stated, over fifty
per cent, of the total population of the earth, which
is estimated (1890) at 1,500,000,000.
The foregoing enumeration does not include the
Americas, Europe, or Australia, for while the cul-
ture of this grain receives considerable attention in
these sections of the globe, and rice is there largely
consumed, it cannot be said to be the most promi-
nent of their food supplies in comparison with wheat,
rye, maize, and other grains. In the United States
there is a growing appreciation of its value, yet the
amount at present consumed seems insignificant in
contrast with the older countries of production. Our
annual consumption, measured by the receipts of
milling centers and trade for the past five years, was
4.7 pounds per capita. There is good reason to be-
lieve, however, that the amount is considerably
larger than the figure indicated, as that which is
grown throughout all parts of the South for local
use fails to appear in the commercial movement, and
is consequently not included in the commercial esti-
mates. The consumption per capita in Bengal and
the central provinces of India is placed at about
one pound a day, and in the presidency of Bombay
and Sind at half a pound. Higher figures are given
for Burmah, with an intimation that their trustwor-
thiness is impaired by several sources of possible
error. Official figures, however, for Japan, for the
five years 1887 to 1891, indicate an annual average
of 308.75 pounds per capita. The consumption per
capita in European nations is as follows: France,
3.8 pounds; Germany, 5.9; Great Britain and Ire-
land, 9.6 ; Italy, 13.7.
The value of rice as a food has for many years
been a subject of lively discussion, some scientists
and economists claiming that it is lacking in poten-
tial energy or fuel value. Investigation and experi-
ments disclose that one pound of rice contains 3.12
per cent, more nutriment than corn or rye, 3.45
more than wheat, and 11.97 more than oats. When
compared with potatoes or meats, the difference is
still greater in favor of rice as an article of food ; a
pound of rice yielding more than four times as much
nutriment as a pound of potatoes, three times as
much as lean, and almost twice as much as fat beef.
Dr. Frankland,in his " Comparative Value of Foods,"
places them in the following order of excellence,
both as to economy and effect : Rice, oatmeal, flour,
bread, potatoes, and lean beef. In corroboration of
this scientist's conclusions are noted the famous
porters of Constantinople, who are veritable Titans
in burden-bearing, and live almost exclusively on
rice; also a recent report (1895) received from Dr. J.
Talmage Wyckoff", stationed at Basrah, at the head
of the Persian Gulf, who states that there are no finer
specimens of human physique to be found in the
world than are characteristic of a tribe (the Tele-
kafe) living in the vicinity of ancient Nineveh. Many
of them earn a livelihood as laborers on the light-
draft steamers plying on the river Tigris from Bag-
dad to Basrah. They carry the heaviest burdens
from boat to shore, bales of Manchester cottons
262
AMERICAN RICE
weighing from 500 to looo pounds being an ordi-
nary load. Their food is entirely rice, and practically
attests that it is indeed " strong meat " for the work-
ing man ; possessing not only every requisite essen-
tial to general health and well-being, but in an
unusual degree those elements which create and
conserve physical strength.
In the South, rice is upon the table every day, it
taking the place of potatoes and bread. It can be
served in a variety of ways; as the Frenchman re-
marked in commendation of the egg, "there are
250 culinary combinations in which it may play a
prominent and advantageous part," but it is espe-
cially adapted for use at the breakfast hour as a
cereal or at dinner as a vegetable in lieu of potatoes.
Good digestion will wait on both, thus contributing
health and comfort to the "inner man." One reason
perhaps for its limited use in the country at large is
because of ignorance in the matter of cooking. How
often rice appears, a repulsive, sodden mass, whereas
it should be a dish tempting to the eye and inviting
as food, each snow-white grain being separate and
distinct. To sum up the merits of rice, its digesti-
bility is unchallenged, its assimilative qualities un-
equaled, and the waste, as a consequence, is less than
with any other food consumed by human kind.
Whether in retrospect or prospect, the rice indus-
try within our own borders may be regarded with
satisfaction. The beginnings were indeed small, but
the results have been great, and there is fair reason
to expect that the production of this cereal in the
United States will ultimately surpass that of wheat,
and a fair possibility of its outcome equaling that
of all other grains combined. While not indigenous
to the Western Hemisphere, it took promptly to our
congenial soil and climate. Possibly due to the
high latitude, the initial attempt at rice culture by
Sir William Berkley in Virginia in 1647 failed to
have satisfactory results, its practical introduction
not taking place until 1694 in lower Carolina. Its
incoming was due to an accident. A vessel bound
for Liverpool from Madagascar, blown out of her
course and in need of repairs, put into Charleston.
Before starting on the homeward voyage the cap-
tain, in exchange for courtesies received, gave Land-
grave Thomas Smith a small parcel of rough rice,
suggesting that it might possibly grow and afford an
additional article of food. Being of good seed, cast
on good ground, the gift proved valuable, for it in-
creased at biblical ratio, soon becoming adequate
for the immediate territory, and early in the follow-
ing century it began to furnish a considerable amount
for export. In 1707 seventeen ships left Carolina
with cargoes of rice. During the years 1730 to
1739 the shipments to Great Britain and other ports
were 223,787,200 pounds. In 1754 the exports to
England were over 100,000 barrels of unhusked
rice (30,000,000 pounds cleaned), still leaving an
ample supply for home consumption. The yield
might have been much greater had the system
of water culture now in use been practised at that
time, but this was not introduced until 1784. With
sparse population during the colonial period, and be-
cause of the natural trend of commerce toward the
Old World and the West Indies, most of the rice
went thither until the present century. The follow-
ing table will give an idea of the culture at the open-
ing of the century covered by this article, its progress
and present condition, together with prevailing tar-
iffs. For the purpose of brevity statistics are grouped
in periods of five years, with annual average :
PRODUCTION OF RICE IN THE UNITED STATES
FOR 100 YEARS, 1795 TO 1895, WITH TARIFF
RATES PREVAILING FROM 1789 TO 1857.
Five Years
Production
FOR
Average per
Tariff on Rice.
June 30.
Five Years.
(Pounds.)
Year.
Year
Rate
Enacted.
Ad Valorem.
1800. . .
320,631,803
64,124,361
1789
5 per cent.
1805
240,044,600
48,008,920
1/92
V/z "
1810
274,477,000
54,895,400
1794
10 "
1815. ..
274,867,800
54.973.560
1800
12K "
1820
282,397.800
56,479,560
1804
15 «
1825
333.447.000
66,689,400
I8I2
30
1830
417.333.600
83,466,720
I8I8
15 "
1835
457,282,200
91,456,440
1832
Free.
1840
429,585,600
85,917,120
1836
15 per cent.
1845
481,669,200
96,333,840
I84I
20 «
1850.. .
543,494,400
108,698,880
1857
15 "
185s
483,279,600
96,655,920
i860
545,592,600
109,118,520
1865. ...
115,738,680
23.147.736
1870
160,837,790
32,167,558
1875
276,704,430
55,340,886
1880
415,332,000
83,066,400
1885
534,720,400
106,944,080
1890
675,950,400
135,190,080
1895
762,698,460
152,539.692
DUTY FROM 1861 TO 1894
Specific
Duty.
Cleaned
per
Pound.
Un-
CLEANED
PER
Pound.
Paddy
PER
Pound.
Flour
Granu-
lated.
Ad Valorem
Equivalent.*
1861
1862. ...
1864....
1876....
1883
1890
1894
Cts.
I
2>^
Hawaiia
2^
2
Cts.
I
2
n Rice
Cts.
"%
Cts.
ad val.
20^
specific
Cleaned Rice.
41 per cent.
48 «
94
Free
no per cent.
99
88
* Ad valorem equivalent of specific duties imposed is given for purposes
of comparison. In explanation of the apparent disparity under similar
tariff rates, the prime cost diminished and thus the ad valorem equivalent
increased. The per cents given cover the period during which the different
rates were in force.
264
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Even at the risk of being charged with national
predilections, it is due to this country to state that
it produces " the best rice in the worid," for it has
here shown its finest development. This was true
of its main crop before the war, and the magnificent
quality grown by many planters to-day shows that
its culture is not a lost art. The high standard pre-
viously established was owing to a generous rivalry
among Carolina planters, who sought the best seed
and methods of cultivation. At the front in its day,
and of historic fame, was Ward's " long grain Caro-
lina " rice. Equal in grain to the largest Honduras
head, but of more crystaUine character, it was
properly described as " an elongated pearl." Mr.
Ward made it a practice to gather the heaviest and
best-filled heads, and in the course of a few years he
possessed seed unequaled in the world. It paid
doubly, making him a prince among planters, as
well as yielding rich returns for his purse.
While the cultivation for local consumption was
carried on to a considerable extent in almost every
Southern State prior to the late war, only that of the
Carolinas and Georgia was of national importance.
The rice fields where the commercial crop is mainly
grown are reclaimed cypress swamps and tide-
water lands along the coast. Many of the best
plantations, however, are among the marshes higher
up the rivers and upon level tracts in the interior,
so situated as to be easily irrigated. Upon all of
these the system of water cultivation is generally
followed. The tide-water lands lie along the rivers
in such a position, above the meeting of fresh and
salt water, that they may be flooded by fresh water
at high tide, and drained when the tide is low.
They are protected by means of dikes from salt
water (always fatal to rice), coming from below, or
from freshets from above. These lands were for-
merly valued from $200 to $300 per acre, but ow-
ing to a cessation of culture during the war, the
difficulty of obtaining labor, and other adverse con-
ditions, are now obtainable at $20 to $30 per acre.
As incidental protection was derived from the tariff,
the rehabilitation of plantations at the close of the
war was undertaken with considerable vigor, but of
late years production has somewhat declined, owing
to a want of energy and economy on the part of
the planters.
The falling away in the culture along the Atlantic
Coast, however, has been more than made up by the
wonderful enlargement in the Southwest. That the
retention of the tariff" and incidental protection were
beneficial and stimulating is demonstrated by the fact
that the total culture (including that of Louisiana),
which was fairly under way by 1870, was, in the de-
cade following, more than doubled, and at the end of
the second had quadrupled, as will appear by refer-
ence to the foregoing table. Since the war other
Southern States have exhibited an increased interest
in the cultivation of this product, but the growth out-
side of the old rice-growing States above mentioned,
excepting Louisiana, is still principally for local use.
The culture in Louisiana dates back to 17 18, and it
continued of minor importance, principally confined
to the parish of Plaquemine, until after the close of
the Civil War. At this time planters were rich in
lands, but poor in purse, and the necessity of the
hour was for a crop requiring the least possible out-
lay, yet offering an assured and prompt return.
Sugar was out of the question, as the investment
required was large, and the outcome questionable
and delayed. As a result there was a general turn-
ing to rice, and this crop almost immediately sprang
from local to national importance. By 1875 Louisi-
ana furnished thirty per cent, of the total yield of the
United States, and in each of the five years follow-
ing, 1880, averaged forty per cent; 1885, sixty per
cent.; and 1890, sixty-five per cent. In 1895 it is
seventy-five per cent, of the aggregate production.
The development during the past thirty years has
been so marvelous that it is worthy of statistical
illustration.
PRODUCTION OF RICE IN LOUISIANA.
Five Years
ENDING June 30.
Pounds.
Average per Year.
1865
1870
9,667,080
35,268,590
81,756,030
1 76,694,000
255,516,200
422,775,000
555.595.400
I.933.416
7.053.718
16,351,206
35,338,800
51,103,240
84,555,000
111,119,080
1875
1880
1885
l8qo
iSgi;
Prior to the War, the annual product was about 1,000,000 pounds.
More recently the culture of the older localities
along the Mississippi River has been somewhat re-
duced because of the delusive sugar bounty, which
tempted planters from a good and profitable crop
into the growth of the saccharine exotic. In 1885
a new era was entered upon by the opening up of
the southwestern part of the State, and it now con-
tributes the largest portion of the entire product
of the United States. This section, known as the
" Calcasieu Country," extending from the Atcha-
falaya River on the east to the Sabine River on the
west, embraces several parishes containing thou-
sands of acres of land, in a virgin state, and most
John F, Talmage.
AMERICAN RICE
266
admirably adapted to the culture. Like the coun-
try chosen by Lot of old, the section is level, yet
well watered, rivers and bayous extending in every
direction, making irrigation an easy matter. In this
lies the secret of the gigantic strides made by the
culture in that part of the State. When once the
planter has his levees made, which can be done at a
small cost with the improved machines in vogue, they
can be kept up with slight expenditure, and good crops
raised almost every year beyond any contingency.
The streams also afford cheap transportation by
barges. Another reason for the great enlargement
of the culture in that locality is the fact that ma-
chinery can be employed from start to finish, the
cost of production being nominally the same as
wheat, while the yield per acre is manifold greater.
Up to 1820, as already suggested, the crop was
largely marketed abroad, but with an enlarging
population, home consumption became of prime
interest. New York was the main point for distri-
bution, and rice was largely used as a medium of
exchange between the North and South, finding its
way into the hands of dealers in dry-goods, boots,
shoes, machinery, etc., and these in turn jobbed the
product in a small way to the grocery fraternity.
Results were unsatisfactory to the producer, as they
bought suppHes on long time, paying a long margin,
while in selling their product realized short prices.
This cutting on both sides of planters' interests
lasted until 1841, when the founder of one of the
oldest firms in the line took up rice as a specialty,
concentrated the receipts, and from a business of
barter made it one of cash, thereby enhancing its
value as a staple product. Even up to the time of
the War exports to foreign markets were large, but
since then the whole product has found a market
at home, and is inadequate to the demand. The
annual import of this grain is from 200,000 to 300,-
000 bags, of two hundredweight each, as will more
exactly appear by the following statistics:
IMPORTS OF EDIBLE RICE.
Five Years
ENDING June 30.
Pounds.
Average per Year.
1865
248,657,641
228,772,804
268,234,740
254>373,855
361,053,545
362,810,988
415,421,957
49,731.538
45.554,561
53,646,948
50,874,771
72,210,709
72,562,198
83.084,391
1870
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
In addition to the rice required for eating pur-
poses, there is a large amount which enters into man-
ufacturing channels, to which that grown in the
United States contributes but an insignificant per
cent. The following table gives an exhibit of im-
ports for such special uses :
IMPORTS OF RICE FOR MANUFACTURING.
Five Years
ENDING June 30.
Pounds.
Average per Year.
1865
1870
r ^55'3So
6,833,458
111,510,875
258,089,459
352,214,257
1875 •
171,070
1,366,692
22,302,175
51,617,892
70442,851
1880
1885
1890
1895
Rice is a good crop, as the yield is more than
that of any other grain; the outcome under equal
conditions is quite double, and not infrequently is
three or four times greater than wheat. Good lands
yield from forty to fifty bushels per acre, and at a
low average price, say fifty cents per bushel, the
outcome in comparison with wheat will be quickly
appreciated. It is easily cultivated, any one ac-
quainted with other grains having the assurance of
success from the start. Occasions are not exceptional
when the outcome of a single crop has paid for the
farm, as well as given support to the farmer and his
household. In the immediate future southwestern
Louisiana is the most promising field. Here are
tracts of land nearly level, almost surrounded by a
natural levee, with an abundance of water for irriga-
tion, and sufficient elevation for ample drainage.
In the four initial items of rice farming, leveeing,
plowing, pulverizing the soil, and sowing, the aver-
age increase in the capacity of a man to do work
has been 500 per cent in the past five years. Ev-
ery process of rice cultivation has been changed
by the introduction of machinery. A decade ago
twenty acres of rice required as great an individual
expenditure of force, time, and money as 100 acres
to-day. There is no reason why the United States
should not produce the largest rice crop in the
world. There are millions of acres lying along the
Atlantic and Gulf coasts suitable for rice culture,
otherwise being of little value. When these waste
lands are brought under tillage the United States
will have an abundance for its own requirements
and will be a serious rival of the East in the markets
of the world.
CHAPTER XXXIX
AMERICAN FLOUR
IT takes about 2,500,000,000 bushels of wheat a
year to feed the race, most of this being ground
into flour. The floiuing industry is older than
history. It is the first manufacture recorded in
American annals. Its annual product exceeds in
value that of any other manufacturing industry car-
ried on in this country. It employs more power,
with the exception of one, and supplies more home
demands and foreign markets, than any other indus-
try. During the past one hundred years our output
of flour has brought to our shores more European
gold, and redeemed from foreign hands more Ameri-
can indebtedness, than all other American manufac-
turing industries. The American miller has never
asked for government protection and support.
The first wheat was brought to this country by
Bartholomew Gosnold, and landed at an island in
Buzzard's Bay in 1602. Thence it came to Virginia
in 161 1. In 1648 Virginia had planted several hun-
dreds of acres of wheat, and was sending it to the
New England colonies. During the ten years just
preceding the Revolution, Virginia exported 800,000
bushels of wheat per annum. But in the memorable
year of 1776 the Hessian fly alighted upon our
coast, and made a more successful raid upon the
American wheat-fields than the Hessian soldiers
were able to make upon the American patriots, and
as a result practically drove the wheat industry
across the Alleghanies. As early as 17 18 the first
wheat went into the Mississippi Valley. In 1746
the port of New Orleans received 600 barrels of
flour from the Wabash. In 1 833 one Illinois county
raised 900,000 bushels of wheat. In 1836 the first
cargo of 3000 bushels went from Lake Michigan to
Buffalo, and two years later the first shipment of
thirty-nine bags went out from Chicago. For sev-
enty-five years the growing of wheat and the flouring
industry have been following lake navigation into
the Northwest, which is now the chief locus of the
world's bread-basket.
The first flour-mill mentioned in American history
was the hand-mill, which consisted of two small mill-
stones, one having a handle, rubbed upon the other.
In the year that Peter Minuit bought Manhattan.
Island for $24, namely, in 1626, it is recorded that
Frangois Molemacker built upon it a horse-mill.
Two years later Minuit erected two or three wind-
power grist-mills. About the same time the first
windmill in New England was erected near Water-
town. A " Dorchester mill " is mentioned in the
records of 1628. The first Van Rensselaer who
went up the Hudson took with him a millwright and
a pair of millstones. In a few years nearly every hill
on the Atlantic coast had its windmill, superseding
the hand-mill, ox-mill, and horse-mill, and the stone
and pestle of the Indians. The first water-mill in
New England is credited by history to Israel Stough-
ton, and was built on the Dorchester side of the
Neponset in 1634, thus being the prototype of the
water-wheels of New England industry. About the
same time John Jenney was granted leave to erect
"a mill for grinding and beating com upon the
brook of Plymouth." In ten years Massachusetts
was sending wheat and mill-stuff to Portugal. In
1649 Virginia had four windmills, five water-mills,
and numerous horse-mills, and was exporting bread-
stuffs. In 1678 New York was doing a considera-
ble business both in the manufacture and export of
flour. At that time bolting was a separate industry,
in which New York enjoyed a charter monopoly.
When the charter was repealed in 1694, the cry was
raised that the withdrawal of the monopoly "hath
produced anarchy in the province, and destroyed
the reputation of New York flour."
Perhaps the most celebrated flouring-mills in the
period immediately after the Revolution were those
of Delaware, on the Brandywine. Twelve merchant
flouring-mills, with twenty-five pairs of stones, ground
400,000 bushels of wheat per annum. Wilmington
exported 20,000 barrels of superfine flour a year,
266
AMERICAN FLOUR
267
in addition to the ship-stuff. There were 130 mills
within a radius of forty miles. It was then claimed
that " the manufacture of flour was carried to a
higher degree of perfection on the Brandywine than
in any State in the Union."
Baltimore, on the Patapsco, also came into early
prominence as a milling center. As early as 1769
Baltimore exported 40,000 tons of flour and bread,
made in the Baltimore district. Its flour ranked
high before the Revolution, and it was the first mill-
ing point to take up with the new improvements in-
vented by OHver Evans. Up to 1785 the different
milling processes were separate and largely done by
hand ; but Evans, by the introduction of the eleva-
tor, conveyer, and other mechanisms, combined the
different steps into a continuous system, dispensing
with one half of the labor formerly required, and
enabling the miller by machinery alone to take the
grain through " from wagon to wagon again." The
Brandywine millers, conscious of their superiority,
were slow to take up with the revolutionary im-
provements of Evans; and thus the invention and
the milling development passed from the Brandy-
wine to the Patapsco. In 1787 there were 325
barrels daily made in Baltimore, the labor saving as
a result of Evans's improvements being estimated at
$4875 per annum, and the increase in value of pro-
duct being placed at $32,500. In 1840, within the
thirty miles in which the Patapsco fell 800 feet, there
were sixty flouring-mills, which ground several hun-
dred thousand barrels of flour per annum, finding a
ready market in South America and the West Indies,
and being in demand because of its high quality.
After the Brandywine and Patapsco came the
falls of the James, which made the mills of Rich-
mond celebrated in home and foreign markets up to
recent times. The fame of the Gallego and Haxall
mills is traditional. In 1845 ^ writer in the "Na-
tional Magazine and Industrial Record " says : " The
Gallego and Haxall mills are the largest in the
United States, the great mills at Rochester not
excepted, and the flour turned out from them com-
mands better prices than any other. It is almost
exclusively shipped to and consumed in South
America." There were twenty-one flour- mills at
Richmond in 1840, which made and shipped a large
quantity of superior product, regarding which the
government agricultural report of 1864 paid the fol-
lowing high tribute: "The flouring-mills of Rich-
mond are probably equal to any in the world, both
in the perfection of their machinery and in the
quantity and quahty of flour produced." At that
time the Gallego mills had thirty-one pairs of burr-
stones and a yearly capacity of 190,000 barrels,
while the Haxall mills had a capacity of 160,000
barrels. The Richmond brands commanded fifty
cents to one dollar per barrel more than most grades
of flour, because of their peculiar quality of keeping
sweet on long voyages and in hot climates, thus
commanding Latin-American markets.
It is something over three quarters of a century
since Rochester and the Genesee Valley sprang into
fame as a region of wheat and flour production, and
obtained a name which was celebrated on two con-
tinents for half a century. The 2300 square miles
of the Genesee Valley were unsm^passed in alluvial
fertihty, and its wheat took prize medals at European
exhibitions. Within the city limits of Rochester the
Genesee River had successive falls aggregating 268
feet. The Erie Canal, Genesee River, and Tona-
wanda Railroad brought to the Rochester mills not
only the famous wheat of the Genesee Valley, but also
that of Ohio and Canada. Rochester was not platted
until 181 2, but in 1835 there were twenty-one Roch-
ester flour-mills, with ninety-five runs of stone and
5000 barrels' daily capacity. The Rochester brands
were on sale in all Atlantic markets. In i860 there
were nineteen flouring-mills, with a yearly product
valued at $2,500,000. In 1865 the flour output was
800,000 barrels. In 1870 Monroe County had
thirty mills and a product worth $4,600,000 a year.
Rochester continued to be the " Flour City " of the
continent until, in recent years, the growth of the
nursery business caused the spelling of the name to
be changed to " Flower City."
During the present century the wheat and flour
industries of the United States have steadily pro-
gressed toward the lake region and Mississippi
Valley. The Western trend is shown in the fact
that, as early as 1840, the five States of Ohio, Ken-
tucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan had a total
of 1200 flouring-mills, which turned out 2,000,000
barrels of flour, or about thirty per cent, of the
country's product. In 1850 the milling product of
Ohio alone was greater than that of the New Eng-
land States, New Jersey, and Delaware. In i860
the Western States produced more flour and other
mill products than the New England and Middle
States combined. Ohio was second only to New
York in value of flour product, while Illinois stood
fourth and Indiana fifth in the rank of flour-manu-
facturing States. Over one half of the flour of the
United States in i860 was produced in the Missis-
sippi Valley and westward. The first trend of flour
production westward was down the Ohio River. A
steam flour-mill of 700 barrels' weekly capacity was
268
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
built in Cincinnati in 1 815. Pittsburg had a steam-
mill with three pairs of burrstones in 1808. Barges
were floated down the Ohio to the Mississippi, and
thence to New Orleans, before the era of canals and
railroads developed the lake region and the upper
Mississippi. Cincinnati, St. Louis, and New Orleans
rejoiced in a flourishing business in breadstuffs when
Buffalo, Chicago, and Milwaukee were in their
cradles, and long before Minneapolis had its first
house, Cincinnati possessed ten steam floiu-mills
in 1840 and thirty-one in i860, when its mill pro-
duct reached about $2,000,000 a year. The flour
trade of New Orleans, which began with 600 barrels
in 1 746, was about one hundred times that figure in
1846, and exceeded 1,000,000 barrels ten years
later. Cincinnati's flour receipts rose from 200,000
barrels in 1846 to 500,000 in 1856; and its wheat
receipts in that period rose from 400,000 bushels to
1,000,000. But after 1856 Cincinnati began to ship
its wheat North and East, instead of to New Or-
leans, and the latter port rapidly declined as a
shipping port for breadstuffs. The delay, risk, and
uncertainty of river and Gulf navigation, and the
danger to flour and grain from warmth and moisture
in the Gulf and lower river climate, made the lake
region the natural channel of transportation, as soon
as the canals, lake ports, and Northern railway sys-
tem were equipped for the traffic. The receipts at
New Orleans during the past few years are about
700,000 barrels a year, of which only about 100,000
barrels are exported. St. Louis is the one point on
the lower Mississippi which has maintained its place
as a manufacturer and shipper of floiu*. Starting
with two flour-mills in 1840, St. Louis was tiurning
out 400,000 barrels a year in 1850, and 800,000 in
i860. The million point was passed in 1869, and
the two-million point reached in 1879. Since then
the output of the St. Louis mills has run from
1,600,000 to 2,000,000 barrels per annum. St.
Louis in addition receives over 1,000,000 barrels a
year from other points, and ships to Eastern and
foreign markets over 2,000,000 barrels per annum.
It was the leading flour-manufacturing center just
before Minneapolis forged to the front, and is still
among the first, being excelled in volume of product
by only Minneapolis and Superior.
The era of Northwestern development in flour and
grain production and trade dates from the comple-
tion of the Erie Canal, October 25, 1825, The New
York canals deUvered 1,000,000 barrels of flour in
1835, and 3,000,000 barrels in 1850 ; and of wheat
they took to tide-water about 700,000 bushels in
1835, and 19,000,000 bushels in i860. Of all kinds
of grain the New York canals handled 1 1 ,000,000
bushels in 1850, and 41,000,000 in i860. The
flour receipts of Buffalo grew from 139,178 barrels
in 1836 to 2,846,022 barrels in 1862; while the
wheat receipts mounted up from 304,000 bushels in
1836 to 30,000,000 bushels in 1862, Oswego and
Toledo were telling similar stories of growth. The
breadstuffs which were giving this enormous traffic
to the New York canals and shipping ports were
being produced by the rapidly multiplying popula-
tion which was pouring into the lake States, Michi-
gan, which in 1818 did not have farmers enough to
supply the local grain demand, began exporting in
1835, Ohio was second only to New York as a
producer of wheat in 1845, ^^^ soon after stood
at the top of the hst, with an annual product of
20,000,000 bushels and over. In i860 the four
leading States in wheat production — Illinois, In-
diana, Wisconsin, and Ohio — were all northwest of
the Ohio River, The total grain product of what
were then called the Northwestern States increased
from 200,000,000 bushels in 1840 to 600,000,000 in
i860, Chicago began to ship wheat in 1838, and
Milwaukee in 1841, The Illinois and Michigan
Canal was constructed in 1848, The railway
mileage of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois,
Ohio, and Indiana advanced from 1250 miles in
1850 to over 10,000 miles in i860. The lake vessel
tonnage, mostly grain, increased from 76,000 in
1845 to 390,000 in i860. The upper Mississippi
grain trade, beginning at about 1855, sent 6,000,-
000 bushels of wheat to Lake Michigan in 1863.
Chicago's flour and wheat shipments grew from 78
bushels in 1838 to 22,000,000 in 1862, The wheat
and flour shipments of the St, Lawrence, for the
four years ending with 187 1, as compared with the
four years ending with 1859, advanced 165 per
cent. Minnesota, which had no railways in i860,
had 3000 miles in 1880, and has 6000 miles at the
present time. The Minnesota wheat crop has ad-
vanced correspondingly, from 1401 bushels in 1850
to 18,000,000 bushels in 1870, and to 60,000,000
bushels for the present crop year. The Dakotas,
which raised 945 bushels of wheat in i860, and less
than 3,000,000 in 1880, have just harvested a crop
exceeding 1 00,000,000 bushels of hard spring wheat.
The above facts give eloquent evidence of the enor-
mous development of the Northwest in breadstuffs in
recent years, and indicate the resources upon which
rests the world's chief flouring industry. Chicago
entered upon the manufacture of flour in the forties.
In 1855 its flour output was 80,000 barrels; in
1865 it reached 288,000 barrels, going to 575,000
Charles A. Pillsbury.
AMERICAN FLOUR
269
in 1885, and dropping to 444,000 in 1894. In flour
shipments, Chicago rose from 6320 barrels in 1844
to 3,714,000 in 1894. Milwaukee has been a prom-
inent flour-manufacturing point ever since the war.
Its product of 142,500 barrels in 1859 went to
752,000 in 1879, rising to 2,117,000 in 1892, and
stopping at 1,576,000 in 1894. Its receipts from
other points aggregate over 2,000,000 barrels more,
and its annual shipments are over 3,000,000 barrels.
Milwaukee vies with St. Louis and Superior for the
second place among flour-manufacturing cities.
The Minneapolis milling industry, which now
seems to be easily the first in the world in the
volume of its product, dates back to the first mer-
chant mill of 1854. It is a matter of interest, how-
ever, that the first grist-mill at the Falls of St.
Anthony was erected for the government by a de-
tachment of fifteen soldiers from Fort Snelling, in
1823. The plant was billed at $288, and consisted
of one pair of burrstones, some plaster of Paris, and
two dozen sickles. With this harvesting and milling
machinery was reaped and ground the first wheat in
Minnesota. The first custom grist-mill did not ap-
pear until nearly twenty years later. In 1859 oc-
curred the first shipment East, 100 barrels being
sent to Boston at a cost of $2.25 per hundred for
freight, which is $2 more than the present cost of
transportation. .In 1865 there were six mills run-
ning, with an aggregate daily capacity of 800 bar-
rels ; and three years later there were thirteen mills,
which turned out 220,000 barrels of flour, valued at
$1,875,000. Down to 1870 the milling process in
the United States was that invented by Oliver
Evans, with some minor and gradual improve-
ments. From 1787 the nether and upper millstones,
the former stationary and the latter balanced to
rotate upon it, ground the flour of America. The
stones were set close together, to produce as much
flour as possible at one grinding. This produced
friction and heat, and often brought about chemical
changes which injured the color, taste, and quality
of the flour. In the early miUing history of Min-
neapolis, when enterprising manufacturers rushed the
speed of the stones to secure a large product, the
flour came out dark, and so hot the hand could not
be held in it. The old Cataract mill of this city
cooled its flour with an old-fashioned water-cooler
having a circular pit thirty feet across, around which
traveled a double sweep. Minneapolis spring
wheat-flour then stood low in the scale, and was
sometimes branded, at the request of buyers, " St.
Louis flour from winter wheat." The hard spring
wheat, rich in gluten which made it tough, ren-
dered difficult the separation of flour from bran, and
thereby yielded a dark-hued flour which brought
a low price in the market. The soft and starchy
winter wheat, on the other hand, yielded readily to
the old low-grinding process ; the bran was more
easily separated, and the flour was lighter in color
and less damaged by hard grinding. The color and
quality of spring wheat-flour were somewhat im-
proved in the best mills by a reduction in pressure
and speed and by scientific stone dressing ; but the
main difficulty remained. The difficulty in grind-
ing spring wheat by the old process was with the
middlings, or that part of the kernel between the
bran covering and the starchy central body. The
middlings, although known to be rich in the gluten
which gives wheat-flour its chief value with the baker
and pastry-cook, were associated with the bran ; and
the richer the wheat in gluten, as in the case of hard
spring wheat, the more difficult was the process of
separation, because the gluten was the cause of the
toughness. The first experiments were made with a
view to the purifying of middlings. In 1868, E. N.
La Croix, a French millwright, came to Faribault,
Minn., and experimented in making a middlings
purifier, like one he had seen in France. In 1870
he moved to Minneapolis and continued his experi-
ments. At length a machine was made, and a
sample batch of flour was sent to New York. Word
came back by wire that the new flour was selling at
fifty cents a barrel higher than other brands. The
La Croix machine was crude and in some respects
unsatisfactory, and George T. Smith went to work
and produced a superior machine, different in many
points, but retaining the same principle, and ob-
tained a patent. As a result of the new middlings
purification process the mills using it added fifty
cents a barrel to their profits in the first year, $1 the
second year, and from $2 to $4 per barrel the third
and fourth years. Thereupon Mr. George H. Chris-
tian, representing the Washburn mills, a number of
head millers from other mills, and myself, represent-
ing the Pillsbury mills, went to Europe and made a
thorough study of the Hungarian " high-milling " or
gradual-reduction roller and middlings process. As
a result some of the Minneapolis mills adopted the
Hungarian process bodily, middhngs purifier and all,
and in a few years were compelled to throw away
some of the complex machinery with which they
were loaded. The Pillsbury mills, however, adopted
only what seemed to be the best features of the
Hungarian process, such as the rolls, made modifi-
cations all along the line, and retained the Ameri-
can middhngs purifier invented by Mr. Smith. We
270
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
found that the Hungarian system needed simplifi-
cation to increase its efficiency, to save labor, and
especially to avoid dangerous accumulation of mill-
dust. The new and improved high-milling system
of Minneapolis and Minnesota thus established made
the hard spring wheat of the Northwest the best
flour material on the globe, immediately added ten
to fifteen cents per bushel to its market value, and
gave Minneapohs flour the first place among the
cooks and bakers of the world. By the new process
chilled-iron and porcelain rollers gradually came into
use in place' of the old millstones. The grain, in
place of being ground in a single pair of millstones,
was run through six or seven sets of rollers, being
sifted and graded after each breaking by the rollers.
The old process aimed to get as much flour as pos-
sible at one grinding ; the new seeks to get as little
flour as possible at the first two or three breakings.
The old millstones were set so close together that
the weight of the upper stone rested almost wholly
upon the grain. The first rollers in the new process
are set so far apart that the kernel is simply split for
the liberation of the germ and crease. The old pro-
cess sought to avoid middlings as far as possible, be-
cause they entailed loss of flour. The new process
seeks to produce as much middlings as possible,
because out of the middlings comes the high-grade
" patent " floiu". In the handling of the middlings
the new process exhibits the highest art. The
gluten, which gives flour its " strength " or " rising "
power, is saved and made available to the baker, and
made a prominent soiwce of profit both to the
farmer who raises the wheat, the miller who grinds
the flour, the baker who makes the bread, and
finally to the consumer, in whom it is transformed
into brain and muscle.
With the introduction of the new milling process
came the big mills which have made Minneapolis
famous, and the development of the spring-wheat
industry which has made the Northwest known
around the globe. In 1873 was erected the Wash-
bum " A " Mill, then the largest in the world, and a
few years later the Pillsbury " A," which since then
has borne the palm. In 1884 there were twenty-
three mills equipped with the new process machinery
and possessed of a daily capacity of 30,000 barrels.
In 1876 the flour shipments of Minneapolis were
1,000,000 barrels; in 1884 they were 5,000,000;
and at present are nearly 10,000,000 barrels per
annum. The output increased from 940,000 barrels
in 1878 to 9,400,000 in 1894. Dividing the fifteen
years from 1880 to 1894 into five three-year
periods, we find that the second period, 1883-85,
gained 6,214,000 barrels over the first; the third
period, 1886-88, gained 5,214,000 over the second ;
the fourth period, 1889-91, gained 1,156,000 barrels
over the third; while the fifth period, 1892-94, in-
cluding the panic period, gained 7,572,998 barrels
over the three years preceding. The twenty-five
mills of the city now have a capacity of not quite
60,000 barrels a day, and grind about 50,000,000
bushels of wheat per annum. In the calendar year
of 1892 Minneapolis received 72,000,000 bushels of
wheat, of which 51,000,000 bushels were converted
into 9,750,000 barrels of flour by the Minneapolis
mills. During the week preceding this writing the
output was 298,900 barrels, which was something
more than double the combined outputs of the two
next largest milling centers in the United States.
Its heavy receipts as a primary wheat market, and
extensive shipments as a direct exporter of flour to
foreign markets, are prominent factors which have
contributed to the development of Minneapolis as a
flour-manufacturing center. In the past ten crop
years Minneapolis has received 492,000,000 bushels
of wheat, nearly double the receipts of any other
primary wheat market in the country; and of this
has consumed in its mills 370,000,000 bushels. Dur-
ing these ten crop years Minneapolis has exported
to Europe 25,000,000 barrels of flour, or not quite
twenty-five per cent, of the flour exports of the
United States for that period. The wheat receipts
increased from 1,000,000 bushels in 1867-68, when
the first elevators were built, to 10,000,000 bushels
in 1880, when Minneapolis ranked eighth among the
primary wheat markets of the country. Four years
later Minneapolis was the leading primary wheat
market, a position which has been maintained during
the ten years succeeding. The first flour exports to
foreign markets were made in 1878, with an enter-
ing wedge of a little over 100,000 barrels. It took
considerable effort and time to overcome European
prejudice, but at the end of a dozen years Min-
neapolis was able to place 2,000,000 barrels of its
high-grade product in the hands of Europe's bakers
and housekeepers, and the trade is still growing.
American flour is used abroad both alone under its
own name, and also as an ingredient to mix with Euro-
pean flour. Contrary to the general habit here, Eng-
lish millers often mix one kind and grade of wheat
with another, so as to produce flour which shall be
adapted to their particular needs. Their climate is
moist, and their bread is baked in larger loaves than
those to which we are accustomed. Little bread is
eaten in the United States that is over thirty-six
hours old, while that which has been made twice
AMERICAN FLOUR
271
as long is frequent on British tables. There is little
consumption of flotur there in biscuits, such as are
made by the ordinary American housewife in large
quantities. In spite of all these differences, flour
from this side is in great request abroad, and is now
essential to the English baker and householder.
The flour output and direct exports of the Minne-
apolis mills for eighteen crop years, ending with
August 31st of each year, are given in the table
attached :
OUTPUT AND EXPORTS OF MINNEAPOLIS
FLOUR.
Output. Exports.
Year. _ „
Barrels. Barrels.
1894-95 9,418,225 2,377,090
1893-94 9,321,630 2,362,551
1892-93 9,349,615 3,066,972
1891-92 9,500,255 3,668,380
1890-91 7,434,098 2,576,545
1889-90 6,863,015 2,091,215
1888-89 5.740,830 1,557.575
1887-88 7.244.930 2,617,795
1886-87 6,375,250 2,523,030
1885-86 5,951,200 2,288,500
1884-85 5,221,243 1,834,544
1883-84 5.317,672 1,805,876
1882-83 4,046,220 1,343, 105
1881-82 3,175,910 1,201,631
1880-81 3, 142,972 1, 181,322
1879-80 2,051,840 769,442
1878-79 1,551.789 442,598
1877-78 940,786 109,183
Superior, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, in the order
named, are the milling centers next in size, following
Minneapolis. Then follow Duluth, Toledo, Kansas
City, Indianapolis, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls; the
next group being Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland,
Cincinnati, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Peoria. Su-
perior has made the most remarkable progress dur-
ing the past two or three years, increasing its output
from 60,000 barrels in 1892 to 2,028,000 in 1894.
Superior and Duluth, the twin head-of-the-lakes
towns, have produced during the first nine months
of this year 2,387,375 barrels of flour, as against
1 ,969,1 3 5 for the same months last year, and 7 1 0,000
for the corresponding period in 1892. Toledo has
been showing marked advancement of late, having
pushed its 1892 output of 589,000 barrels to 869,000
barrels in 1894. Kansas City exhibits a still larger
advance, climbing up from 275,000 barrels in 1892
to 725,000 last year. The Buffalo and Niagara
Falls mills have a desirable location and have taken
rank as flour producers within the past few years.
Their production of the past two seasons, however,
has shown no increase. Buffalo's 729,000 barrels
of 1892 became 678,500 in 1894, and the outside
mills allowed their output to drop from 696,770 to
614,032. Cincinnati and Indianapolis, in the valley
of the Ohio, have shown recent increase in produc-
tion ; while the lake ports of Chicago, Milwaukee,
Detroit, and Cleveland have dropped somewhat, as
also have Baltimore, St. Louis, and Peoria. The
1894 products of the dozen chief milling centers
were as follows :
PRODUCTS OF TWELVE MILLING CENTERS.
Place.
Barrels.
Minneapolis 9»400, 535
Superior — Duluth 2,946,292
St. Louis 1,656,645
Milwaukee 1,576,064
Buffalo — Niagara Falls 1,292,565
Toledo 869,500
Kansas City 725,390
Indianapolis 690,096
Chicago 444,000
Baltimore 420,373
Cleveland 402,000
Cincinnati 335,821
The flour export trade of the United States is al-
most as old as the flour industry. It dates back
over two hundred years. Virginia and New York
were exporting breadstuffs and building up a trade
with Spain, Portugal, and the West Indies a century
before the Revolution. The New England colonies
were sending floiur to the West Indies in 1720-30.
In 1729 Philadelphia exported 35,438 barrels of
flour, together with enough bread and wheat to
bring the export value of breadstuffs for that year to
$300,000. In 1865 Philadelphia's exports of bread-
stuffs reached the value of over $2,000,000. In
1 77 1 that city's flour exports were 252,000 barrels.
When, in 1770, the total flour exports of the
colonies reached 458,000 barrels, Lord SheflSeld
announced in Great Britain that he doubted that
this country would ever be able to exceed that figure.
Edmund Burke, in his speech of 1774, paid the flour
export trade of America the following exuberant and
ponderous tribute: "For some time past the Old
World has been fed from the New. The scarcity
you have felt would have been a desolating famine
if this child of yotu" old age, with a true filial piety,
with a Roman charity, had not put the full breast of
its youthful exuberance to the mouth of its exhausted
parent."
Just one hundred years ago this year the floiur
exports of the United States were 687,369 barrels,
and the breadstuffs comprised about one third of the
total exports. In the first year of the present cen-
tury the flour exports passed the million-barrel point,
and in 181 1 passed a million and a half. But the
export trade was extremely fluctuating, and did not
pass the two-million point until forty years later.
During the twenty-five years 1820-44 the average
value of flour exports per annum was about $5,000,-
272
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
ooo, which was about ten per cent, of the value of
all exports. In 1844 our shipments of breadstuffs,
mostly flour and bread, to Latin America were not
quite $7,000,000, which exceeded the exports of all
other manufactures, and was more than one third of
our total Latin-American exports. During the first
half of the century, flour, next to cotton, was our
chief dependence for export. Then there was a sud-
den and radical dropping off in the flour trade, with
no signs of recovery during the next twenty-five
years.
The reason why, from 1850 to 1875, this country
lost its foreign trade in flour, and shipped its wheat
for European mills to grind, was that milling during
that period was making rapid progress on the other
side of the ocean, while we were still clinging to the
old process of 1800. As early as 1810, Ignaz Paur,
of Austria, invented a middlings piuifier. Experi-
ments began with the roller-mill in Paris, Vienna,
and Switzerland in 1820. Pesth and half a dozen
other milling centers successfully used roller-mills
before 1840. Ten years later roller-mill machinery
was exhibited at the London Exhibition, and was
thereafter used in Great Britain. Gradual improve-
ments were made down to 1873. This development
in the art and science of European milling called
for large quantities of American wheat to be used in
European mills, and gradually shut out American
flour from Evuopean markets. In 1854 our millers
sent 1,846,000 barrels to Great Britain; while in
1865 they sent only 200,000 barrels to all Europe.
During the five years ending with 1830, 99.5 per
cent, of the value of wheat and flour exports was
floiu-; in the five years ending with 1835, flour con-
stituted 97.5 per cent, of the total value of wheat
and flour exports ; and in the ten years ending with
1845, still 92.5 per cent, of the total wheat and flour
exports was floiu*. Then came the hungry demand
of European millers for American wheat. From
2,900,000 bushels in the five years ending with
1845, they increased their demands to 21,864,000
for the five years closing with 1855, to 178,000,000
for 1860—65, ^"d ^^ 296,000,000 bushels for the
five-year period 1870-75. The percentage of flour
exports dropped to 43 per cent, in 1860-70, and
finally to 27.8 per cent, for the five years ending
with 1875. The percentage of flour in the total
wheat and flour exports had declined over 70 per
cent, in forty years.
But the improved milling process and the hard
wheat of the Northwest have in a measure retrieved
our lost ground in the European flour market. Our
flour exports to the United Kingdom have risen
from 1,231,324 barrels in 1875 to 9,987,179 in
1894, and our exports to the Continent have been
multiplied by fifty, increasing the insignificant 31,-
718 barrels of 1875 to 1,853,156 barrels in 1894,
During the past two fiscal years, ending June
30, 1895, this country has exported $120,000,-
000 of flour, as against $103,000,000 of wheat.
In other words, the percentage of flour exports to
wheat has about doubled since the new milling pro-
cess was established in the hard-wheat region twenty
years ago. We have shipped to the United King-
dom during the past two fiscal years $73,000,000 of
flour, as against $63,000,000 of wheat. To Latin
America and the Orient flour is the chief export in
breadstuffs, being about $5,000,000 for the Orient
and $23,000,000 for Latin America during the two
fiscal years. With the milling cities of the Pacific
coast to supply the Orient, where, indeed, they are
now building up a good trade ; the flour manufac-
turers of Baltimore, Richmond, St. Louis, and the
valley of the Ohio to supply the Latin-American
markets, as they are now doing with success; and
the milling centers of the lake region and upper
Mississippi to meet the demands of Europe, the
United States is in a fair way to take care of the
world's hungry. That oiu: efforts in this line are
not vain is shown by the fact that the exports of the
milling industry nearly equal all the exports of the
other manufacturing industries.
Until 1890 the flour industry led all other manu-
facturing industries in the value of its annual pro-
duct. In 1890 it was exceeded only by the meat-
packing industry. The flour industry still tiu^s out
a product greater in value than that of the iron and
steel industry, the foundry and machine, the lumber,
clothing, or than that of all the textile industries.
The annual product of the flour industry was valued
at $135,000,000 in 1850, at $223,000,000 in i860, at
$444,000,000 in 1870, at $505,000,000 in 1880, and
at $513,971,000 in 1890. The iron and steel indus-
try follows, with a product valued at $430,000,000 ;
the foundry and machine industry, with a $41 2,000,-
000 product ; lumber, $403,000,000 ; and clothing,
$378,000,000. The total value of textile product,
including cotton, woolen, silk, and linen goods, is
about $500,000,000. The slaughtering and meat-
packing industry, in 1890, tops all others in the
value of its product, which is placed at $564,000,-
000 ; although it is represented by only 1367 estab-
lishments, as against something over 18,000 flour
and grist mills.
Until i8go New York was the leading State in the
aggregate value of its flour and grist mill product.
AMERICAN FLOUR
273
New York's mill product was valued by the gov-
ernment census bureau at $16,900,000 in 1840;
$33,000,000 in 1850; $35,000,000 in i860; $60,-
000,000 in 1870; $49,000,000 in 1880; and $52,-
000,000 in 1890. It is noticeable how radically
New York's product fell in the ten years between
1870 and 1880, when the new milling process was
being adopted in the hard spring- wheat region, thus
changing the seat of the flour industry from the
winter- wheat States to the Northwest. In 1890
Minnesota rose to the place formerly held by
New York. In 1840 Minnesota made no flour; in
1850 the value of the product was $500; in i860
the State is credited with a product worth $1,300,-
000 ; in 1870 the product is still worth only $7,500,-
000 ; but in i88o, with the new process successfully
established, the product suddenly rises to $41,-
500,000, and in 1890 to $60,000,000. New York,
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Wis-
consin, and Michigan follow in the order named,
with products running from $52,000,000 down to
$22,000,000.
The part which the American flour industry has
had in redeeming the country's indebtedness and in
bringing to our treasuries European gold appears in
the fact that during the one hundred years ending
with June 30, 1895, this country has exported some-
thing over $1,700,000,000 worth of flour, which is
about ten per cent, of the entire flour and grist mill
product of the United States for the century.
^^.
^^m
18
CHAPTER XL
AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS
THE products of the glass-furnace, according
to the ancient records, date back from four
to six thousand years. Rawhnson states that
glass was known in Egypt in the pyramid period,
which he places at 2450 b.c. ; and from that period
down to the Christian era there is no doubt that the
art had reached a high state of perfection, from the
beauty of the specimens that are still in existence.
Glass making has always attracted much attention,
and had made much progress in Europe before the
discovery and settlement of America. One of the
first articles manufactured in this country was glass.
Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, who has had charge of the
glass interests for the census of 1880 and 1890, says,
in a carefully prepared history of glass making in
this country, that the first American glass was made
within a mile of Jamestown, Va., in 1 608. The hope
of sudden wealth from the discovery of gold and sil-
ver was doubtless the chief cause for the formation
of the London Company and its first attempt to
colonize Virginia. It was, however, a commercial
venture with the hope of profit ; and, with the shrewd-
ness characteristic of the English merchant not only
of that but of other periods, this company did not
forget the possibilities that were near at hand in its
search for what it beheved would be greater ones in
the near future. The vessel which carried Captain
Newport on his second voyage in 1608 brought out
also eight Poles and Germans to make pitch, tar,
glass, mills, and soap-ashes, and the first exports of
manufactures from what is now the United States
were the results of the trials made at the first furnace
erected in this country. It is said the works were
destroyed at the massacre in 1622.
In 1795, the lime from which this record is to be
made, there is no record of any glass-works in Vir-
ginia. In the census of 1810 Virginia does not ap-
pear as a glass-making State. In the census of 1820
a glass-works is reported in Brooke County. It made
thatyear$2o,ooo worth of glass ; had $1 2,000 capital ;
paid out $8000 for wages and $12,000 for materials
and contingent expenses, or exactly the value of the
product. It employed 14 men and 12 boys in 1827.
It is reported that glass decanters of great beauty
were made at these works, and white-flint and green-
glass wares were made that rivaled the foreign. At
the Tariff Convention in 1831 there were two flint-
furnaces, with twelve pots, reported in operation in
Wellsburg, and one, with six pots, at Wheeling, Va.
Two window-glass furnaces were also reported at
Wheeling. In 1840 one glass-works is reported in
Brooke County (the Wellsburg), and three in Ohio
County (the Wheeling).
The first mention of a glass-works in Pennsyl-
vania is found in a letter written by William Penn, in
August, 1 683, to the Free Society of Traders. In this
letter he alludes to their tannery, sawmill, and glass-
works. Where these works were located, or what
kinds of glass they made, is not known. In 1795
there was doubtless some glass made in Pennsylvania.
A glass-house was sold on March 6, 1800, to Joseph
Roberts, Jr., James Rutlans, and James Rowland, for
$2333, subject to $15 ground-rent. They carried on
these works under the firm name of James Rowland
& Company, and in 1801 had their store at 80 North
Fourth Street. The works were afterward carried
on by several parties, and finally, in 1833, were sold
to Dr. Thomas W. Dyott. In eastern Pennsylvania,
prior to 1831, a number of attempts seem to have
been made with but little success, and the works
carried on by Dr. Dyott were evidently looked upon
as being of national importance. It is stated that
President Jackson visited this establishment, which
in 1833 consumed 15,000 barrels of rosin for fuel.
From 250 to 300 men and boys were constantly em-
ployed ; five furnaces were operated, which used both
wood, coal, and rosin, melted 8000 pounds of batch
a day, and produced about 1 200 tons of glass a year,
which was blown into apothecaries' vials, bottles,
and shop-furniture. Dr. Dyott failed in 1838, and
274
AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS
275
the works passed into other hands, and at this time
are operated in the manufacture of green glass, and
have quite a reputation for the making of demijohns.
Of early glass making in western Pennsylvania full
accounts are given. It is claimed that Albert Gal-
latin commenced the first glass-works there at his set-
tlement of New Geneva, ninety miles south of Pitts-
burg, on the Monongahela River. It seems to be
generally accepted that the works were started in
1797, and were used for the manufacture of window-
glass. The furnace was a small one, with eight pots,
using wood as fuel and ashes for alkali. The glass-
house was forty by forty ; three sides frame and one
side stone. One man could Hft the pots, while now
it would require four men to lift the pots used in
window-glass works. The title of the firm was Gal-
latin & Company, but was afterward changed to the
New Geneva Glass- Works. It is said that for a
time this enterprise was exceedingly profitable, there
being but two or possibly three other window-glass
works in the country, most of the glass for that pur-
pose being brought from England. The glass was
sold at $14 per box of 100 feet, but was doubtless
of inferior quality. A works at New Geneva was
reported as late as 1832, but when they were finally
abandoned Mr. Weeks was not able to learn.
In 1796 Major Isaac Craig and Colonel James
O'Hara erected the first glass-house in Pittsburg. It
is claimed that these were the first works west of the
mountains to make glass, and they are said to have
started a month before those of Mr. Gallatin. These
were the first works to use coal as a fuel, and were
located at the south side of the Monongahela River,
just above where it unites with the Allegheny to form
the Ohio. The site, or part of it, has been continu-
ously occupied as a glass-works, Thomas Weightman
& Company occupying it until quite a recent date.
The use of coal was an innovation, and even as late
as 1 810 this fuel was not used in any of the glass-
works in the United States other than those in Pitts-
burg. Messrs. O'Hara and Craig were the pioneers
in its use, and to them should be given the credit.
As was the custom in window-glass factories in those
days, one or more of the pots were used for the mak-
ing of bottles, and among Colonel O'Hara's papers,
found after his death, was a memorandum in his
handwriting, stating : " To-day we made the first
bottle, at a cost of $30,000."
As in all new enterprises, and particularly the
making of glass, it is only men of perseverance and
determination who succeed; and had not Messrs.
Craig and O'Hara been men of that character the
venture would have fallen the first year. As a rule,
the men who are secured from old-established glass
factories are really not the best men ; and not only did
the early manufacturers suffer from a lack of experi-
ence, but also from the fact that their employees were
not always capable of doing the work they were
engaged to do. And it may be said that at the
present time no new works, established in a location
in which glass has not been made, can make a profit
of any moment the first two or three years ; and the
first year must invariably be counted as a losing one.
Major Craig wrote to Samuel Hodgson, of Philadel-
phia, August 5, 1803: "With respect to our glass
manufacturing, the estabHshment has been attended
with greater expense than we had estimated. This
has been occasioned partly by very extensive build-
ings necessarily erected to accommodate a number
of people employed in the manufacture, together with
their families, and partly by the ignorance of some
people in whose skill of that business we reposed too
much confidence. Scarcity of some of the mate-
rials at the commencement of the manufacturing was
also attended with considerable expense. We have,
however, by perseverance and attention, brought
the manufacture to comparative perfection. Dur-
ing the last blast, which commenced at the beginning
of January, and continued six months, we made on
an average thirty boxes a week of excellent window-
glass, besides bottles and other hollow ware to the
amount of one third the value of the window-glass,
eight by ten selling at $13.50, ten by twelve at $15,
and other sizes in proportion."
In the fall of 1807, Mr. George Robinson, a car-
penter, and Mr. Edward Ensell, an English glass
worker, commenced the erection of a flint-glass
works in Pittsburg, on the banks of the Mononga-
hela, under the firm name of Robinson & Ensell.
They appear, however, to have lacked capital, and
were unable to finish the establishment, which, with-
out being completed, was offered for sale. In
August, 1808, Mr. Thomas Bakewell and his friend,
Mr, Page, who were visiting Pittsburg at the time,
were induced to purchase this plant, on the repre-
sentation of Mr. Ensell that he thoroughly under-
stood the business. This was the beginning of the
firm of Bakewell & Page, which by itself and suc-
cessors continued in the manufacture of flint-glass
until some time after the census of 1880. Mr.
Bakewell experienced the trouble usual in a new
business. The difficulties he met with vt^ould have
disheartened a less determined man, and the lack of
skill on the part of his workmen, and the inferiority
of the materials, interfered at first with his success.
His furnace was badly constructed ; his workmen
276
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
were not highly skilled, and would not permit the
introduction of apprentices ; and his materials were
received from a distance at a time when transporta-
tion was difficult and expensive, pearl-ash and red
lead coming over the mountains in wagons from
Philadelphia, and pot-clay from Burlington, N. J.
The sand was obtained near Pittsburg, but was yel-
lowish, and up to that time had only been used
for window-glass and bottles. The saltpeter came
from the caves of Kentucky until 1825, when the
supply was brought from Calcutta. These difficul-
ties in time were overcome ; good clay was procured
from Holland, and purer materials were discovered,
and Mr. Bakewell rebuilt his furnace on a better
plan, competent workmen being either instructed or
brought over from Europe. Through his energy and
perseverance the works became eminently successful,
and there is no doubt that Mr. Bakewell is entitled
to the honor of erecting and operating the first flint-
glass works in this country. The furnace built or
completed in 1808 held six twenty-inch pots; this
was replaced in 1810 by a ten-pot furnace, and in
1 8 14 another fiunace of the same capacity was
added to the works. The establishment was burned
down in the great fire of 1845, but was immediately
rebuilt. The site is now occupied in part by the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad depot.
During the last one hundred years Massachusetts
has played a very important part in the production
of glass, which was manufactured as early as 1639
at Salem. But, from all the records, that exist, the
history previous to the Revolution was one of fail-
ure. Shortly after the Revolution Boston again
commenced the manufacture of glass, which for
many years was one of the leading industries of
Boston and Massachusetts. The new enterprise,
the Boston Crown- Glass Company, which was
really the first successful glass-works in this coun-
try, was greatly helped by the liberal action of the
State. In July, 1787, Messrs. Whalley, Hunnewell,
and others received from the legislature a charter con-
ferring upon them the exclusive right to manufacture
glass in Massachusetts for fifteen years, and imposing
a fine of $500 upon any one infringing on this right.
The capital stock was exempted from all taxes, and
the workmen from all military duty. To counteract
the effect of the bounty paid by England on the ex-
portation of glass from the kingdom, a bounty was
paid for every table of glass made. Owing to the
many difficulties incident to the starting of a new in-
dustry, the operation of making glass did not com-
mence until 1792. The company commenced with
the manufacture of crown window-glass, and in 1 798
produced glass to the value of $82,000 per annum.
This concern was incorporated in 1809, and under
the influence of the State bounty the proprietors were
encouraged to continue their efforts, and became
very successful. The glass was said to be superior
to the imported, and well known throughout the
United States as " Boston window-glass." These
works were continued until 1826, when the company
failed, from bad management. This early establish-
ment led to the commencement of many others, but
none of them could be considered successful. Many
attempts have since been made in Massachusetts to
establish the manufacture of window-glass. In i860
a large establishment was erected for the manufac-
txu-e of sheet window-glass, but its operation proved
unprofitable, and at this time there is only one win-
dow-glass works in the State, which is located in
Berkshire County, in the western part.
The manufacture of flint-glass grew out of the
Essex Street works. Mr. Thomas Caines, who was
an employee there, was also a skilful blower and
metal mixer. He prevailed upon the management
to allow him to build a small six-pot furnace in a
part of their works at South Boston. This furnace
was fully employed during the War of 181 2, and
was the beginning of the flint-glass industry in Mas-
sachusetts ; but it was compelled to cease work,
and although several attempts were made to operate
it between 1820 and 1840, they all failed. About
the time this furnace was started, the Porcelain and
Glass Manufacturing Company was incorporated,
and built a factory at East Cambridge. The furnace
was a small one, containing six pots. Workmen
were brought from abroad, but it proved a failure.
The plant in 181 5 was leased to a firm of workmen,
Emmet, Fisher & Flowers ; but they failed to agree,
and in 181 7 the Porcelain Company sold the prop-
erty at auction to the New England Glass Company.
This was the beginning of one of the most success-
ful glass companies in this country. The works,
when they commenced, had a small six-pot furnace,
the pots holding about 600 pounds ; 40 hands were
employed, and they produced glass to the value of
$40,000. It was really the foundation of the flint-
glass industry in the United States. The manage-
ment was broad and liberal from the beginning ; for
fifty years they led in the production of flint and
colored glass of all varieties. Workmen were brought
from abroad, and every means employed that capi-
tal and skill could compass to produce results equal
to anything in the world. In 1865, which was prob-
ably the highest point reached in their history, they
operated five furnaces of ten pots each, each pot
James Gillinder.
AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS
277
holding 2000 pounds; 500 hands were employed,
and glass to the value of $500,000 was produced
yearly. The influence of the New England Glass-
works has been felt all over the land, as many of
their employees and managers have been the means
of establishing the industry in other parts of the
country. Fine-blown, cut, and pressed glass were
made in great variety. The works are not now in
existence.
When the Western manufacturer commenced to
make lime-glass with bicarbonate of soda and hme,
in place of lead and pearl-ash, the thought in the
minds of the management of the New England
Works was that its success would be only temporary,
and they failed to meet the changed condition. A
very large proportion of their production at this time
was pressed glass, and for several years, in the at-
tempt to meet the competition of the cheap products
of the Western manufacturers with their more costly
products, the works were run at a loss, which
amounted during the last year they operated to
more than $40,000. In 1879 they ceased operation,
after a successful career of sixty-two years, and were
then leased by William L. Libbey & Son, and oper-
ated by them until August, 1888, when they moved
to Toledo, O., and the old works were dismantled.
In 1825 a plant was established at Sandwich, com-
mencing in a small way, with one eight-pot furnace,
and melted 7000 pounds of glass. In 1865 it had
been increased to four furnaces, ten pots each, and
a melting capacity of 100,000 pounds weekly. It
was in these works that the modern invention of
pressing glass was first successfully introduced, in
1827. Of this I will speak later on. The same
cause that brought about the failure of the New
England Glass Company caused their failure, and in
1888, after several years of financial loss, the com-
pany suspended operation. They had built up quite
a town at Sandwich, and up to 1865 had been pros-
perous and successful, employing for sixty-three
years a large number of people, and making a fine
line of cut, blown, colored, and pressed glass.
During the period in which these two Massachu-
setts factories were in existence they were in the
lead, and while a number of others had been estab-
lished, none had reached the success of these two
noted works, which are now only a part of the record.
Quite recently an attempt has been made to oper-
ate one of the furnaces at Sandwich, the success of
which is yet to be demonstrated. At this time there
are only four flint-furnaces operated in Massachu-
setts, two of them being at New Bedford, one at
Somerville, a suburb of Boston, and one at Sand-
18*
wich. There are, besides, the window and part-plate
works at Berkshire. So that Massachusetts, that in
i860 led the flint-glass industry in this country, has
almost ceased to be a factor at this time.
Maryland was quite an important State in the
early production of glass, and the records show that
the attention of Congress was called to the value of
the industry by Mr. John Frederick Amelung, who
petitioned Congress to extend its patronage to his
works at New Bremen. A motion was made in
Congress by Mr. Carroll to loan him not exceeding
$8000, on his giving security for its repayment. The
motion was debated for several days, diu-ing which
was brought out the fact that Mr. Amelung had
spent over ^^^2 0,000, and brought over from abroad
over 200 workmen, in his attempts to establish the
industry. The motion was defeated. We have an
after record that in 1794 Mr. Amelung, with Mr.
Whalley, of Boston, presented a petition for an in-
crease of duties. These works appear to have been
built at Fredericktown, but were afterward moved to
Baltimore. They were not a success, and it is prob-
able he crossed the mountains and helped to start
the flint-works at Pittsburg. According to Howard,
a plant was established for the making of window-
glass in 1790, known as the Baltimore Glass-Works.
These are the window-glass works operated by Baker
Brothers until quite recently, and said by them to
have been established in 1790. They have operated
them since 1852. Maryland, however, since that
period, has been quite a glass State. Window-glass
and green and flint bottles have been made to a
greater or less extent, and according to the census
of 1890 the State has eleven works, producing wares
to the value of $1,256,697, and employing 1363
hands.
One of the earliest glass-works in this country was
located at Allowaystown, in Salem County, N. J.
It was the beginning of the glass industry in that
State, and was built about the year 1760 by a Ger-
man named Wister, who carried on the works until
his failure in 1775. The workmen then went from
this place to Glassboro, and established the indus-
try there. Plenty of pine-wood for fuel was found
in this locality, and a very fair grade of sand, which
was good enough for bottles, jars, vials, and the com-
mon kinds of green glass made by them. Glass mak-
ing has been carried on at this place ever since that
time. The first establishment commenced with a
six-pot furnace, but gradually extended until a town
surrounded the works, and they now report a capi-
tal of $1,106,499.95, ^"^ manufacture from 50,000,-
000 to 60,000,000 bottles each year. A member
278
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
of the present firm, Mr. John P. Whitney, is said to
be a descendant of one of the original workmen who
established the works.
Up to 1870 there were glass factories erected at
thirty-seven different localities. Many of them ran
for only a short period. The cheapness of wood and
sand no doubt led to the building of many, and the
fact that expensive buildings were not required, most
of them being frame structures built of the cheapest
materials. With the exception of a flint-works at
Jersey City and one at Camden, the glass made in
New Jersey was bottles, jars, vials, and window-
glass, and in i88o, according to the census, New
Jersey produced bottles, jars, and vials, under the
head of green glass, to the amount of $1,681,015,
the largest amount produced by any one State;
window-glass to the amount of $729,155 ; and glass-
ware, under which head come flint-glass bottles, val-
ued at $400,000.
New York is now losing ground as a glass-pro-
ducing State, but during the past one hundred years
large quantities of glassware have been made, and
some of the works have had a national reputation.
In January, 1 785, Leonard de Neufville and his asso-
ciates, the proprietors of a glass factory located ten
miles from Albany, at Dowesborough, in the midst
of a well-wooded pine forest, applied to the legisla-
ture for aid in the undertaking, giving as a reason
that ^30,000 annually was sent abroad for glass.
In 1793 the legislature of New York voted to loan
them $3000 for eight years without interest, and five
years at five per cent., but by this time the works had
passed out of the De Neufville family. The history
of glass making in New York State shows that up
to 1850 there had not been much headway made in
establishing it on a permanently successful basis.
Many factories were started, but ran for only a
short time, and none of those in operation in 1850
are now in existence.
In 1820 some workmen left the New England
Glass-Works at East Cambridge and built a factory
in New York City, under the firm name of Fisher &
Gilland; but in 1823 the partnership was dissolved,
and Mr. Gilland removed to Brooklyn, where he es-
tablished what were known as the South Ferry Flint-
Glass Works. Mr. Gilland up to 1850 was evidently
very successful. He had the reputation of making
the finest flint-glass made in this country, and at the
London Exhibition in 185 1 took a medal for the best
flint-glass on exhibition. He afterward failed, and
the works are not now in existence. In the census
of 1880 New York had nine window-glass works,
producing glass to the value of $1,157,571; nine
green-glass works, producing glass to the value of
$722,322. This record shows that the establish-
ments were not very extensive, as they average only
a httle more than $75,000 per factory.
From all the information obtainable, glass had
been made up to this time in fifteen States in the
Union. In Maine and Connecticut there is no glass
made at the present time. It is impossible, owing to
the imperfect state in which the census was taken, to
get anything like an accurate account of the value of
the product, or the number of people employed, pre-
vious to the census of 1870. Like other industries
in the United States, the history of the glass business
was, between 1850 and i860, one of great depres-
sion. Fine glass was made in New England and in
New York and in one or two factories in Pittsburg,
but the bulk of the product was of poor quality, and
the window-glass did not in any way measure up to
the imported glass. During this period, however,
a great impetus was given to the flint-glass business
by the making of coal-oil from coal and the later
discovery of petroleum. The demand for lamps and
lamp-chimneys was very extensive. One of the first
to make a specialty of glass for lighting purposes was
Christopher Dorflinger, who started with a capital of
$1000 in 1852, in Concord Street, Brooklyn. The
furnace held five small pots, and was afterward in-
creased to hold seven, until in 1861 he was operat-
ing four furnaces. The first year his sales amounted
to $30,000, and he employed eighty-five people.
When he left Brooklyn in 1865 his sales amounted
to $300,000. The factories increased in Brooklyn,
from 1858 to 1865, from two to fifteen, mostly mak-
ing the same class of ware, which was principally for
lighting purposes — lamp-chimneys, gas-globes, and
lamps. In 1865 Mr. Dorflinger moved to White
Mills, and estabHshed what is now one of the best-
known and largest of the manufactories of cut glass,
while at the same time the reputation of the Dorf-
hnger cut glass is second to none. Mr. Dorflinger
has a record of forty-three years in the manufacture
of flint-glass.
In i860, from the best records we can get, the
product of the glass factories did not exceed $7,000,-
000. 1 86 1 and 1862 were off years. The excite-
ment incident to the commencement of the war pro-
duced great depression, but from 1862 until 1870
the increase in production was very great, and the
census showed 154 establishments, with 15,367 em-
ployees, producing glass to the value of $16,470,507,
with a capital invested of $13,826,142. It was dur-
ing this decade that great improvements were made
in the making of pressed glass. The modern dis-
AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS
279
covery of pressing glass was an American invention,
and the credit is given to the Sandwich Glass Com-
pany, who, at the solicitation of a carpenter, in 1827
made a mold to press an article he wanted made.
After that the mold increased rapidly in favor, but
was used only for the commoner class of goods for
many years, until the New England Glass Company,
by a series of expensive molds, had produced some
very fine effects in pressed glass. The triumphs of
pressed glass in this country, however, came from
Pittsburg. James B. Lyons & Company, of the
O'Hara Glass- Works, Pittsburg, made for many
years pressed glass only, and in 1867 made an ex-
hibit at the Paris Exposition, and took the first prize
for fine pressed glassware. Goblets and wine-glasses
were made almost as fine and delicate as those made
by the old mode of blowing and cutting. Prior to
1864 the pressed glass was either made of flint-glass,
the ingredients of which were the best of sand,
pearl-ash, refined saltpeter, and oxide of lead, and
was a very good crystal glass, or from what was then
known as German flint or lime glass, the ingredients
of which were soda-ash, lime, nitrate of soda, and
sand. This latter made a very inferior glass, apt to
crack, and very poor in appearance. It was used
principally in common tumblers and some lamp-
chimneys.
In the winter of 1864, Mr. William Leighton, Sr.,
of the firm of Hobbs, Brockunier & Company, of
Wheeling, made a series of experiments with bicar-
bonate of soda, with pure sand, lime, and refined
nitrate of soda, and produced a very clear, brilliant
glass, at a cost for the batch of not more than one
third that of the lead-glass or flint batch. The re-
sult was a complete revolution in the pressed-glass
business. It was impossible for the manufacturer
making flint-glass to compete, and the result was
that all had to adapt themselves to the change, and
some were driven out of the business. Up to this
time (1870) there had been very little change in the
fvirnaces, which were mostly the old-fashioned type
of round furnace, with the coal fired over the bench,
or the Frisbie bucket-teaser, where the coal was
pushed up from below. But the close competition
and the desire for increased production led to the
effort to get better results from the furnaces, and be-
tween 1870 and 1880 larger furnaces were built, into
which, by a series of flues, hot air was introduced
to the combustion-chamber, and much greater heat
secured with much less fuel. Many of the furnaces
also hold from thirteen to fifteen pots, and many of
the pots each hold two tons of glass.
In 1880 the census reports show that the number
of establishments had increased to 2 1 1 , employees to
24,177, production to $21,154,571, and that the in-
dustry was divided among sixteen States. It was
during this decade that the Centennial Exhibition
held in Philadelphia gave a large impetus to so many
industries. One of the great attractions was the
glass-works operated by Gillinder & Sons, of Phila-
delphia. It was a complete establishment, showing
the processes of melting, blowing, pressing, cutting,
etching, and annealing. The furnace held six pots,
and melted double the amount of glass made by the
first flint-glass works operated in this country by
Bakewell & Page, in 1808. This was the first time
anything of this kind was attempted in an inter-
national exhibition. The product was sold as
souvenirs, and realized $96,000. Over $14,000 was
paid to the Centennial Board of Finance as com-
mission on the sales.
At the close of 1 880 the glass trade was in a very
prosperous condition. Prices were good, and the
outlook looked promising for the future ; and it is
from this period we must date the wonderful progress
of plate-glass making in this country. In 1880 there
were but four plate-glass works in this country, and
only three in operation. They were located at New
Albany, Ind., Jeffersonville, Ind., Crystal City, Mo.,
and Louisville, Ky., the latter plant being idle. The
first attempt to make plate-glass was made in 1852,
when Messrs. Tilton, Pepper & Scudder started a fac-
tory at Williamsburg, now part of Brooklyn, N. Y.
The works were under the management of Cuthbert
Dixon, a plate-glass worker from the Thames Plate-
Glass Works, London, England. They produced a
good quality of rough plate, but, owing to the ruin-
ous competition of the English and German manu-
facturers, at the end of two years they were com-
pelled to close. There is some dispute as to where
the first plate-glass was made in the United States,
but there are existing proofs that the Williamsburg
works were the first, based upon the records found
in an old diary of the late William S. Dixon, of
Pittsburg, who was employed there as pot maker,
his father being the manager.
Attempts were made to make plate-glass at Chesh-
ire, Mass., Lenox Furnace, Mass., and at Green-
point, L. I., previous to i860. There are records of
polished plate-glass being made at Lenox in 1865,
but it was not continued. The successful founder of
the plate-glass industry in this country is Mr. James
B. Ford, of Pittsburg. In the year 1869 Mr. Ford
conceived the idea of making polished plate-glass,
and with this in view visited the works at Lenox,
gathered what information he could from the work-
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
men who had been imported from abroad, and re-
turned to New Albany with the determination to
make plate-glass. Machinery for this purpose was
imported, and the new plant was speedily success-
ful so far as the production of plate-glass was con-
cerned ; but, like all new enterprises of the kind, it
was not profitable, and in 1872 Mr. Ford withdrew.
The factory was continued by WiUiam C. de Pauw
until his death, and afterward by his heirs. To the
indomitable will and perseverance of this gentleman
this country is indebted for the early success of the
industry, as he demonstrated, after a hard struggle,
that polished plate-glass could be made here at a
profit. Mr. Ford afterward built a factory at Louis-
ville, Ky. It had two twelve-pot furnaces and was
equipped with the old-style French machinery. He
ran these works for two years and sold out, remov-
ing to Jeffersonville, Ind., where he built a plant
that he operated until he moved to Creighton, Pa.,
in 1881.
Shortly after the building of the New Albany plant,
Mr. E. B. Ward, of Detroit, and others, attracted
by a very extensive deposit of sand of fine quality,
originated the American Plate-Glass Company, with
a capital stock of $250,000, and began in 1872 the
erection of works at Crystal City, Mo. The capital-
ization was increased in 1874 to $500,000, and the
works were operated until 1876, producing some
glass of good quality ; but, owing to lack of experi-
ence, the management failed to make a profit. In
1877 the works were reorganized, new capital was
secured, Mr. A. E. Hitchcock, of St. Louis, president
of the old company, continuing in charge. Mr. G. F.
Neal, a practical plate-glass manager, took charge of
the works, and a Siemens furnace was erected. The
works have been largely increased, and plate-glass is
made in Crystal City equal to any found in Europe.
This was the condition of the plate-glass business
when Mr. Ford built the Creighton Works in the
midst of a rich gas-coal country. He built a factory
with a capacity of 70,000 square feet per month. It
was equipped with two sixteen-pot furnaces, eight
grinding and sixteen polishing machines. This was
really the first plate-glass works in this country that
paid for the large investment required in its estab-
lishment.
While the success of these works was very largely
helped by the experience that Mr. Ford had gained
from his previous ventures, a new factor was in-
troduced that had never been used in the making of
plate-glass before. This was natural gas, which it
was found could be used as a fuel. The Rochester
Tumbler Works had used it in their leers, and par-
tially in their furnaces, as far back as 1875 ; but not
having sufficient for the furnaces, it was not a suc-
cess. At about the time Mr. Ford was starting at
Creighton, wells had been drilled that promised in-
exhaustible quantities of the new fuel. For glass
making it is impossible to conceive of a more per-
fect fuel — no labor required for firemen, no dirt, no
ashes, and a uniform heat, or just what was required.
Natural gas was a great factor in the success of these
works, which were sold by Mr. Ford to the Pitts-
burg Plate-Glass Company, who enlarged them in
1883, and increased the output from 70,000 square
feet to 1 1 0,000 square feet finished product. Hav-
ing a great desire to own and operate his own works,
Mr. Ford, in 1884, commenced the building of a
plant at Tarentum, Pa., with a capacity of 150,000
square feet per month. Before it was completed the
Pittsburg Plate-Glass Company made him an offer,
which he accepted, and the Tarentum plant became
part of the Pittsburg Plate-Glass Works. The suc-
cess of their plants resulted in the building of plate-
glass works at Butler, Pa., in 1886, and at Cochran
Station, Pa., in 1889.
Natural gas had been discovered in Indiana. A
large plant was built at Kokomo, Ind., under the
name of the Diamond Plate- Glass Company. The
gas being in abundance, this same company erected
another large factory twenty miles away, at Elwood,
in 1 89 1 ; and the extensive works at Charleroi and
at Irwin, Pa., were erected the same year. The
Pittsburg Plate-Glass Company in 1887 commenced
the erection of what are now the largest plate- glass
works in the world. The company bought 480 acres
of land, and a town was laid out, and named Ford
City, in honor of Mr. J. B. Ford, who is one of the
largest stockholders. Under his personal supervision
the works were built, which have a monthly capacity
of 400,000 square feet.
In 1891 the De Pauw Plate-Glass Company built
a small plant at Alexandria, in the heart of the gas
belt, in Indiana; but the panic of 1893 caused its
suspension, and it has not been operated since.
The works mentioned have an aggregate monthly
capacity of 1,785,000 square feet, or an annual maxi-
mum production of 21,420,000 square feet, while the
consumption in this country has never exceeded
14,000,000 square feet; 3,075,491 square feet were
imported in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1895.
This great over-production, with a reduction in the
tariff, has caused greatly reduced prices, in conse-
quence of which several of the factories have re-
mained idle and none has operated to its full capacity
since 1 893. In 1 894 a movement was made by some
AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS
281
of the companies for self-preservation, which re-
sulted in the outright purchase by the Pittsburg Plate-
Glass Works of all the plate-glass works in the United
States, with the exception of those at Butler and Irwin
Station and the De Pauw plants of Indiana.
The total number of furnaces is forty-three of
twenty pots each, and two of sixteen pots each.
Of this number there are in operation at this time
only twenty- three furnaces, containing 460 pots.
Plates of glass are made containing 1 80 square feet,
or, say, twelve by fifteen feet. The success of the
plate-glass business, which really dates back only
twenty years, is one of the wonders of our age.
Much credit must be given to Mr. J. B. Ford, and
especially when we consider that when the factory
at Creighton was started he was over seventy years
of age, and had to impress upon the capitalists his
own faith that the business could be made to pay.
So far as Pennsylvania was concerned it was an en-
tirely new venture, the census of 1 880 showing that
no plate-glass was then made in Pennsylvania;
while in this year (1895) Pennsylvania has capa-
city enough, including the 3,000,000 feet imported, to
supply the whole country. The imports of 1894-95
are fifty per cent, more than the imports of 1893—94.
Mr. Ford is now trying to make us independent
of other countries in soda-ash, and at eighty-four
years of age is demonstrating that soda-ash can be
produced in this country at a profit. He erected a
factory at Wyandotte, Mich., for the production of
fifty-eight per cent, alkali. After a very large ex-
penditure of money and a loss of $1 50,000 it proved
a flat failure ; but, not discouraged, he started again
and almost entirely rebuilt the plant, and now has
much better success, and is producing fifty tons per
day of as good soda-ash as ever was imported.
He is now adding to this plant, to increase his
output to 100 tons per day. He has since purchased
143 acres of land to erect a factory to produce 150
tons more, and he says when this is done his ambi-
tion will be complete. It is to men of like ambition
and character that this country is indebted for its
commercial greatness.
From the year 1880 may be dated also the great
success of window-glass making. Prior to this time,
with few exceptions, the old furnaces and flattening-
ovens that had been in use for fifty years were still
prevailing. Fully twenty-five per cent, of the win-
dow-glass used in this country was imported. For
many years the workmen have been organized into
a union, which not only takes in the blowers, but the
gatherers, flatteners, and cutters ; these last two being
practically unskilled labor, and paid as such in
European countries. Then, to mend matters and
make the competition worse, the manufacturers of
Belgium and England had adopted what is known as
the tank-furnace ; no pots were required, a more uni-
form quality of glass could be depended upon, and
a much larger production. Mr. James Chambers, of
Pittsburg, who had succeeded his father in the manu-
factvu-e of window-glass, was in 1887 operating four
furnaces, with thirty-six pots, using natural gas in his
furnace and flattening-ovens. He had the improved
flattening- ovens, but he came to the conclusion that
something had to be done to put the window-glass
business upon a better basis. He made a trip to
Europe, obtained all the information possible, came
back to Pittsburg and organized the Chambers &
McKee Company, and, as president, planned, built,
and operated the plant at a place on the Pennsyl-
vania Railroad, twenty-seven miles east of Pittsburg,
called Jeanette. The foundation of the tanks was
laid in 1888, and in the spring of 1889 they com-
menced making glass. Glass workers and manu-
facturers all over the country, with few exceptions,
had predicted that the tanks would be a failure, and
that window-glass could not be made that way ; but
the tanks were a success from the first.
Mr. Chambers had associated with him in the
building of these tanks Mr. George F. Moore, after-
ward general manager of the works ; W. D. Hartupe,
as engineer; and H, L. Dixon, a furnace builder, in
charge of the construction of the tank-fiu-naces, leers,
ovens, etc. Their furnaces at that time were the
largest tank-furnaces in the world. Each fmnace
holds 800 tons, has a melting capacity of 30 tons
for every twenty-four hours, and turns out 480
boxes of single and 250 boxes of double strength
every twenty-four hours. There are three of these
furnaces at Jeanette that are 20 feet wide and 120
feet long, inside measure. Owing to financial dis-
agreement, Mr. Chambers withdrew from the Cham-
bers & McKee Company, and in 1 892 formed a com-
pany and erected a factory at New Kensington, nine-
teen miles from Pittsburg, on the Allegheny Valley
Railroad, and built two continuous tanks that are
said to be the largest in the world. They are 25
feet 6 inches wide, 130 feet long, inside measure;
each furnace will hold 1000 tons of molten glass,
and has a melting capacity of 35 tons, turning out
600 boxes of single and 300 boxes of double strength
every twenty-four hours. This is said to be the
largest and most complete establishment in the world
for the manufacture of window-glass.
Although it has been only six years since the first
window-glass tank-furnace was started in this coun-
282 ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
try, other manufacturers, quick to see its advantages. Probably the largest flint-bottle works in the
have adopted the system, and now sixty per cent, world are those of Messrs. Whitall, Tatum & Com-
of all the window-glass made in this country is made pany, located at Millville, N. J. They have thirteen
in tanks, and it needs no prophet to say that in the flint-furnaces, in addition to five green-glass furnaces
year 1900 there will be very little window-glass made and a green-glass tank, and employ from 1500 to
in pots. The total capacity of the country is 1664 1900 employees, according to the demand for their
pots, of which Pennsylvania has 1 2 tank-furnaces, goods. This business has been principally built up
with capacity of 532 pots; Indiana, 7 fiumaces, since i860.
capacity 282 pots; New York, i furnace, capacity The Rochester Tumbler Company, at Rochester,
36 pots ; New Jersey, i furnace, capacity 48 pots ; Pa., was organized in 1872, and commenced making
Ohio, 2 furnaces, capacity 54 pots ; or a total of 952 glass in July of the same year. They commenced
pots made in tank-furnaces. Some idea of the size with one ten-pot furnace and ninety employees, mak-
of these large furnaces at New Kensington can be ing a specialty of tmnblers, and with a capacity of
obtained by considering that previous to 1880 the 12,000 dozen per week. At present they operate
largest window-glass pots held but 1200 pounds, seven furnaces with eighty-eight pots, with a capa-
and a furnace of ten pots 12,000 pounds or six tons, city of 75,000 dozen per week, or 150,000 tumblers
and then comparing these figures with the tank-fur- each day. The melting capacity of the furnaces is
nace at New Kensington, holding 1000 tons. 120 tons of sand per week. The pots are very large,
Mr. Weeks gives the value of the product of win- and over 1000 hands are employed. When they
dow-glass in 1893 as $10,500,000. This was a cal- first commenced they made only common tumblers,
culation based on the works operating January i, but now they make every kind of tumblers, with a
1893, before the depression came. The imports of cutting, engraving, and decorating department. The
the year ending June 30, 1895, amounted to $837,- works cover over seven acres of ground. They make
730, which is the smallest amount imported for many their own barrels, boxes, and machinery, and almost
years, and is doubtless caused by the increased facil- everything used for the manufacture of glass. All
ities and cheapening of the products of our tank- the fuel used is natural gas. They do some ex-
furnaces, port trade, — probably more than any other concern
The discovery of natural gas, and its application in this country, — and without question have the
to the glass-furnaces, has led to a very great increase largest plant in the world making a specialty of
in the building of flint and green-glass works, and tumblers.
the census of 1890 gives the relative value of the The discovery of natural gas was the means of
products of each branch of the industry : largely stimulating the erection of flint-glass furnaces,
and many small towns offered land and a bonus
1880. i8ga ^
Plate-glass $868,305 $4,869,494 in money to have a glass-works estabhshed in their
Window-glass 5.o47,3i3 9,058,802 boundaries. By this means many works were started
Glassware 9,568,520 18,601,244 , . , r ^ iv.i 1 ^A t ^i, u ■
Green and black glass 5,670,433 8,521,464 by parties who had little knowledge of the busmess,
„ , I I so that the business was largely overdone, and prices
Total $21,154,571 $41,051,004 . u.^,.^u:^ L ^A u
in 1 89 1 were such that little or no profit could be
From these figures it will be seen tliat in this period made. Labor was high, and, in view of there being
the industry has almost doubled its production, the so much demand for it, was aggressive and unrea-
largest increase being in plate-glass and glassware, sonable in its claims, being backed up by its labor
Glassware covers all the glass used for hghting pur- organizations. A number of manufacturers met to-
poses, such as lamp-chimneys, gas-globes, and shades, gether and formed a stock company under the name
globes and bulbs for electric light, table-glass, both of the United States Glass Company, which com-
pressed and cut, flint-glass bottles— in fact, every- pany bought up fifteen of the largest and most com-
thing that is made in crystal or fancy colored glass, plete press manufacturers in the country, located in
In this branch of the industry, in 1880, 73 estab- Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. The fif-
lishmentswerereported, with a capital of $6,907,278. teen estabhshments had a capacity of twenty-nine
In 1890, 125 establishments were reported, with a furnaces. The company afterward erected a plant
capital of $15,448,196, an increase of 123.65 per at Gas City, Ind., with three fifteen-pot furnaces, to
cent. It is impossible to go into detail as to all the get the benefit of the natural-gas fuel. The capital
works, and I will confine myself to a few of the stock of the company is $4,158,100, $640,000 of
notable ones in the different lines. which is preferred and $3,518,100 common stock.
AMERICAN GLASS INTERESTS
The first year of its existence as a corporation the
sales amounted to very nearly $3,000,000, With a
view of consolidating the plants the company bought
500 acres of land on the Monongahela River adjoin-
ing McKeesport, Pa., and have erected two fifteen-
pot furnaces, and propose, as opportunity offers, to
finally move all their plants to this one point. It is
without question the largest flint-glass works in the
world, and is almost able to supply this country with
table-glass, if all the furnaces were in full operation.
Quite a number of flint-glass works are operated
in the making of glass for lighting purposes — arc-
globes, gas-globes, and shades for electric lighting.
There are six leading companies making these goods,
four of them located in Philadelphia, Pa., one at
Monaca, Pa., and one at Brooklyn, N. Y.
Gillinder & Sons, of Philadelphia, were the first of
these works established, and operations were com-
menced in 1 86 1 by WiUiam T. Gillinder, the father
of the present owners. Their works have two fur-
naces, with twenty-three pots, and have a capacity
of production to the amount of $400,000 per annum.
It is impossible to continue further to enumerate spe-
cial plants, but I think I have established the fact
that so far as glass making is concerned we are prac-
tically independent. We have sand in almost every
State of the Union fit to make glass. The sand of
Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Missouri is equal
to, if not better than, any other sand in the known
world. Soda-ash and other chemicals are being
made, and when the beet-sugar industry is fully
established we shall be able to get pearl-ash from
the ashes of the beet, so that it will not be necessary
to import our potash from Germany. We have fire-
clay for furnaces, which is found in many States of
the Union, notably in New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsyl-
vania, and Missouri. The pot-clay found near St.
Louis, Mo., has been used for more than forty years.
It is a very superior clay, and for the making of
glass-house pots is unsurpassed. It is capable of re-
sisting a very high degree of heat, and will stand the
changes of temperature much better than the most
celebrated clays of Europe.
The census report of 1890 gives number of fac-
tories, 294 ; product, $41,051,004. A carefully pre-
pared statement by Mr. Weeks shows that in 1893
we produced :
GLASS PRODUCTION IN 1893.
Plate-glass to the amount of $7,600,000
Window " " " 10,500,000
Flint " " " 20,000,000
Green and black glass to the amount of 9,500,000
Our imports for the year ending June 30, 1895,
amounted to $6,541,661. Owing to the environ-
ment of the glass-works abroad there will always be
some glass imported, but the time will come when
the amount brought over will be very much reduced.
Our exports of glass have never been very large.
EXPORTS FROM 1826 to 1895.
Year. Exports.
1826 $44,557
1832 106,855
1842 36,718
1850 136,682
i860 277,948
Year. Exports.
1870 $530,654
1880 749,866
1890 882,677
1895 946,381
A total of $47,600,000
We can get no data that will give the kinds of glass
exported. Window-glass is credited with $1 1,140 ;
all others, $935,241. This shows that we can ex-
port but little window-glass under existing condi-
tions. The statistics from the Treasury Department
show that in 1894 we exported to British America
$345,199, and to Mexico $108,988, making a total
for both of $454,187. Thus it appears that these two,
our near neighbors, took about one half of our ex-
ports. Cuba took $82,931 ; France, $18,267 ; Eng-
land, $44,076 ; and British Australia, $54,973. The
balance was distributed among forty-nine other coun-
tries, no one of which took more than $26,576. Our
principal export was pressed glass. There is no
other glass we can sell cheaply enough to compete
with the cheap-glass producers of Europe, and this
demonstrates that the markets of the United States
are worth more to us, fifty times over, than the
markets of the whole world.
In the preparation of this article I have been aided
very much in the early records by the " History of
Glass Making in the United States," prepared by
Mr. Joseph D. Weeks ; and for information in regard
to the various improvements in furnaces and leers,
by H. L. Dixon, of Pittsburg, who for the past fif-
teen years has been identified with the building of
many of the improved furnaces that have taken the
place of the old furnaces. What the future one
hundred years will produce in the product of our
furnaces none can tell. Had any one said one hun-
dred years ago that the United States in 1895 would
produce glass to the value of $47,600,000, he would
have been deemed insane ; or that a furnace would
be constructed that would hold 1 000 tons of molten
glass, and make 900 boxes of window-glass every
twenty-four hours ; or that a single plant would make
75,000 dozen tumblers per week; but such are the
facts. The distribution of this product in the various
States of the Union is shown in the subjoined table,
taken from the census of 1890:
284
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
GLASS PRODUCT BY STATES IN 1890.
Pennsylvania $17, 179, 137
Ohio 5.640, 182
New Jersey 5,218,152
Indiana 2,995,409
New York 2,723,019
Illinois 2,373,011
Maryland 1,256,797
Missouri 1,215,529
West Virginia 945,234
Massachusetts 431,437
Kentucky
Georgia
Wisconsin
California )■ 1,065,397
Colorado
Delaware
Michigan
$41,051,004
The uses of this material in new ways have won-
derfully increased diu"ing the past century. Dr.
Muspratt says, that without speaking of the econom-
ical uses of this compound, and considering it only
with reference to its application in the study of na-
tural phenomena, it is impossible to doubt the singu-
lar influence it has exerted on the progress of science.
It is chiefly by its aid that astronomy has attained
a perfection so wonderful. By it also naturalists
have been enabled to study under the microscope
a host of phenomena which have before escaped
notice. But perhaps of greater importance is the
use made by chemists in their experiments. It re-
quires no profound chemical knowledge to recog-
nize the fact that to glass is chiefly owing the present
advanced state of the sciences so fruitful in mar-
velous applications.
With increased capital and the intense competition
of the age there must be still greater improvement,
and with her many advantages the United States in
the future will be the great glass-producing country
of the world.
CHAPTER XLI
AMERICAN POTTERIES
THE potter, with his wheel, is the oldest artisan
of whom we have any record. In fact, the
potter antedates history. His was one of
the arts earliest known to man, and in the face of an
inscrutable antiquity the date of its origin can scarcely
be established by the evidence of the oldest records,
which are those of the Chinese, ascribing the inven-
tion of pottery to their Emperor Hoangti, about
2700 B. c. It might be said, that no people known
to history have been without evidences that they
made, and used, earthen vessels in some form.
The Hindoo and the Hebrew knew the art, and
practised it, as did the Egyptian bond-master of
the olden times and the Roman conqueror of the
later day. When, in its turn, Rome fell, and its civi-
lization sank beneath the barbarian flood which
rolled in from the north, the potter disappeared from
Europe. With the invading Moors he returned to
Spain, however, and during the fourteenth and fif-
teenth centuries the wonderful art of the Italian
Middle Ages had adopted him, and masters such as
Raphael were designing the decorations for his
wares, and the priceless majolica of the modem col-
lector was being produced. In the latter century,
also, potteries for the manufacture of the famous
Delft ware were established by the Dutch, at the
town of that name in Holland. The Dresden pot-
teries were opened in 1751, those at Sevres in 1754,
and, a little later, Josiah Wedgwood had so mas-
tered the art in England that he was able to produce
copies of the famous Portland Vase of such excel-
lence and beauty that very high prices were readily
obtained for them.
The Greek potters, also, in early times, produced
many beautiful forms in pottery, decorated in refined
taste. Many are the rare and beautiful specimens
of ancient production that have become historical
and are of fabulous value. In early Colonial days
small potteries were established from time to time.
as needed, in nearly if not all the American colonies,
to supply the demand for the commonest kinds of
pottery ware. Since the remotest times pottery, or
earthenware, has been an American product. The
Mound Builders in the prehistoric era, and the In-
dians before the white man, both made and used it.
The first manufactory for white ware in America of
which we can find any record was established by
Dr. Daniel Coxe, of London, at Burlington, N. J.,
in 1685. Dr. Coxe was one of the West Jersey pro-
prietors. The extent to which the undertaking had
been carried by 1688 is best related in an inventory
of that date, offering the works for sale, as follows :
" I have erected a pottery at Burlington for white
china ware. A great quantity, to the value of 1200
pounds, has already been made, and vended in the
country and neighbouring colonies and ye islands of
Barbadoes and Jamaica, where they have been in
great request. I have two houses and kilns with all
necessary implements, diverse workmen, and serv-
ants. Have expended thereon about 2000 pounds."
That the ware turned out from this pottery was
china is scarcely to be credited, inasmuch as yellow
and cream-colored were the only wares known, even
to the EngHsh potters, except, of course, porcelain,
which came from China, whence the name of " china-
ware " was derived.
To Mr. Edwin Atlee Barber the writer is indebted
for much information regarding the early pottery at-
tempts in this country. From his recent work on
" Pottery and Porcelain of the United States," I
make the following interesting abstract :
" A patent was taken out, in 1 744, by Edward
Heylyn, of the Parish of Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, merchant, and Thomas Frye, of the Pa-
rish of West Ham, in the County of Essex, painter,
for the manufacture of China ware, and the following
year they enrolled their specifications, in which they
state that the material used in their invention is an
285
286
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
earth, the produce of the Cherokee nation in Amer-
ica, called by the nation ' Unaker.' The specifica-
tion of the patent is of startUng interest. Who would
have thought, until Mr. Jewett unfolded this docu-
ment to modern light, that the first Enghsh china
that we have any knowledge of was made from
American china clay? Let our American cousins
look out for and treasure up lovingly specimens of
the earliest Bow-ware after learning that. This
* Unaker,' the produce of the Cherokee nation in
America, is decomposed granite rock, the earth or
clay resulting from the washing being the decom-
posed feldspar of that rock. It is curious that it
should have been imported from among the Chero-
kees, when we have mountains of it so near as Corn-
wall, unknown, however, to any whom it might con-
cern until Cookworthy discovered it, twenty-four
years later than the date of the above patent."
There are records of a pottery enterprise started
in South Carolina in 1765, which maintained a very
brief existence, and of which but little is known; the
results of which, however, seem to have seriously
alarmed the greatest of English potters, Josiah
Wedgwood, who, writing to a friend, shows his
anxiety regarding the establishment of the pottery
industry in America. This letter runs as follows :
The bulk of our particular manufactures are, you
know, exported to foreign markets, for our home con-
sumption is very trifling in comparison to what is sent
abroad ; and the principal of these markets are the con-
tinent and islands of North America. To the continent
we send an amazing quantity of white stone ware and
some of the finer kinds, but for the islands we cannot
make anything too rich and costly.
This trade to our Colonies we are apprehensive of
losing in a few years, as they have set on foot some Pott-
works there already, and have at this time an agent
amongst us, hiring a number of our hands for establish-
ing new Pottworks in South Carolina, having one of
oui insolvent master Potters there to conduct them.
They have every material there equal, if not superior,
to our own, for carrying on that manufacture, and as
the necessaries of life, and consequently the price of
labor amongst us are daily advancing, it is highly prob-
able that more will follow them and join their brother
artists and manufacturers of every class, who from all
quarters are taking a rapid flight, indeed, the same
way. Whether this can be remedied is out of our sphere
to know, but we cannot help apprehending such conse-
quences from these emigrations, as make us very uneasy
for our Trade and Pottery.
It is said that Wedgwood, for several years, used
considerable quantities of these Carolina clays, and
also those from Florida.
There is mention of a pottery at Germantown,
New Quincy, Mass., as early as 1760. Some sam-
ples of its ware were said to be almost vitreous.
There is but little information to be found concern-
ing it.
There seems to have been a " China Factory '*
built on Prince Street, Philadelphia, in 1769, which
ended in failure in a very short time, and was
abandoned.
There was a serious attempt to establish works
about the same time in Philadelphia, as will appear
by the following announcement in a newspaper in
the year 1769, which I quote from Mr. Barber:
" Notwithstanding the various difficulties and
disadvantages, which usually attend the introduc-
tion of any important manufacture into a new
country, the proprietors of the china works, now
erecting in Southwark, have the pleasure to ac-
quaint the public they have proved to a certainty
that the clays of America are productive of as good
porcelain as any heretofore manufactured at Bow,
near London, and imported into the Colonies and
plantations, which they will agree to sell upon very
reasonable terms, and, as they propose going
largely into the manufacture as soon as the works are
completed, they request those persons who choose
to favor them with commands, to be as early as
possible, laying it down as a fixed principle to take
all orders in rotation, and execute the earliest first.
Dealers will meet the usual encouragement, and
may be assured that no goods under thirty pounds
worth will be sold to private parties out of factory
at a lower advance than that from their shops.
All workmen skilled in the different branches,
throwing, turning, modeling, moulding, pressing
and painting, upon application to the proprietors,
may depend upon encouragement suitable to their
abilities, and such parents as are inclined to bind
their children apprentices to either of these
branches, must be early in their appHcation, as
only a few of the first offerings will be accepted
without a premium. None will be received under
twelve years of age, or upwards of fifteen. All
orders from the county or other provinces, en-
closed in letters, post paid, and directed to the
China Proprietors in Philadelphia, will be faith-
fully executed, and the ware warranted equal to
any in goodness and cheapness hitherto manufac-
tured in or imported from England." The pro-
prietors were Gousse Bounin, probably from Bow,
and George Anthony Morris, of Philadelphia. In
1 77 1 their financial needs impelled them to seek
assistance from the Colonial government, in which
AMERICAN POITERIES
287
they were not successful. Being unable to with-
stand the competition with the manufacturers in
Europe, Mr. Bounin ceased his labors, and the
pottery was closed.
The year 1795, with which we begin the dis-
cussion proper of the pottery trade in this country,
saw a goodly number of potteries in operation, but
their output was comparatively small. Everything
was made with the hands and feet by the use of the
ancient potter's wheel, to which, in those days, the
power was applied by the thrower's foot. The
thrower's wheel in these early days was called a
"kick wheel." The potter's wheel is still used,
and nothing new can take its place. Better ware
can be made in the ancient manner of throwing
and turning than in any other way. The text of
Scripture which says that the clay is in the hands
of the potter is still as true as when it was first
written, for nothing can take the place of the hu-
man hand as applied to the clay on the thrower's
wheel. The only advancement made in the throw-
er's wheel, from the most ancient times to the
present, is, that the rotary motion is now given to
the wheel by steam-power instead of foot-power,
thus allowing the operative potter to give his whole
attention to the clay on the wheel.
Abraham Miller, for many years, had a pottery
in Philadelphia, succeeding his father, who com-
menced, before 1791, making common earthenware,
fire-brick, etc. He seems to have been one of the
most intelligent potters of his day. He was one
of the earliest to make fine porcelain, and produced
some very superior ware; but, for some reason,
did not undertake to make it a practical business,
probably for the reason that, while there was a
profit in making common ware, the disadvantages
in making porcelain in competition with foreign
goods of the same character were so great, owing
to an insufficient tariff, that profit was impossible.
It is known that there was a " china " factory
in existence in 1800, in Philadelphia, near Fourth
and Chestnut streets, probably making plain white
ware, as such ware seems to have been called
chinaware at that time, but little is known of it.
The Columbian Pottery in 1808 was making
queensware — as crockery ware was then and now
is sometimes called. Alexander Trotter was the
proprietor^ and he continued the business until
about 1 8 13. This pottery claimed to produce ware
of a quality equal to any made in Staffordshire,
England. But little can be learned of it.
The Jersey Porcelain and Earthenware Com-
pany of Jersey City was incorporated in 1825,
with George Dummer, Timothy Dewey, and others,
as incorporators. The next year, the Franklin In-
stitute, of Philadelphia, awarded to its exhibit a
silver medal as " the best china from American
material." The making of porcelain was, however,
of short duration. In 1829 the establishment
passed into the hands of Messrs. Henderson, who
in a few years organized the American Pottery
Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $150,-
000, and commissioners were appointed by an
act of the Assembly to receive subscriptions.
The ware produced by this company was of very
good quality, but was confined to special articles,
no general line of crockery ware being made. The
pottery afterward fell into other hands, and con-
tinued making a similar class of goods under the
name of the Jersey City Pottery. After various
other changes and vicissitudes of fortune, Rouse
& Turner became the proprietors, still making
druggists' wares and specialties. It existed until
after 1861, when it gradually changed its products
into a general line of crockery, and continued in
existence until a recent date, having maintained
a checkered existence of upward of sixty years.
One of the most determined attempts in the
first half of this century to establish a pottery enter-
prise for the manufacture of a full line of goods
was commenced in Philadelphia in 1825, by Wil-
liam Ellis Tucker, after experiments made for sev-
eral years previously with American materials.
The location of the pottery was at the comer
of Schuylkill Front — now Twenty-third Street — and
Chestnut Streets. From the beginning he seems
to have met with serious troubles, as the follow-
ing extract from a paper read before the Historical
Society of Pennsylvania, in 1868, graphically nar-
rates: "We burned kiln after kiln, with very poor
success. The glazing would crack, and the body
blister, and, besides, we discovered we had a man
who placed the ware in the kiln who was em-
ployed by some interested parties in England to
impede our success. Most of the handles were
found in the bottoms of the seggers after the kilns
were burned. We could not account for it until
a deaf and dumb man in our employment de-
tected him running his knife around each handle,
as he placed them in the kiln. At another time,
every piece of the china had to be broken before it
could be taken out of the segger. We always
washed the round O's, the article in which the
china was placed in the kiln, with silex ; but this
man had washed them with feldspar, which, of
course, melted and fastened every article to the
288
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
bottom. But William discharged him, and we got
over that difficulty."
The committee of the Franklin Institute on
awards, in 1827, when considering pottery wares,
made a report from which the following extract
is taken : " This is a manufacture of great impor-
tance to the country, as most of the capital ex-
pended is for labor, the materials being taken out
of the soil in great abundance and purity. The
highest credit is due to Mr. William E. Tucker
for the degree of perfection to which he brought
this valuable and difficult art. The body of the
ware appeared to be strong, and sufficiently well
fired, the glaze, generally, very good, the gilding
executed in a neat and workmanlike manner. Some
of the cups and other articles bear a fair compari-
son with those imported." A silver medal was
awarded. In 1829, Mr. Thomas Hulme, of Phila-
delphia, became a partner in the enterprise and put
in additional capital, and the firm became Tucker
& Hulme. The quality of the goods rapidly im-
proved. The partnership was of short duration, as
Mr. Hulme withdrew shortly thereafter. Financial
support seems to have been needed; application
was made for government aid, and among other
public men communicated with on the subject was
Andrew Jackson, as the following letter from him
indicates :
Washington, April 3, 1830.
Sir: I have had the honor to receive your letter of
the 3rd of March, and since, the porcelain, which it
offered to my acceptance. I was not apprised before,
of the perfection to which your skill and perseverance
had brought this branch of manufacture. It seems to
be not inferior to the finest specimens of French porce-
lain. But whether the facilities for its manufacture
bring its cost so nearly to an equality with that of the
French as to enable the moderate protection of which
you speak to place it beyond the reach of competition
in the markets of the world, is a question which I am
not prep?.red to answer.
If Congress could be made acquainted with the ex-
periments on the subject, and they should confirm your
favorable anticipation, there would be scarcely a doubt
of its willingness to secure the important results of the
manufacture. I do not see, however, any mode by
which this can be effected on any other principle than
that of protection.
You would probably have a right to a patent for the
discovery, but this right would have to be determined
in the usual way.
Congress has refused to make a donation to the heirs
of Robert Fulton for the national benefits resulting
from his discovery, upon the principle that the consti-
tution does not provide any other reward for the au-
thors of useful discoveries than that which is contained
in the article in relation to patents. The same objec-
tion would of course defeat your application for $20,-
000 as remuneration for this discovery, as a reward for
its free communication to the world.
It will give me much pleasure to promote the objects
you have in view, so far as they are within my constitu-
tional sphere. There is no subject more interesting to
me than that which concerns the domestic economy of
our country, and I tender you my sincere thanks for an
example of its success so creditable to yourself.
With great respect, believe me,
Yr. Obt. Svt.,
Andrew Jackson.
Mr. Wm. Ellis Tucker,
Philadelphia.
Mr. Tucker's scheme for gaining congressional
help proved unsuccessful. He continued the busi-
ness, receiving a silver medal from the American
Institute of New York for an exhibit of his wares
in 1831.
Judge Joseph Hemphill, of Philadelphia, who
had recently become interested in the subject of the
manufacture of china while abroad, just before the
death of Mr. Tucker, had obtained a pecuniary in-
terest in the pottery, and the firm became Tucker
& Hemphill in 1832.
Just previous to the death of Mr. Tucker, another
appeal to Congress was made for a tariff of protec-
tion to the industry from foreign competition, which
brought the following letter from Henry Clay :
Washington, June 23, 1832.
Gentlemen : I received your favor of the 21st inst. on
the subject of your manufacture of porcelain. I had
been previously aware of its existence, and had seen
some beautiful specimens of its production.
When the Tariff Bill shall be taken up in the Senate,
1 will take care that its attention shall be called to it.
Such is the state of parties here, however, the friends
of protection combating against the Treasury bill, sus-
tained by the whole weight of the Administration, that
it is extremely difficult to anticipate results on any part
of the tariff. With great respect ,
I am your ob. svr.
H. Clay.
Mess. Tucker & Hemphill,
Porcelain Manufacturers, Philadelphia.
After the death of the founder of this pottery,
William Ellis Tucker, his brother, Thomas Tucker,
managed the business in the name of Joseph Hemp-
hill, who associated with him his son, the late Mr.
Robert Coleman Hemphill, of West Chester, Pa.
Remarking upon the appeal for greater protec-
tion to the pottery industry above mentioned, it
John Moses.
AMERICAN POTTERIES
may not be out of place to mention the fact that in
1833 a tariff bill was passed decreasing instead of
increasing the tariff generally, which no doubt to
some extent had its influence on the few years' ex-
istence which this pottery still maintained. Under
Joseph Hemphill's ownership a more pretentious
style of decorations was introduced, and foreign
artists were imported for the purpose. The ware
was extensively sold to the wealthy classes of Penn-
sylvania and New Jersey, and many prominent
families had dinner sets made to order for their use.
Some very interesting pieces are still to be seen in
various parts of the country. Several exhibits of the
ware were made in Philadelphia and New York,
and it was very highly spoken of and admired for its
quality and decorations. The business continued
until 1835, when the American Porcelain Company
was incorporated, but this company amounted to
little, and in 1838 it ceased operations altogether.
Thus, after an existence of thirteen years of varied
experiences, this enterprise went down in the con-
test with foreign competition, after making the most
determined effort to establish the pottery industry
ever attempted up to that time in the United States.
The prices asked for china during the days of
this early factory were such as the buyer of to-day
would scarcely care to pay. Without going into
the matter at too great length, it might be inter-
esting to note what was asked at the factory for a
few of the more common articles of daily use, in
the plain white undecorated wares. Teapots sold
at from $1.00 to $1.25 each; coffee pots, $2.00;
pitchers, $1.00 to $1.50; butter-coolers; $1.00;
fruit-baskets, $2.00; sugars, $0.75; creams, $0,371^;
gravy-boats, $.50; plates, $2.50 to $4.00 per doz.;
saucers, $1.50 to $2.00 per doz.; cups, $1.50; cake-
stands, $1.00; and salads, $2.00 each. During the
period covered by the operation of the Tucker &
Hemphill china factory, and the years immediately
succeeding, the trade was growing rapidly in stone-
ware, yellow and Rockingham, and other colored
wares throughout the country at large. Perrine's
stoneware works were opened at Baltimore in 1827;
Homer & Shirley commenced the making of flint-
ware at New Brunswick, N. J., in 1831; John Han-
cock started his first yellow-ware factory at South
Amboy in 1828; in 1837 Charles Cartlidge began
to make porcelain hardware trimmings at Green-
point, Long Island. During the forties William
Bock & Brother established a pottery in the same
line of goods. In 1829 the Lewis Pottery was in-
corporated at Louisville, Ky., for making queens-
ware and china. The owners, at that time, of a
19
small pottery were induced to join the company.
The plant was moved from Pittsburg, and they
commenced making C. C. ware. The business was
continued until 1836, when it was abandoned.
About this time a Mr. Clews, an experienced Eng-
lish potter who had been manufacturing for years
large quantities of goods for the American market,
appeared. He had been successful in his American
trade. His goods had been very popular, and he
was known as a successful pottery manufacturer.
Among his various decorative designs were Ameri-
can scenery in dark blue, noticeably the views of
the Hudson River, the " Landing of Lafayette at
Castle Garden " in 1824, etc. He was soon en-
gaged in inaugurating a pottery enterprise at Troy,
Ind., situated on the Ohio River. The location
was considered favorable as being a good shipping
point, and was well situated regarding proximity to
suitable materials. In 1837 the Indiana Pottery
was incorporated by an act of the Legislature, with
James Clews and others as incorporators. The
company began business with the brightest antici-
pations. After a short time considerable money
was lost, the company changed its management,
and after a checkered career it disappeared in 1846.
Bennington, Vermont, which was one of the
towns where the old stone and earthenware pot-
tery was earliest established, came again to the front
about 1846, when C. W. Fenton, Henry D. Hall,
and Julius Norton commenced making Rocking-
ham, yellow and white wares in the old stone-
ware pottery of Norton & Fenton. After several
changes in the personnel of the firm, the estab-
lishment, in 1849, became the " United States Pot-
tery," and for many years afterward ranked as one
of the most progressive of American potteries. It
produced the first Parian, and also excelled in a
peculiar ware, patented by Mr. Fenton, somewhat
resembling majolica and called flint enamel. White
granite and soft paste porcelain were also turned
out by them, and so great was their success, that
in 1853 their works were enlarged and six new
and improved kilns built. Difficulties arose, how-
ever, and the factory closed in 1858. The other
potteries of that day, so far as can be recalled, •
were those of Ralph B. Beach, in Philadelphia;
William Wolfe, in Sullivan County, Tenn.; George
Walker's Temperance Hill Pottery, at West Troy,
N. Y.; Sanford S. Perry's stoneware works at the
same place; Moro Phillips's on the James River;
James Carr's Swan Hill Pottery, at South Amboy —
Mr. Carr is still living, and, I believe, the oldest
living potter in America; T. D. Wheeler's, at
290
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
South Norwalk; the American Porcelain Manu-
facturing Company's, at Gloucester, N. J.; Hough-
wout& Daily's decorating establishment, at 561-563
Broadway, N. Y. ; and the Southern Porcelain Com-
pany, in Aiken County, S. C, whose kaolin factory
was the only one in the South turning out white
and porcelain ware during the war. East Liver-
pool, Ohio, the other great home of the trade, owes
the foundation of its prosperity to the discovery of
clay in its neighborhood by James Bennett, an
English potter, who, in company with Anthony
Kearns, erected the first works there in 1839. In
1854 Isaac W. Knowles and Isaac A. Harvey
started a one-kiln factory for the manufacture of
yellow ware. Earlier than this, also. Salt and Mear
were making yellow and Rockingham wares in
1 841, and Woodward and Vodrey in 1848. Other
cities where pottery interests have had well-known
representatives are Cincinnati, Baltimore, Wheel-
ing, Peoria, Pittsburg, Boston, New York, Steu-
benville, Ohio, Greenpoint, Long Island, and many
others.
The foregoing brief review of the personnel of
the pottery trade in the earlier days summarizes
briefly those beginnings upon which all our later
success and artistic excellence have been reared.
Trenton, the foremost pottery center of the United
States to-day, built its first factory in 1852, Messrs.
Taylor, Speeler & Bloor being the proprietors.
The following year William Young & Sons
erected the second Trenton pottery for the manu-
facture of common ware and Rockingham. Situ-
ated most advantageously as regards transportation,
either by rail or water, the Trenton potteries were
enabled to extend the previous searches made for
material, and, in addition to the native clay de-
posits, Maryland and Pennsylvania were drawn
upon for flint and china-clay, and Maine, Con-
necticut, and North and South Carolina for feld-
spar. To-day the ground feldspar or flint can be
shipped from much greater distances and still
handled profitably, owing to improved methods of
running and grinding. Trenton, in common with
the rest of the countr}', scarcely considered her
pottery interests as her greatest industry until some
time after Messrs. Taylor and Speeler had fired
their first kiln. It was not, indeed, until the first
real protection by tariff" ever accorded the potter-
ies was enacted, as a war measure, that the Amer-
ican maker found himself able to enter the field
against the English potter, especially in the two
staple lines of white granite and C. C. The pre-
mium on gold, doubUng, as it did, the increased
duty, gave the potters the long-needed opportunity,
and new establishments sprang up in Trenton dur-
ing the decade succeeding the war at a rapid rate.
By 1880 the potteries of the country were turning
out a product valued at about $9,000,000. Only
ten years later, from the 707 establishments of the
country, an annual product of no less than $22,057,-
090 was being turned out, of which Trenton alone
produced a little over $5,000,000. From a gen-
eral production by all makers twenty years ago
of a few staple lines, Trenton potteries now turn
out a product that ranges from the daintiest of
decorated porcelain to the heavy earthenware of
the sanitary factories.
For some years previous to 1861 the tariff" rate
was twenty-four per cent, on white granite, etc. By
the tariff" legislation of that year the rate was in-
creased to forty per cent, on white. The legislation
made the tariff" rate on some other articles, needing
no more protection than pottery wares, double that
amount. This was due to the fact that the large
pottery industry, as now known, was not in exist-
ence at that time, and had no representatives to
fairly and fully urge its needs before the committee
who prepared such legislation. In no industry in
this country is labor more largely represented in
the cost of its production, it being ninety to ninety-
five per cent, of the entire cost, the other five per
cent, being represented as the value of the mining
right on the materials in the ground; the ninety-
five per cent, being labor in mining, preparation,
grinding, transportation, and the whole amount of
wages paid in the potteries. The wages paid by
American pottery manufacturers are fully double
those paid by English manufacturers, as is so ac-
curately shown on page 14 of the Report of
the Tariff" Commissioners. It has been claimed
by the enemies of the pottery industry that the
cost has been largely reduced by the use of im-
proved machinery, as has been the case in other
industries. This statement is not true. The only
use for improved .nachinery that yet has been found
practical is in the mixing and preparation of the
clay, flint, and spar for the use of the workmen, and
the substitution of steam for hand-power, for the
benefit of but a limited number of men in the pottery.
No article can be made fully complete, in the clay
state, and no large part of any, can be made by
machinery. No machinery has ever been invented
to work automatically, and none can work without
the guiding hand of the potter. The yielding na-
ture of the clay is such that, now as in the earlier
days, it must be formed and molded by the hands
AMERICAN POTTERIES
201
of the potter, savage or civilized. A new era
opened to the manufacturing industries of the
United States by the protective legislation of 1861,
the design being to increase the revenue and pro-
vide protection to American labor. While the
tariff bill of that year was under consideration, the
representatives of the established industries ap-
peared before the committee regarding the rate of
duty necessary for their respective needs. As be-
fore stated, there was no adequate representation of
the pottery interest. Instead of receiving a rate
of duty as high as any other industry, as its needs
required, the tariff rate was made forty per cent.
This rate was totally insufficient to encourage its
establishment, as I have remarked before. The
premium on gold soon began, but not until 1862
did it reach a point that induced the establishment
of one pottery for the manufacture of W. G. and
C. C, and the change of two or three others from
yellow and Rockingham to W. G. and C. C.
During the year 1863 several new potteries were
started, and other changes made in the potteries al-
ready established for Rockingham, yellow ware, etc.
In 1866, eleven potteries were making W. G. and
C. C. wares, and one continued making yellow and
Rockingham ware. The number has grown from
time to time, until they now number twenty-nine,
all told, in the city of Trenton, all making deco-
rated wares in addition to white, and some making
large quantities of underglaze printed ware as well.
The first pottery was started at East Liverpool,
Ohio, in 1839, to make Rockingham and yellow
ware, and during the following fifteen years five or
six more had been built making the same class of
goods. After this a few other potteries were built
from time to time, all making the same class of
goods. Clay suitable for making this ware hav-
ing been found in the neighborhood, made East
Liverpool a peculiarly fitting place for this branch
of the industry, and especially so as they had close
at hand coal suitable for their use. Soon after the
tariff legislation of 1863, they began, one after an-
other, to change their products to the better class
of crockery ware, the W. G. and C. C., and each
added a decorating department to its establish-
ment. New potteries also were rapidly built, until
the pottery establishments, all told, were twenty or
more in number. Trenton and East Liverpool are
the principal centers of the pottery industry.
There are also scattered about the country a con-
siderable number of potteries, in all making a total
of about one hundred in the United States, includ-
ing those making floor tile, etc., producing white
and decorated wares, annually, of the value of from
$8,000,000, to $9,000,000, employing nearly an
equal amount of capital, and from 9000 to 10,000
operatives. Fortunately for the industry, the gold
premium which furnished the additional protection
to the tariff continued for several years, and, grad-
ually diminishing, did not disappear until 1879.
Thereby a remarkable development had been at-
tained, the difficulties and discouragements incident
to most new enterprises had been well overcome,
and the consumers of the country had realized the
fact that American pottery wares were equal in
quality to foreign wares for household use. Thus
were the American potters generally able to with-
stand the strain caused by the entire disappearance
of the incidental protection of the gold premium
on the resumption of specie payments in 1879.
No one, with any knowledge of the manufacture
of fine pottery, can question the fact, when it is as-
serted that as a branch of industry it is surrounded
on all sides by dangers peculiar to itself. Every
piece of white goods, from the smallest to the great-
est, must pass through the hands of upward of
thirty different operatives in its growth from the
materials into the finished piece of ware. It will
readily be seen, then, that neglect, carelessness, or
ignorance on the part of any one individual can only
be detected when the piece of ware passes through
the two fires at white heat. It is then often found
to be absolutely worthless, in spite of the skilled
labor of the number of men that has been expended
upon it. This is true of all general pottery wares
for domestic use, but it is also true in a far greater
degree in the manufacture of porcelain, or china,
and the still finer Belleek or egg-shell china now
being made in this country. We have several fac-
tories devoted solely to the production of porcelain
goods for table use, and these goods successfully
compete with the French and English of the same
class. Again, there are a number of factories that
produce the finest possible grade of Belleek and
egg-shell china, surpassed in quality by none. The
extreme delicacy and fragility of these goods multi-
ply the dangers to which they are exposed in the
process of manufacture. Notwithstanding the fact
that only the most skilfully trained workmen are
employed in this branch of the industry, it is yet
impossible to prevent great loss by carelessness, ac-
cident, etc.
The United States Census reported that " there
were four hundred and eighty-four potteries in the
United States in 1850." The potteries named were
scattered all over the country, making common
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Stoneware, red earthenware, gas-retorts, drain-pipes,
terra-cotta ware, fire-brick, etc., to all of which the
twenty-four per cent, tariff then existing seems to
have been sufficient protection on account of the
goods being cheap and bulky, and because they
were manufactured where used. With the excep-
tion of a few goods of the commonest kind of white
ware, known as cream colored, or C. C, no white
crockery ware was made in 1850. Between 1850
and i86o a number of potteries started making yel-
low and Rockingham ware in Trenton, East Liver-
pool, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and other places;
and even in i860 the making of white tableware
had but barely commenced. Between the years
i860 and 1865, and after the stimulating effects of
the rapidly-increasing gold premium had been felt,
the substantial growth of the pottery industry be-
gan, and at the expiration of this decade in 1870,
the annual production of white ware reached $4,-
000,000. During the succeeding decade the num-
ber of potteries decreased, the growth of the indus-
try having been checked by the steady decUne in
the gold premium and its final disappearance.
The facts regarding the industry as shown by the
tariff commissioners' report are as follows :
AMERICAN POTTERIES, 1850-1880.
Pot-
teries.
Capital.
Production.
Average
Capital.
Average
Produc-
tion.
1850 . .
i860..
1870 . .
1880..
484
660
777
686
$ 777.544
1,701,774
5,249,398
6,380,610
$1466,063
2,706,681
6,045,536
7,943,229
$1,606
2,578
6,813
9,301
$3,028
4,100
7,780
11,578
Thus showing the ratio of increase of capital em-
ployed and of production to be as follows (these
statistics include all kinds of clay productions, brick,
terra-cotta, pipe, tiles, stoneware, flower-pots, red
earthenware, etc.) :
amount of capital and production per pottery in
i860 shows that the status of the potteries had not
then materially changed. In 1870, however, the
increase is very marked, and in 1880 the figures
show the growth to have been greatly retarded by
the gradual decline and final disappearance of the
gold premium. The last quarter of a century,
within which so many advances have been made
in the pottery trade proper, has also seen an ex-
tension of the industry along lines previously un-
developed. The potter has contributed largely to
the accomplishment of many of those latter day
conveniences known as "modem improvements."
The extensive sanitary and plumber's-ware trade is
a branch as important and generally recognized
to-day, as the older lines, and it is steadily growing.
The porcelain bath-tub is among the latest of the
luxuries of American life ; but the end is not yet,
and the next decade will probably witness many
innovations.
Pottery, Uterally speaking, could scarcely be con-
sidered to include brick and tile, and yet both
of these, and especially the latter, now approach
very closely in the processes employed and the ar-
tistic results obtained to the proper craft of the
potter. The glazed and ornamental kinds of brick
which have become so common during the last de-
cade are all made by machinery, turned out by
specially constructed model presses, burnt in con-
tinuous kilns, and treated with the utmost care.
The enameled brick is ordinary pressed brick
treated with a soft glaze and re-fired, or, in some
cases, is a fire-brick body on which the enamel is
originally placed and the whole burnt at one firing.
This is the English process, and while used by a
few of our larger manufacturers, the composition of
the enamel, or glaze, has been kept a profound
secret.
Tiles, and architectural terra-cotta work, are also
important branches of the pottery trade. Abraham
i8!;o
i860
1870
1880
Capital
PER Pottery.
$1,606
2,578
6,813
9,301
Increase per Pottery.
Increase,
over 1850. ... 60 per cent.
" i860 ... 164 "
" 1870 ... 37 "
Production
PER Pottery.
$3,028
4,100
7,780
11,578
Increase of Production
PER Pottery.
Increase,
over 1850 ... 36. 7 per cent
« i860 .89.7 "
« 1870 .. 48.8 «
From the above figures it will be seen by the
very small amount of capital employed and the
production, in 1850, that the potteries were then
very insignificant affairs, and that no white ware
could have been produced. The small increase in
Miller, mentioned earlier as one of the pioneer pot-
ters of the century in Philadelphia, was the first, in
1838, to make tile other than the old terra-cotta
roofing tiles, known in 1740. The first tiles for in-
laid flooring were turned out by the United States
AMERICAN POTTERIES
293
Pottery at Bennington, Vt., in 1853, and the man-
ufacture, after this factory closed in 1858, was largely
of an experimental nature until during the seventies,
when the damp-dust process succeeded that of the
wet clay, and works sprang up all over the country.
The artistic excellence which this branch of the
working of clays has now attained is too well known
to need description. The modeler with his plastic
sketches, reliefs, intaglios, and ambitious panels, has
already won a place well up in the ranks of art, and
closely akin to that of the sculptor. Through him
and his work, supplemented by the cunning of the
potter, America has achieved and holds the proud
distinction of leading the world in this branch of ce-
ramic production. Of the many processes and effects
by which the beauties of the art tile are thrown into
fuller relief or accentuation, want of space forbids
mention. The mechanical branch of tile-making,
however, has kept pace with the increased demands
of artistic endeavor, and clays, glazes, and coloring
are now handled with a precision and certainty never
before known. Terra-cotta, seen to-day in nearly
every building of any pretensions to architectural
elegance, is, comparatively speaking, an innovation
in building materials in this country. The first at-
tempts made to introduce it, about 1853, were com-
pletely unsuccessful, and it was not until 1870 that
the Chicago Terra-cotta Company, having intro-
duced the English method of manufacture, succeeded
in turning out a product that became immediately
popular. Apart from the beauty and finish of this
material, it is, also, one of the most enduring
known, and as it has considerable range in color, its
use is steadily increasing. There are many manu-
facturers of terra-cotta throughout the country to-
day, and at least a score of them are producing work
of a highly artistic nature. Roughly speaking, an
equal number may be said to be engaged in the
manufacture of ornamental art tiles.
The relations borne by the pottery trade to the
national commerce have, unfortunately, been alto-
gether one-sided in their character. American goods
have never sought a foreign market, but there is
scarcely a port of entry along our seaboard where
earthen, stone, or chinaware does not figure more
or less prominently in the customs returns. Since
the old days, when every village that could boast a
clay-pit had its own pottery and drew from it the
household-supply, the domestic product has never
been dominant in the market except during the pe-
riod of the Civil War and the protection then received,
which lasted, although far less effectively, until 1884.
In this year European goods were pouring in again,
19*
and by the next year, 1885, the total importations of
pottery amounted to $4,837,782. Since then, the
increasing volume of this trade has continued with
scarcely a break until the last year, when it has de-
clined slightly, owing to the depressed business con-
ditions since 1893, together with the impending
tariff changes at that time in contemplation.
The figures giving the imports since 1885 are as
follows :
IMPORTS.
Year.
Earthen,
Stone, and
Chinaware.
Year.
Earthen,
Stone, and
Chinaware.
1885
$4,837,782
4,947,621
5.716,927
6,410,871
6476,299
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
$7,030,301
8,381,388
8,708,598
9,529,431
6,879437
1886
1887
1888
i88q
Between these years the exports, of course, fluc-
tuated slightly, but the total variation has been tri-
fling and unimportant. From $135,385 in 1885 the
exports by 1894 had fallen to $127,437, a difference
inconsequential in itself, but significant by compari-
son with the greatly increased imports.
The present year has witnessed, so far as the re-
turns up to date can show it, a still further increase
of importations. Coincident with this, of course, has
been more or less depression of the domestic pottery
interests; but that is merely temporary and, in its
effects, will operate to force upon those concerned a
realization of certain vital principles which are at the
base of all American industry. There are too many
millions of dollars and thousands of working men
bound up in the welfare of the pottery-trade to-day
for its interests ever to suffer more than temporary
repression. The people of no country in the world
has at its very feet a more bountiful supply of the
raw material than Nature has given to us. The
finest materials for the manufacture of china are
found, so far as I know, in every State in the Union.
The native genius and persevering spirit have
overcome, so far, every obstacle placed in their path.
Recognition is already coming for the prolonged
patience of the potter, and whoever shall have to
write of pottery in the annals of the coming indus-
trial age will speak of it as one of the greatest of the
American trades, and one which has ever been ex-
pansive to the increased demands of our modem
wants.
In the foregoing account I have endeavored to
give, in a condensed form, some account of the early
struggles, disappointments, and disasters connected
294
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
with the history of the pottery business in this coun-
try, but who can describe the anxious but disap-
pointed hopes of men such as Bernard Palissy and
thousands of others unknown to history, who, like
him, ventured their all on the chances of fire — a
god or demon, as the result turned for good or evil
— lifting them into ecstasies of delight, or plunging
them into the depths of despair, want, and misery,
broken in fortune, health, and spirit ? In America
the development of the pottery business for some
years was phenomenal; but this growth of late
years has been checked, and, I might say, altogether
stopped. We do not make quite half of the domes-
tic crockery used in this countr}', and it can be truth-
fully said that the American potteries have not been
run up to their full capacity for several years. The
conditions of the business at the present time and
ever since August, 1894, are very discouraging, hav-
ing been caused by an unintentional and accidental
reduction of the tariff to the extent of twenty-five
per cent, more than was intended, making the re-
duction on plain white goods from fifty-five to thirty
per cent., and on decorated goods from sixty per
cent, to thirty-five per cent.
It may be thought that this statement is out of
place in this article, but it is a part of the history
of the pottery business, and one of the most trying
incidents. In writing this review of the trade I have
omitted the names of many prominent potteries be-
cause I could not fix the date of their first begin-
ning. Among them is a chinaware factory at Green-
point, Long Island, which for many years has been
successfully run by Messrs. Thos. C. Smith & Son,
making china after the French method. There have
been several large potteries built in the Ohio Valley,
a few of which have had a checkered experience.
Some have stopped, others have been in the hands
of receivers, been reorganized, and started up again ;
for the potters, as a rule, are plucky men, not easily
discouraged nor driven from their hopes of ultimate
success. One great difficulty that the foreign prac-
tical potters met with in their early efforts to estab-
lish the business in this country arose from the fact
that American materials are different from those of
England and other European countries, requiring
different treatment, different combinations, and a
greater amount of heat to produce the same results.
I am afraid that already more space has been occu-
pied by the writer than was intended, and will close
by expressing the hope that whoever lives to write
the history of pottery for the next one hundred years
will be able to show as much business success as has
been achieved during the past century in artistic
development of the potter's art.
CHAPTER XLII
AMERICAN GAS INTERESTS
A CENTURY covers, with some margin, the
history of gas-lighting, not alone in the
.^ United States, but in the world. Late in the
eighteenth century, William Murdock of England,
and Philippe Lebon of France, investigated the pos-
sibihties of the manufacture and distribution of il-
luminating gas distilled from bituminous coal. To
which of these investigators should be accorded
the merit of priority in the apphcation of coal-gas to
domestic purposes is one of the questions over which
English and French authorities are still disputing.
The first recorded instance of the illumination of
a house by artificial gas reported in the United States
fixes the date at 1806. In that year David Melville,
of Newport, R. I,, lighted his house, and the street
in front of it, with gas manufactured upon his
premises. This was one year before the first public
gas-lighting in England, but it was four years after
a display made at the Soho factory of Boulton &
Watt, and nine years after William Murdock lighted
his premises in Old Cumnock with gas of his own
manufacture. Melville improved his apparatus from
time to time, finally patenting it in 1 813. He intro-
duced gas for the lighting of a cotton-mill at Water-
town, Mass., and of a mill near Providence, and in
181 7 employed it in lighthouse illumination. From
this small beginning the gas industry in America
grew at first slowly, and later, with the development
of improved apparatus and the acquirement of more
accurate knowledge of the physical laws involved,
much more rapidly. In 18 16 a company was char-
tered in Baltimore, Md. In 1822 Boston adopted
gas-Hghting. In 1823 a company was organized in
New York City. In 1825, Brooklyn, New York,
and Bristol, R. I., were lighted with the new illumi-
nant. In 1835 the New Orleans Gas-Light Company
was chartered. These were the pioneer companies
in the United States, and the number grew until in
the year 1859 there were, according to tables pre-
pared by the " American Gas-Light Journal," 297
companies, with a capitalization of $42,861,174,
supplying a population of 4,857,000 through 227,-
665 private meters.
From i860 the growth of the business has been
rapid, until in 1895 the capital invested is, approxi-
mately, $400,000,000, and the annual output is,
approximately, 60,000,000,000 cubic feet, supply-
ing a population of 24,500,000, in 885 towns. The
number of plants named by the authority for the
above data (Brown's " Directory of American Gas
Companies ") is 999. Thus in thirty-five years the
number of companies has increased almost three and
one half times, the population supplied five times,
and the capital invested almost ten times. It is
probable that the sales of gas have increased twenty
times. It has been impossible to obtain a record of
the total sales for an earlier date than 1890.
While it is not possible to state the number of
premises at present suppHed throughout the United
States, an idea of the multitude of people who in
their homes and places of business enjoy the con-
venience and security of this modern illuminant
may be gathered from the fact that in 1894 there
were 134,447 premises supplied in the State of
Massachusetts ; and in the city of Philadelphia, for
the same year, there were 153,546 premises supplied.
There can be httle doubt that there are in the
United States to-day nearly 2,000,000 premises
supplied with gas.
The history of the gas-works in Philadelphia may
be taken as typical of the history of the earlier
plants erected to supply gas ; and this plant, being
operated by a city, has records which are available
for the scrutiny of the historian. Apparently the
earliest attempt to secure gas-works in Philadelphia
was made in 181 5, when it was proposed to manu-
facture gas from wood. This attempt failed. In
the winter of 1826-27 there was a proposition made
295
296
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
to erect works and light the city lamps with gas.
This plan also failed. There was at this time a
strong opposition on the part of certain Philadel-
phians, many of them men of high standing, to the
introduction of gas, it being claimed that there was
danger to life, limb, and health from the erection of
gas-works and the distribution of gas. It was not
until 1835 that an ordinance for the construction and
management of gas-works was passed. This ordi-
nance provided for the issuing of stock to the amount
of $100,000. It was estimated that the lighting of
the entire city would require 20,000 burners, con-
suming an average of four feet per hour each. The
works were completed early in 1836, and in 1837
distributed 17,000,000 cubic feet of gas. The gas
was made from bituminous coal, and 6816 private
bvu'ners and 301 public lamps were supplied. The
growth of the business is shown by the following
figures :
PRODUCTION OF GAS.
Ybar.
Gas Made.
Feet.
Number of
Consumers.
Price per Thousand.
1840
1850
i860
1870
1880
1890
1894
56410,000
182,016,000
639,578,000
1,241485,000
2,173,010,000
3,311,995.000
4,110,401,000
2,393
9,216
41,200
66,943
99.03s
134,555
154,743
$2.25
2.25
2.25
$2.55 and $2.30
2.00
1.50
$1.50 (3 Mos.) and
$1.00 (9 Mos.)
In fifty-four years the sales have increased ap-
proximately seventy times, the number of consumers
about the same, and the number of burners from
68 1 6, as given above, to nearly 2,000,000.
The history of one of the earlier companies, the
New Orleans Gas Company, shows a similar growth.
In 1836 the output was 7,300,000 cubic feet at $7
per thousand; in 1840 the business had grown to
20,075,000, at $7 per thousand. In 1850 the sales
were 53,562,000, at $5; in i860, 132,418,000, at
$4.50; in 1870, 238,468,000, at $4. The panic of
1873 was very severe on general business in New
Orleans, and a full recovery was not made until after
1880. The gas sales in that year were 230,296,000,
at $2.70. Between 1880 and 1890 the candle-power
of the gas, which had, previous to that date, been
about 16.5, was raised to thirty-three candles, and
the consumption fell away until in 1890 it was 181,-
497,000 feet. This falling off is due to the great
increase in the candle-power of the gas. In total
illuminating value the gas sold in 1890 was equal to
363,000,000 cubic feet of the gas sold in 1880.
The New Orleans Company is one of the few at pres-
ent in the enjoyment of a legal monopoly.
The first movement toward furnishing a supply
of gas to the city of Cincinnati was based upon a
communication written by John Towne, a resident
of Pittsburg, Pa., under date of September 7, 1827 ;
but it was nearly ten years later — April 3, 1837 —
when seven public-spirited citizens procured a char-
ter for the purpose of making and vending gas.
Though they made active efforts to induce capital-
ists to advance the funds, and even seciured cooper-
ative pledges from the city, all their efforts were
unavailing, and four years were consumed in fruit-
less endeavor. In the spring of 1841, a young
Englishman, John S. Conover, appeared upon the
field, and after much earnest effort induced the
municipal council to pass an ordinance, on the 1 6th
of June, 1 84 1, granting to him and his associates
the exclusive use of the city's streets for the pur-
pose of laying mains, and also granting him certain
contract privileges in the way of supplying gas to
public lamps. He then purchased the charter of
the company previously organized, and proceeded
to comply with his contract obligations. While
blessed with untiring energy, he possessed but little
capital, and had a very hard time getting construc-
tion under way and fighting off the ceaseless attacks
of councilmen. He finally assigned to John H.
Caldwell, a capitalist of New Orleans, a half -interest
in the undertaking, and with the capital advanced
by Mr. Caldwell was enabled to turn gas into his
mains on or about January i, 1843. Two years
later he died at Bedford Springs, Pa. John H.
Caldwell then succeeded to the presidency and as-
sumed the management of the company. The capi-
tal of the company was nominally $100,000, though
probably not half this sum had been expended in
building the works and laying about six miles of
mains. The price then charged for gas was $3.50
per 1000 cubic feet. December i, 1846, the price
of gas was reduced to $3, and January i, 1854, to
$2.50. The company had, January i, 1847, 546
meters and 192 public lamps in use, supplied through
32,487 feet of main pipe from two to eight inches
in diameter. Dry meters were first introduced in
July, 1 847. By January 1, 1 848, the number of meters
was 738, with 289 lamps; and the largest "send-
out " in one day, 88,600 cubic feet. Clay retorts,
imported from Belgium, were introduced in Decem-
ber, 1 86 1, and exhausters in October, 1863. The
following table represents the growth of the enter-
prise:
Emerson McMillin.
AMERICAN GAS INTERESTS
297
PRODUCTION OF GAS IN CINCINNATI.
Year.
Cubic Fbbt.
Consumers.
Lamps.
184s
iSso
7.947.300
33.039.900
71,359,200
157,216,200
245,441,200
355,449,000
577,244,000
518,336,000
751,278,000
1,076,780,000
561
».593
4,401
7.560
9.893
12,247
13,000
13,828
16,601
20,978
181
486
igee
1^:.::
1865
1870
ill^:::::::;:
2,780
3.328
5.042
6,957
7.488
9,676
1885
i8qo
The capital has been gradually increased, as ex-
tensions demanded, to its present requirements of
$8,500,000, with market value of $1 7,000,000. The
price of gas has been periodically reduced from the
initial price of $3.50 to the present price of $1 per
1000 cubic feet.
Gas-lighting in the city of New York has increased
at a rapid rate. Efforts to obtain accurate data from
some of the larger companies failed to elicit a re-
sponse. It is safe to assume, however, that the
output for the year 1894 was, in round numbers,
12,000,000,000 cubic feet.
In the first days of gas-lighting in America the
material used was almost exclusively soft or bitumi-
nous coal. In some Southern cities rosin and pine-
wood were used, and during the war these materials
were very largely employed in towns which were un-
able, owing to the blockade, to obtain coal. The gas
made from soft coal had an illuminating value of
approximately fifteen to seventeen candles, and was
considered a brilliant illuminant in the earlier days,
when comparison was made with whale-oil lamps
and tallow dips. But the advent of kerosene-oil
and the improvement in oil-lamps marked the com-
mencement of an era of higher candle-power, and,
by creating a new factor in the competition for
urban lighting, promised to reduce the rapid growth
of the gas business. While its convenience and
safety would, in the face of any oil competition,
insure gas a large share of the lighting business of
cities, the quality of gas supplied in 1870 could not,
at 1870 prices, compete on the basis of cost per unit
of light with the oil-lamps of that day, and its value
as a cooking and apartment-heating fuel had not
been demonstrated. Its prospect was somewhat
dimmed. At this crisis in its history a Frenchman,
Tessie du Motay, and an American, Professor T. S. C.
Lowe, of aeronautic fame, were independently
experimenting in the manufacture of gas by the dis-
sociation of steam in contact with incandescent
carbon. The result of these experiments was the
development of the water-gas systems that bear the
names of the distinguished inventors— the cupola-
retort system of Du Motay, and the generator-
superheater system of Lowe, the most important of
all inventions affecting the manufacturing of gas.
The experiments of Tessie du Motay, as well as
of Lowe, were carried on in the United States, and
the development of the water-gas system is purely
American. The first plant of any magnitude under
the Tessie du Motay system was erected for the
Municipal Company, of New York City, by the
Continental Iron Works, of Brooklyn, N. Y. Under
this type may be included the Jerzmanowski and
Wilkinson processes. In all processes of this type
the non-luminous water-gas is generated in cupolas,
carbureted with oil vapor, and passed through re-
torts externally heated, the gas thereafter being
condensed and purified, as in coal-gas and other
water-gas systems.
The Lowe process, covered by patents dated
1872 and 1875, may be regarded as the basis of the
modern water-gas system. It covers, broadly, the
use, in connection with a generator in which non-
luminous gas is made, of a superheater, or fixing-
chamber, fired by internal combustion, the combus-
tible being the gases which are formed during the
process of " blowing up " ; that is, during and from
the passage of air through the fuel in the generator.
This air is blown through the fuel — hard coal or
coke — at a high velocity, for the purpose of raising
the fuel to a condition of incandescence, fitting it to
dissociate the steam admitted during the gas-making
period. The Lowe process further covers the intro-
duction of oil or other enriching substances into the
non-luminous gas, and the fixing of this oil by pas-
sage through the super heater. The first Lowe appa-
ratus was erected at Phenixville, Pa., in 1873. A
short time later one was erected by the inventor
himself at Conshohocken, Pa., and a third, also by
him, at Columbia, Pa.
The modern water-gas apparatus is undoubtedly
the double superheater or improved Lowe, a de-
velopment of the Lowe idea by the United Gas
Improvement Company, the owners of the Lowe
patents (now lapsed) for the greater part of the
United States. Many modifications of each of the
two water-gas systems have been made and patented
by their inventors, but none of these have been of
sufficient importance to command special attention
or to overshadow the original inventions. After
several years of neglect or bitter antagonism on the
part of the coal-gas interests, the water-gas processes
obtained a firm footing, and since 1880 the intro-
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
duction of water-gas has been rapid. In 1 880 there
were in operation approximately 12 plants of the
Tessie du Motay type, and approximately 75 plants
of the Lowe type. By 1890 the number of Du
Motay plants in operation had grown to 30, and the
number of Lowe plants to 260. At this writing it
is estimated that there are in operation 40 plants of
the Tessie du Motay type and its modifications, and
350 plants of the Lowe type and its modifications.
There are about thirty-five companies operating
water, oil, and combined plants of various forms,
included in the above estimate. Every city in the
United States of over 400,000 inhabitants uses
water-gas, wholly or in part ; and all but six of the
cities of over 50,000 population by the 1890 census
have water-gas plants.
It is to be noted that among the largest water-gas
plants in the country are the Tessie du Motay plants
in New York City and Baltimore, and the Lowe
plants of Boston, Providence, Chicago, and the
Twenty-fifth Ward Works, Philadelphia. It is proba-
ble that at this date seventy per cent, of the illuminat-
ing gas manufactured in the United States is water-
gas, and by far the greater volume of this is made
under the Lowe process. Among the modifications of
the Lowe apparatus, but covered by the Lowe type,
are the Granger-Collins, Hanlon-Leadly, Springer,
Flannery, McKay-Critchlow, Martin, Pratt and
Ryan. These are all of the generator-superheater
type, variously modified according to the ideas of
the inventors.
There are several points of advantage in the
operation of a water-gas plant, each of which had
its weight in the argument that finally persuaded so
many coal-gas makers to adopt the water-gas pro-
cess. In its influence on the extension of the use
of gas, the particular point of advantage was the
candle-power. Water-gas is sold of candle-powers
varying from twenty-two, for a probable minimum,
to thirty-five candles in Pensacola, thirty-three in
New Orleans, and thirty in New York,with a probable
average throughout the country of twenty-five to
twenty-seven candles.
Americans are peculiarly fortunate in the quality
of gas supplied them. There is probably not five
per cent, of the gas manufactured and sold in Eng-
land that is above seventeen candle-power, and
some of the English companies are chartered to
supply gas at as low as fourteen candle-power.
When we remember that, with few exceptions, the
large cities of this country are supplied with gas of
above twenty candle-power, and that the far greater
part of the gas supplied to them is twenty-five
candle-power and above, while, with rare excep-
tions, the smaller cities (above 25,000 inhabitants)
are supplied with gas of twenty to twenty-five
candle-power, we can see how much more illumina-
tion the American is getting per 1000 cubic feet of
gas bought than is his English cousin. In the
matter of impurities in the gas the American is
equally fortunate. The English law allows twenty
grains of sulphur in forms other than sulphureted
hydrogen, and three grains of ammonia, per 100
cubic feet of gas. The average of sulphiu: per 100
cubic feet of gas sold in the United States is cer-
tainly not above twelve grains, and the ammonia
may be truly said to be a mere trace. A long series
of analyses, extending over a period of ten years, in
one of the largest cities of the country, has shown
the gas to contain, approximately, ten grains of
sulphur per 100 cubic feet, with practically no
ammonia. The superiority of American coals, and
the pride that the American gas-engineer has in the
quality of his product, are sufficient explanations of
the smaller quantity of impurity in the American
gas than in the English gas.
The development of the water-gas process came
at a time peculiarly fortunate for the American gas
industry, which was just then threatened, as stated
above, by cheaper oils and improved lamps. A few
years after the invention of the water-gas processes,
and during their development, the electrician ap-
peared on the field as a competitor for the business
of city illumination. The effect of the appearance
of the new light on the value of gas shares was dis-
astrous. The general introduction of water-gas,
however, checked the fall in prices and enabled the
gas-man to hold his own. The high candle-power
of the water-gas made it a cheaper illuminant, unit
of light for unit of light, than the incandescent elec-
tric lamp ; and while the introduction of electricity
doubtless retarded the growth of the gas business, it
did not succeed in reducing the sales, or even en-
tirely stopping their extension. The fright that the
electric light gave gas-men has resulted in good to
the companies and to the consumer. Many gas man-
agers believed that their sole refuge from the storm
would be in the cultivation of other uses for gas than
that of illumination. This idea resulted in the de-
velopment of the gas-stove for cooking and heat-
ing, and of the gas-engine and many other me-
chanical devices for the utilization of gaseous fuel.
This branch of the business has grown enormously
within the last ten years, and there are now gas
companies supplying, during portions of the year,
fifty per cent, of their product for fuel purposes.
AMERICAN GAS INTERESTS
This is a field in which electric energy has so far
been unable to compete ; and the rapidity of its
growth, past and present, indicates that it will soon
be the larger branch of the gas business. In the
field of illumination, electric invention and the im-
provement of oil-lamps have made great advances
in the last decade, and have threatened again to
give the gas industry a close fight for supremacy in
this branch of its business. In this crisis, invention
again helps the industry of which I write, making
its method of illumination so much cheaper than the
incandescent electric lamp or the kerosene lamp
that it is apparently only a question of a brief period
until — except for special work — gas will be used al-
most exclusively for illumination wherever gas mains
are laid. This new factor is the Welsbach lamp,
the invention of Auer von Welsbach, of Vienna.
It develops an illuminating power of twenty candles
per cubic foot. This means that five feet of the gas
will give a Hght of loo candle-power, making the
illumination, from a given quantity of gas, from six
to seven times greater than could be obtained with
the best burners known to the art thirty years ago.
The Welsbach invention has so cheapened gas-light
that it may be said — on the question of cost per
unit of illumination — that it has no competitor but
the heavenly bodies.
The convenience with which the electric arc is
lighted and extinguished gives it an advantage over
gas, even with the Welsbach burner, for the illumi-
nation of streets, large railway-stations, etc. ; but
even in these places the Welsbach light is making
progress in competition with electric light. The
rapidity with which the use of this burner has grown
within the past two years is one of the wonders of
the history of gas-lighting. It is estimated that
there are now in use, approximately, 1,000,000
Welsbach burners in the United States, and it is be-
lieved that the sales for the year ending June 30,
1896, will aggregate 1,500,000 burners.
For many years "gas logs" and gas-heating
stoves have been in use in a limited way. Neither
have met the popular requirement, either from an
effective or an economic view. About 1890 a com-
bination gas-heater and steam-radiator, the inven-
tion of Q. S. Backus, of Philadelphia, was brought
to the attention of gas companies and the public.
For three or four years it met with indifference, and
in many instances open hostility, on the part of gas
managers. During the past year, however, it has
rapidly grown in favor, and at present the demand
for these heaters exceeds the supply. It is by far the
most economical of any of the inventions for heating
by gas that have yet been offered to the public of
which the writer has knowledge.
The history of the gas-lighting industry in the
United States would not be complete without a
reference to the standing of the companies in the
communities in which they operate, their relation to
the municipalities, and the trend of legislation affect-
ing them. In the early days of gas-lighting monop-
oly franchises were commonly granted to companies
agreeing to stated and generally easy conditions.
The industry was regarded as hazardous, and legis-
lators, anxious to secure for their constituents the
possible advantages of the modem system of illumi-
nation, found that capital could be tempted into the
untried field only by the offer of a special conces-
sion. This ordinarily took the form of a franchise,
exclusive for a term of years estimated to cover the
time of development, and a period of profitable
operation in which to earn interest on the invest-
ment for the life of the franchise. The right to use
the streets and continue the business of supplying
gas was not ordinarily made to terminate with the
exclusive clause of the franchise. A few years of
experience demonstrated the safe and profitable
character of the business, and capital becoming
more willing, legislation became more exacting.
Exclusive franchises were less readily granted, and
conditions as to price and quality and amount of
investment were attached, and the right of muni-
cipalities to interfere in the conduct of the business
of established companies was asserted. This ten-
dency has grown with the century, until in its clos-
ing years exclusive clauses are almost unknown, and
many Western cities are attempting to fix the price
at which gas shall be sold within their boundaries.
Franchises are now commonly granted for a term
of years, the right to charter other companies being
reserved, and conditions as to price and quality of
the gas supplied being attached.
A number of attempts on the part of councils and
legislatures to fix prices at which gas and electric
light shall be sold and the business of the common
carriers conducted have of recent years been the
subject of judicial investigation and decision. The
tendency of these decisions is to limit the power of
regulation to the fixing of a reasonable rate, the ad-
jective "reasonable" being construed to be a rate
that should not result in the depreciation of the
value of the property of the company affected.
There is every reason to believe that gas companies,
in common with railroads and other corporations
serving the public, will be protected in their right
to earn an interest that shall be commensurate
800
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
with the investment, and with the risks of the
business.
Gas companies, because of their commonly en-
joyed monopolistic privileges, either actual only, or
actual and assured, and because of the fact that
their commodity is taken as wanted from a main-
tained supply, and paid for after use, have been
generally subjected to the suspicion of the unthink-
ing, and charges of extortion have been common in
the public prints. This feeling on the part of citizens
and officials that gas companies were getting more
than their deserts, and the belief that there are
fabulous profits to be earned in the gas business,
have resulted in some instances in the acquisition of
gas property by municipahties. The example set by
the city of Philadelphia, which in 1841 took over
the gas-plant, and has since continued it as a branch
of the city government, was followed later by Wheel-
ing, W. Va. ; Richmond, Va. ; Danville, Va. ; Char-
lottesville, Va. ; and Hamilton, O.
The result of municipal ownership and manage-
ment of gas properties has not encouraged other
cities to acquire works. It has been amply dem-
onstrated that it is better for the municipality and
better for the citizens that the gas-plant should be
conducted by private enterprise. With the single
exception of Hamilton, O., there has been no recent
instance of the erection or purchase of a gas-plant
by a municipality in the United States. The Ham-
ilton works were erected about 1890.
American gas literature contains but few books.
The American contributions have consisted prin-
cipally of papers read at gas association meetings.
Many of these papers have been of the highest
order, but for our more formal literature we have
been dependent upon Europe. There are three
periodicals devoted to the gas industry at present
published in America. In the order of their age
they are the "American Gas- Light Journal," of
New York ; " Progressive Age," of New York ;
and " Light, Heat, and Power," of Philadelphia.
For the purposes of the American gas-man they
are more valuable than the journals published
abroad.
The commercial importance of the gas industry is
indicated by the amount of money collected from
sales of the products of gas-works. While accurate
figures are not obtainable, enough information is at
hand to indicate that the receipts for gas sold in the
United States amounted in 1894 to between $70,-
000,000 and $75,000,000. It is probable that the
receipts for residuals of gas manufacture amounted
to an additional $5,000,000, making the total receipts
for the products of gas companies $75,000,000 to
$80,000,000.
In the first years of gas-lighting — indeed, up to
about 1870 — lime was the purifying agent of gas
manufacture, to the exclusion of every other mate-
rial. Since 1880, however, the use of oxide of iron
as a purifying agent has become popular, and to-day
it is probable that more than three fourths of the gas
purification in the United States is effected with
this material, with a reduction in the cost, and with-
out the nuisance attending the removal of the spent
lime.
The American gas business is to-day entirely in-
dependent of foreign countries. The New York
Gas Company, incorporated in 1823, made its first
gas from oil, using rosin later, and in i860 was
distilling Enghsh coals for the manufacture of its
product. Most of the earlier companies imported
the material from which their gas was made from
England. Ultimately the opening of American
mines furnished them with a bituminous coal that
for gas-making purposes has no known superior.
In water-gas manufacture America took the lead
through invention, and will probably continue to
hold it, because of the fact that the materials from
which it is manufactured, anthracite and petroleum,
found in the United States, are superior in quahty
to the products of any other country. Meters and
clay retorts were originally imported from England
and from the continent of Europe. At present
American meters and American retorts have no
superiors. For many years cannel-coal, for the en-
richment of coal-gas, was brought from Scotland
and Australia. Beds of cannel equal to any in the
world have since been found in the United States^
and cannel-coal has been shipped in quantity from
America to Europe.
It cannot be said that the business of gas manu-
facture in America has been made by any man or
set of men, or any corporation or set of corporations.
Gas is peculiar in that it must be manufactured in
the vicinity in which it is used, and, as a rule, local
enterprise is responsible for the erection of the local
plants. There has been, of late years, a tendency
to the formation of what are known as "parent "com-
panies ; that is, companies controlHng and operating
a number of plants, situated in different parts of the
country. Of these the best known are the United
Gas Improvement Company and the American Gas
Company. Such combinations of capital have in
them nothing of the objectionable characteristics of
the much-abused "trust." Prices cannot be kept
up by such combinations. The gas for each city's
AMERICAN GAS INTERESTS
801
use must be made in, or close to, that city, and local
conditions control the prices. The tendency to-day
is toward further concentration in the ownership of
gas properties, and there can be no reasonable doubt
that such concentration as has taken place up to
this date has resulted in good to the investor and
to the consumer, chiefly through the introduction of
improved processes and apparatus, and the employ-
ment of more skilful management.
This is intended to be a history; prophecy is
foreign to the purpose of the publishers, and the
limit set for the story of the gas business has been
passed. Otherwise it would be interesting to specu-
late on the future of this great industry — the pro-
ducer and the distributer of the cheapest lighting
and heating agent of the present, and possibly of the
future. After passing through the recent financial
depression with practically no shrinkage in the vol-
ume of its business, it finds itself to-day in what
promises to be the most prosperous year of its exis-
tence, with new and superior appliances for manu-
facture and utilization to guarantee it a still more
prosperous future. " More, better, and cheaper
Hght " will be the demand of the dawning centiuy ;
and, as in the nineteenth, so we have every reason
to believe in the twentieth cycle, gas will fill that
demand to the profit alike of its manufacturer and
its consumer.
In the preparation of this article the author is
indebted for data and assistance to the London
"Journal of Gas-Lighting," Brown's "Directory
of Gas Companies," the Gas Bureau of Philadelphia,
Shelton's " History of Water-Gas," the " American
Gas-Light Journal," " Progressive Age," " Light,
Heat, and Power," General Andrew Hickenlooper,
and above all to Walton Clark, general superinten-
dent of the United Gas Improvement Company, of
Philadelphia.
CHAPTER XLIII
AMERICAN PAPER-MILLS
4 NTIQUARIAN and philologist, seeking the
/ \ origin of paper, have always come alike to
jL -L- the same beginning. By the banks of
Egypt's great northward-flowing river they have
found, green and tall, the papyrus growing. Here the
record ends, or rather begins, and with the seventh
century before the Christian era the tale of paper
making is commenced. Papyrus manuscript has
been found, it is true, of a seemingly far earlier date ;
but the authentic record begins with 670 B.C., in
which year a dweller by the Nile, named Numa, is
believed to have written several works upon this
paper. Later in the same century there were man-
ufactories of paper from this aquatic plant in Mem-
phis, papyrus being for many years one of the
products of the land of the Pharaohs, and an im-
portant article in the commerce of that ancient day.
Both Greece and Rome, despite the fact that parch-
ment from the skins of sheep and goats appeared and
went into common use during the second century
B.C., used much of the papyrus product every year ;
and as the supply could never meet the demand,
the price was always high.
The papyrus paper was formed from the thin,
separated films of the plant, superimposed upon
one another crosswise to the desired thickness, made
coherent by pressure, and smooth by drying and
polishing. Of the paper of to-day, the Chinese, who
seem to be credited with every art the beginnings
of which are sufficiently remote to be uncertain, are
believed to be the originators. A mandarin of the
palace in the year 95 a.d. is said to have been the
first to make a fibrous pulp from which paper could
be produced. In addition to the bark of the mul-
berry or bamboo this ingenious Oriental used cotton
and hempen rags, the paper thus obtained soon dem-
onstrating its superiority over anything then known
in the Flowery Kingdom. It is still made there to-
day, after much the same primitive methods as were
used at that time. From China to Tartary the art
of pulp making extended, and there the fiery Arabs,
when they humbled the Tartar hordes about 1 70 a.d.,
are supposed to have found and borne it home with
them to the West.
Paper made from a pulp of linen rags is first
known in an Arabic manuscript of the " Aphorisms "
of Hippocrates of the date iioo a.d. Coincident,
almost, with the appearance of linen paper was the
final disappearance of the papyrus roll from general
use. It had been little used for centuries, parch-
ment taking its place. It was not until 1290 that
the first paper-mill was established in Germany.
Forty years later Italy followed suit, and France
and Austria came next after a few years. England
was among the last, the first mention of the art of
paper making in that country being late in the fif-
teenth century. During the next three centuries the
art became general, and Holland and France took
the lead over all other nations. In Holland wind-
mills were used instead of the water-mill elsewhere,
and the Dutch were also the first to use machines,
called Hollanders, or engines in macerating the rags
into pulp.
Colonial enterprise tiurned to paper making in the
New World among the very earliest of its endeavors.
The fringe of population from which was to grow
one of the mightiest and most numerous nations on
earth had scarcely stretched from the mouth of the
James River to Massachusetts Bay before the first
mill was started. Wilham Rittinghuysen (now Rit-
tenhouse), a native of Broich, Holland, was the first
paper maker, and he had associated in partnership
with himself that celebrated old printer, William
Bradford. By the banks of a little stream known
as Paper-Mill Run, flowing into the Wissahickon at
Roxborough, near Philadelphia, the old Hollander
opened his mill in 1690, grinding up the rags of the
home grown and woven flax for pulp. For twenty
years this mill represented the American paper trade,
a second being estabhshed only in 17 10 near the
302
AMERICAN PAPER-MILLS
303
first one, by William de Wees, a brother-in-law of
the original William Rittenhouse's son.
At this time all paper making was by hand ; and
until 1750, when the pulp-engine was invented in
Holland, and 1756, when it was introduced into
America, the rags were beaten into pulp by hand.
The pulp-engine accomplished a great saving in time
and labor. The effect of its introduction was seen
in 1770, when the three colonies of Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, and Delaware alone had a total of forty
mills, turning out an annual product valued at
^100,000. The process of manufacture in these
old mills, where everything was done by hand, and
still kept up to-day in the making of some special
kinds of paper, was very simple. The pulp floating
in great vats was dipped out by the workman on his
" mold," around the outer edge of which he formed
a rim by superimposing a thin frame known as a
" deckle." This kept the pulp from running off, as
the water drained away through the wire cloth of
which the bottom of the mold was made, and
allowed it to settle in a thin film or layer over the
surface of the mold. It was then passed to another
man, known as the " coucher," who dexterously ap-
plied the pulp-covered mold to a sheet of felt, where
the pulp adhered and the mold was removed. This
left a thin sheet of pulp evenly disposed upon the
felt. Another piece of felt was placed on the top
of this, and another mold applied, the process being
continued until the pile reached a certain height,
when it was called a " post," and removed to a press
where the water was expressed. The sheets were
then removed from the felt, pressed, and hung up to
dry over " tribbles " or lines in the drying-room.
When this was finished, the sheets, which were
rough and like blotting-paper, were dipped in size,
pressed, and dried again, coming out finally the
finished paper. This process, briefly described, is
that by which all paper was made prior to the in-
vention and perfection of the Fourdrinier machine,
during the first decade of the present century.
Neither this machine, nor any other, in fact, was
known in this country until several years after their
use had become common abroad. Despite this the
industry had progressed, and, after a great scarcity
of paper during the Revolutionary War, it was be-
ginning in 1795, when the century we are now to
consider opened, to make appreciable headway.
The first mill in the northern part of New York
State had only been erected the preceding year at
Troy by Messrs, Websters, Ensign & Seymoiar.
This mill turned out from five to ten reams daily,
using rags in making its pulp, as did all the others
at that time. The scarcity of rags was one of the
great difficulties with which these early manufactur-
ers had to deal. Stirring appeals to the ladies were
constantly appearing in the public prints, beseeching
them by their patriotism to stand by American in-
dustries and save their rags. A further, if less lofty,
argument was made to this end in the offer of the
manufacturers to pay three pence per pound for
white, brown, blue, or checked rags, dehvered at the
mill. The first mill in the United States to use other
than rags for pulp was one which was built this
same year by Matthew Lyon at Fairhaven, Vt., and
which made use of the bark of the basswood-tree in
the manufacture of coarse wrapping-papers. While
the exact number of mills in operation in 1795 is
nowhere stated, it is known on the authority of
Debrett, in his " BibUotheca Americana," that six
years before the United States was producing paper
enough for its own consumption.
By the primitive methods of that time the Ameri-
can paper makers continued to abide even so far
into the present century as the latter half of the
second decade. During this time, in France and
England, there was being perfected one of the most
wonderful machines which the ingenuity of man has
ever devised. This was the so-called Foiudrinier
machine ; and while it was not an American inven-
tion, the history of paper making, whether here or
elsewhere, demands its mention. Despite its name,
it was originally the invention of one Louis Robert,
a workman in the mill of Frangois Didot at Essone,
France, who, in 1799, secured a patent for the mak-
ing of paper by an endless web-machine. The in-
ternal troubles of France at this time being highly
unfavorable to the development of any great indus-
trial undertaking, Robert sold his patent to Leger
Didot, who went to England in 1801, and in
association with John Gamble, and later Bryan
Donkin, attempted to perfect the invention. Didot's
funds were scanty, however, and in 1804, having
interested two wealthy London stationers, brothers
named Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier, in the matter,
he transferred his interests to them. They erected
a plant at Boxmoor, and began a series of experi-
ments which, though finally successful in produc-
ing a practicable machine, ruined them financially.
Their sole reward, for all they did for the paper-
making industry, has been that the machine they
brought out has been named after them.
The Fourdrinier machine, as it was presented in
1806, revolutionized the making of paper. A
seven- vat mill, operated under the old system at an
annual expense of about $13,000, could run with a
804
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
machine for about $3600, an annual saving of
$9400. While the form of this machine has changed
often and greatly since 1806, the essential principles
it then estabhshed are the basis of paper making to-
day, and its process is the one still in use. It con-
sists of an endless web of revolving wire cloth, upon
which flows evenly a stream of liquid pulp. As in
the hand process, the water drains away from the
pulpy mixture as the whole is borne on and up by
the running wire cloth, and the precipitation of the
pulp-sheet is completed just as the wire web meets
an endless belt of felt, which takes the fresh pulp
from the wire and carries it through large metal rolls,
where it is pressed and taken from the felt, in the
same condition as the hand-made product when the
" post " comes out from the presses ; then it passes
over cyhnders heated by steam, which dry the
paper, leaving it ready to be polished and cut into
sheets. This is substantially the process in use to-
day ; but the modifications and improvements now
employed would render it difficult to recognize the
early machine. To-day the pulp goes in at one end
of the Fourdrinier machine to come out at the other
finished paper, sized, dried, calendered, and cut into
sheets, or wound in immense rolls ready for the
modem press.
Besides this machine, a second was invented in
1809 by an English paper maker named Dickinson.
It was called the "cylinder-machine," and differed
from the Fourdrinier in having a hollow, perforated,
wire-gauze-covered cylinder placed directly in the
vat with the pulp-water. In motion this cylinder
drew out the water, leaving the pulp-sheet precipi-
tated on the wire gauze, by which it was carried to
the felt, which carried it through the couching-rolls,
and on as in the Fourdrinier machine. This machine,
or rather an American invention of similar nature,
seems to have been the first paper-making machine
employed in this country, one having been built and
operated by Thomas Gilpin & Company at Wilming-
ton, Del., in 181 7. This machine of Gilpin's turned
out a sheet wider than any then made in this coun-
try, and of any length desired. The introduction
of the Fourdrinier or any other machine from Europe
did not occur until three years later, and it was ten
years after that, again, before they were commonly
used or their manufacture begun here.
Meantime the manufacture of paper was steadily
increasing. In 1810 there were 185 mills in the
country, turning out an annual product valued at
$811,000. In that year, owing to the insufficiency
of the supply from domestic sources, the importation
of rags was commenced. All paper-stock at that
time was made from rags, and the trade in them
was a large one. Rag-pulp is still used in many of
the more expensive grades of paper, and its manu-
facture is a distinct process in itself. The rags are
first cleansed and softened, by boiling in a strong lye
of caustic alkali or lime, from which they are trans-
ferred to a washing machine or engine, where a
heavy cylinder with knives partially macerates them,
and everything is removed except the vegetable fiber
itself. It is then treated with a solution of bleaching
powders ; the mass is placed in great stone bleach-
ing vats, and allowed to remain until the bleaching
process is complete. The water is then drawn off,
and the partially prepared stock, known as "half
stuff," is taken to the beating-engine, where it is
washed with water to remove the chlorine, and is
then reduced to pulp ready for the Fourdrinier ma-
chine.
In 181 7, the first steam paper-mill in the country
was put into operation at Pittsbiu-g, Pa. This mill,
which employed forty persons, consumed 120,000
pounds of rags yearly, and turned out a product
valued at $20,000. The coal required in generating
the steam necessary for running the sixteen horse-
power engine of this plant was 10,000 bushels
annually. Three years later the Gilpins, on the
Brandywine, began the introduction of foreign
machinery for making paper. There was at this
time an annual output of $3,000,000 from the paper-
mills of the United States, and 5000 persons found
employment in them. The popularity of the new
machines was far from immediate, as they were too
expensive. In 1822, John Ames, of Springfield,
Mass., produced a new cylinder-machine. It met
with some success; and in 1829, Isaac Saunderson,
of Milton, Mass., and Reuben Fairchild, of Trum-
bull, Conn., patented improvements based on it
which did much toward introducing it to general
fame. Culver and Cole, of Massachusetts, also
participated in the improvements brought out in this
year, and the cylinder-machine has been in general
and extended use ever since. During that year the
paper production of this country reached $7,000,-
000, and 10,000 men, women, and children earned
a livelihood in the mills. The same year (1829)
also saw straw and grass first utilized here in the
making of paper by machinery. G. A. Shryock, of
Philadelphia, was the manufacturer who accom-
plished this, and he claimed to be the first in the
world to do it, inasmuch as the straw paper made in
England by Matthias Koop, in 1 801, had been hand-
made. The manufacture of Fourdrinier machines
in this covmtry was begun in the next year (1830)
Warner Miller.
AMERICAN PAPER-MILLS
305
by Messrs. Phelps & Spofford, of Connecticut.
They succeeded in turning out good machines, which
were capable of very fair work. The introduction,
in 1831, of chlorine as a bleaching agent, to whiten
and cleanse the pulp-fiber, helped in the advance
which the increasing use of machinery had brought
about. As an almost universal bleacher the new
chemical permitted the use for paper-stock, of col-
ored and dirty rags, hemp, tow, and many other
previously unavailable fibers. This of itself was a
great benefit to the paper trade, for the scarcity of
material for paper-stock was already causing seri-
ous inconvenience, and many were the experiments
made, in the attempt to find new and more plentiful
substances.
The history of the paper trade for the next three
decades is mainly a history of research and experi-
ment. All the expedients of ingenuity were em-
ployed to continue along on the old lines, and all
the invention of that same ingenuity was being
exhausted in the attempt to discover new lines, at
once more practicable and more profitable. Nearly
every substance known or believed to have the
fibrous qualities needed was experimented with more
or less successfully.
The first real and practical advance along the
lines indicated by these experiments was not made
until 1854. Many inventions were recorded, in the
mean time, for improving, simplifying, and expedit-
ing the processes of manufacture ; but until that
date the main object was still as far from being at-
tained as ever. The business had extended, though,
very greatly, and by 1842 it was estimated that
$15,000,000 represented the value of the annual
production. The capital invested in paper-mills was
placed at $16,000,000, and nearly 50,000 people
were dependent upon the employment it afforded
for a living. The consumption still kept ahead of
the domestic supply, and the paper exports for that
year were valued at only $69,862, as against imports
amounting to $92,771. The importation of rags
had increased during the thirty years it had been
going on, until in this year it amounted to nearly
$500,000. By 1850 these figures had still further
increased. A total capitahzation, for 500 mills, of
$18,000,000 was turning out an annual product of
$17,000,000. The importations of rags had in-
creased to $750,000, and the imports of paper itself
amounted to $496,563. There were at this time
only five mills in the country still turning out ex-
clusively hand-made paper, and the paper-machine
had been improved the previous year to the point
where laid paper was being produced with it. A. H.
Laflin, of Herkimer, N. Y., was the manufacturer to
introduce this improvement, although the machine-
papers had long had the water-mark, a small cylinder
with the desired impression nearest the couching-
rolls having been invented for this purpose many
years earlier.
A new era began for the paper makers in 1854. In
that year, A. C. Mellier, a Frenchman, discovered the
process that has since borne his name, and which con-
sisted in the conversion of certain vegetable fibers,
notably straw, into pulp. The process consisted
in boiling the soaked and cleaned straw in a solution
of about four per cent, of caustic soda, and at a
temperature not less than 310° Fahrenheit, The
paper produced from pulp thus made was claimed
to be superior to anything ever yet brought out for
newspaper. The process was patented in 1857, and
the same year, J. B. Falser, an Englishman, of the
firm of Rowland & Falser, began the manufacture
of straw paper at Fort Edward, N. Y., and in 1859
secured patents for improvements on the process
that came later to be universally adopted. From
this time on, during the war, and for a few years
after, straw paper made by this process was the
staple of the market, and nearly all newspapers were
printed on it. The farmers of the country appreci-
ated their rye straw in those days, when the price
jumped almost at a bound from $6 to $20 per ton.
There were many objections to the straw paper,
however, and experiment was by no means ended in
the matter of pulp ingredients. The silicious nature
of the straw gave the paper a glassy, brittle surface
that wore out type at a rate direful for the news-
paper proprietor to contemplate. A dress of type
that on other paper would have worn a year, was
used up in three months. Furthermore, straw paper
would have been useless on the fast presses of to-
day, because it was neither soft nor absorptive, nor
could it, owing to its brittle surface, be printed from
the roll. Such as it was, however, the newspapers
were glad to get it ; and from twelve to twenty-six
cents per pound was the price they paid for it dur-
ing the war, an amount which to-day would make a
modern paper manufacturer a milHonaire, and beg-
gar the newspaper publisher in a few months. We
find the 555 paper-mills of the country, in i860,
turning out an annual product valued at $21,000,-
000, which exceeded that of either Great Britain or
France. During the next few years, while the Civil
War was raging, the demand for paper increased to
a very great extent, and new methods were demanded.
These were discovered, and have accomplished one
of the greatest results of the century ; for they have,
306
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
by the introduction of wood-pulp, made possible a
cheap and excellent paper, which gives to the Ameri-
can people cheap newspapers, periodicals, and books.
Thirty years ago newspapers such as we have in
New York to-day, with paper at twenty cents per
pound, would have cost the publishers for paper
alone no less than four cents apiece, where to-day
the cost is scarcely half a cent.
Wood-pulp and the changes it has brought, not
only to the paper trade, but to the world at large,
form the final chapter in the story of American
paper. Excellent and inexpensive paper has done
more than any one thing to develop the American
press, and the publishing business. No better evi-
dence of this could be desired than was given last
year, at Cornell, in an address delivered by a certain
far-famed New York editor, of the school which pro-
duced Raymond, Greeley, and the elder Bennett.
In discussing the wonderful advance made by news-
papers in late years, Mr. Charles A. Dana concludes :
" But the great revolutionary agent is the cheapness
we have reached in the cost of paper." With this
high testimony regarding its importance, we may pro-
ceed to a more detailed consideration of wood-pulp.
Many attempts to produce a pulp out of the softer
kinds of wood had been made, and many patents
had been issued for such processes both here and
abroad, prior to 1854. This year, the same one
which brought out the Mellier process, also saw the
first patent for a chemical wood-pulp that was prac-
ticable, secured by Watt & Burgess, of London.
This process, in a crude form, was the soda-pulp
that is still in extended use. It began by boiling
the wood in caustic soda lye, after which it was sub-
jected to the action of chlorine. Both this, and the
later and much-improved sulphite process, produce
in effect a more fibrous pulp than that to which the
name wood-pulp is more commonly and properly
applied.
The patent of Watt & Burgess was assigned by
them to Ladd & Keane, who secured a reissue in
1858. In the mean time, however, in 1855, Hugh
Burgess, of Roger's Ford on the Schuylkill, brought
out a similar process in this country, using the wood
of the poplar. His patent and that of Mellier were
later purchased and continued, in 1865, by the Amer-
ican Wood-Paper Company, of Manayunk, Pa., and
a considerable quantity of poplar-pulp turned out
by it.
While the manufacturer of the chemical pulp, or
wood-fiber, was thus slowly working here, the ground
wood-pulp was being developed abroad. A Ger-
man named Keller patented a wood-pulp grinding-
machine in 1844. He figures as the originator of
the process, but having no money he sold his inven-
tion to Voelter, who developed the grinding of the
wood by stones, and is usually credited with being
the discoverer. The ground wood-pulp was used
by Voelter in Germany, in large quantities, for the
manufacture of newspaper as early as 1847, ^^^ t"*^o
years later the process was introduced into France,
at Souche. In America the ground wood or wood-
pulp was first successfully made by Alberto Pagen-
stecher, at Stockbridge, Mass., and put into print-
ing-paper, in 1867, by Wellington Smith, William A.
Russell, and myself.
The prominence that the paper industry has
achieved since the introduction of wood-pulp, and
the extent of the trade relations arising therefrom,
are the best and most direct evidences possible of the
usefulness of the product. To-day paper figures,
either wholly or in part, in more diverse and numer-
ous articles than any other one substance known.
It is manufactured into boards, roofing, boxes, bar-
rels, pails, furniture, buttons, collars, tapestry, belt-
ing, car-wheels, carpets, canoes, and even at one
time, some few years ago, into coffins, which were
declared more enduring than those of lead, steel, or
wood. All these, and many more uses, seemingly
outside its ordinary and proper sphere, make paper
an article of the greatest demand. The great met-
ropolitan newspaper, consuming many tons a day,
needs a mill to feed it alone. The consumption is
something enormous, and will always be an increas-
ing one. When modern paper making from wood-
pulp was in its infancy, about i86g, and rags were
still largely used, the dimensions to which the paper-
manufacturing trade had grown were indicated by
the fact that, at New York alone, the importation
of rags amounted to $2,149,202. Besides this the
entire domestic rag product, as well as thousands of
tons of wood and straw, was being put into paper ;
and yet not only was it all consumed at home, but
a considerable quantity was imported in order to
supply the demand. The figures of exports and im-
ports of paper for this year (1869) are perhaps the
best indication of the condition of the trade at that
time. The imports amounted to a total of $355,-
511, of which $96,158 were credited to newspapers,
and $259,353 to fine writing-papers. Contrasted
with these figures were the exports, which for paper
manufacturers of all sorts amounted to less than
$20,000.
The growth that has come in this trade, during
the quarter of a century that has elapsed since then,
has been remarkable. The following year (1870)
AMERICAN PAPER-MILLS
307
the mills engaged in the manufacture of paper in this
country were estimated to number 669, with an
annual production of $48,436,935. Six years later,
despite the depressed condition of affairs resultant
upon the financial troubles of 1873, the number of
mills had increased by nearly 200, and their produc-
tion was sufficient not only to supply the home
market, but, still further, to lay the foundations for
a decidedly profitable export trade, which has re-
mained ours ever since. The paper exports for
1876 amounted to $96,138, while the imports, on
the other hand, had increased, although in less pro-
portion, to $1,218,159.
The year 1880 saw a still further addition to the
paper-manufacturing interests. Of paper-mills proper
there were 692, with a combined capital of $46,241,-
202, and an annual output of $55,109,914. Besides
these, the manufacturing interests in the coordinate
branches of the paper industry, such as paper bags
and boxes, envelopes, wood-pulp, and cardboard,
included 543 mills, with an aggregate capital of
$7,922,646, and a production of $18,684,127, mak-
ing the totals for the paper industry of the United
States for this year (1880) as follows: mills in
operation, 1235 ; total capital invested, $54,163,848 ;
aggregate product, $73,794,041.
In 1886 the import and export trade showed an
increase for the ten years, particularly noticeable
in its exports. This tendency to a more equable
adjustment of the balance of trade indicates the
healthful condition of the industry. The exports
had made the extraordinary jump from $96,138 to
$1,106,616, while the imports had increased by only
about $600,000, their total value being given as
$1,838,822. In addition to this, the enormous
amount of $5,194,951 was represented in the impor-
tation of rags and crude paper-stock, which were
admitted free of duty, and swelled the total of im-
portations due to the paper industry to $7,033,773.
The number of mills in the country had increased
by 1890 to 1086, operated exclusively for the man-
ufacture of paper or pulp. Of their product an
amount valued at $1,226,686 was consumed in the
export trade, while of rags and crude paper-stock
from foreign countries the mills imported to the
value of $5,261,448. The general consumption of
the country further demanded imports of manufac-
tured paper aggregating $2,816,860, which, added
to the paper-stock importations, gave a total for this
year of $8,078,308.
In 1892-93, the mills of the country were turning
out annually considerably over 3,000,000 tons. Of
this enormous amount the news and book prints
consumed between 750,000 and 800,000 tons, which
was a third more than went into wrapping-paper.
The writing-paper consumed was estimated to be in
the neighborhood of 150,000 tons. At the present
time the available figures place the total number of
mills in the country at i loi, with a daily production
averaging about 10,000 tons, in round numbers.
For the supply of these mills there was imported in
1894, crude paper-stock to the value of $3,048,094.
Imports in addition to this amounting to $2,628,351
were received during the same period, credited to
paper and its manufactures, making the total impor-
tations of the paper trade for that year $5,676,445.
The export trade also has increased, and so large
has it become with England, that that country has
recently ordered that in all reports of imports, ren-
dered by the customs officials, the paper and man-
ufactures of paper coming from the United States
shall be so specified and made a separate item ;
whereas they have always previously been included in
the lump sum given under the classification " From
all other countries." Last year, the total of the
paper exports from this country was $1,906,634.
The dimensions to which the domestic trade had
grown meantime' are shown in the fact that the pro-
duction of news and book paper alone was more
than $45,000,000, or nearly as much as the total
production of the country for all grades, twenty-five
years ago. With this still so recent advance,
achieved in the last quarter of a century of endeavor,
it is perhaps a litde improbable that the near future
will see any such pronounced changes as those which
have brought things to the present point. It is
rather more reasonable to expect that for some time
to come the progress of the paper industry will be
along the lines of a natural and healthy growth of
the present estabhshments. That this growth will
come is certain, as it is also that developments will
follow as fast as they are needed to keep the paper-
mills of America in the place they have won in the
front rank of the world's industries.
3#&^>§^^§#^^^^t^§*^l^l^§#^»s«»lf
CHAPTER XLIV
AMERICAN PUBLISHING
WHAT is understood by a "publisher," in
the generally accepted meaning, is de-
fined as " one who, as the first source of
supply, issues books and other literary works, maps,
engravings, musical compositions, or the like, for sale ;
one who prints and offers books, pamphlets, engrav-
ings, etc., for sale to dealers or the public." This
definition — a comprehensive one — includes the pub-
lishers of newspapers ; but the business of journalism,
being distinct from that of book publishing, need
not be further referred to, save incidentally.
One of the differences which exists between the
book publication of the past and that of to-day is in
the primal soiu^ce of derivation of the matter printed.
This change is due to the immensely greater distri-
bution of newspapers and magazines, and the im-
proved methods of intercommunication. Half a
centiu-)' ago literary matter was usually issued or
published for the first time in book form, and with few
exceptions the text had never been read before;
whereas it is a common practice to-day for an author
to supply a magazine or a newspaper with his writ-
ings, which, widely read in daily, weekly, or monthly
issues, are afterward put in book form. As a volume
it is then, however, only a " first source of supply "
when considered in a material sense. Generally the
text collated in this way is republished in book form
by the firm in whose journal or magazine the text
originally appeared; but sometimes, by prior ar-
rangement with the author, this is not the case, for
in its book form the work may be published by
another house.
There have always been reprints of particular
books. A popular work of a past century, in the
one hundredth year after its first publication, is
often found to have been reprinted twenty times
by as many different publishers. Of the world's
great standards, hundreds, and in some cases thou-
sands, of editions have appeared. Old lamps are
made as good as new, and if they have served as
shining lights in the past, it is to the advantage of
mankind that they should be kept constantly lumi-
nous to-day. There is, nevertheless, a distinction
to be made — but not in the least of a disparaging
character — between the manufacturer of books who
takes old works and reprints them, and the publisher
who, selecting entirely fresh and original matter,
issues this in book form and for the first time.
" Robinson Crusoe," or some other standard
book, may appear as a two-cent pamphlet, muti-
lated by abridgment, on wretched paper, and with
blurry type ; or as an edition de luxe, a masterpiece
of typography and binding, with illustrations for
which the artist alone has been paid $10,000. Both
works are, in a sense, manufactured. In the cheap
book to be sold for two cents there is the minimum
of risk; in the costly edition de luxe perhaps the
maximum of risk. But, as to risk, there never was
an original work published wherein the element of
uncertainty as to the pecuniary result did not exist
for the publisher.
The people of the United States are the greatest
readers and book-buyers in the world. By means
of inexpensive books there is presented the amplest
opportunity for instruction and recreation, and when
the text of these books is carefully selected, their pub-
lishers, in no small measure, cater to the general edu-
cation of our people. There are, of course, excep-
tions. In some cases there are, unfortunately, reprints
made of vile and vulgar books, and these are issued in
all parts of the country. It is not within the prov-
ince of this article to indicate the methods of sup-
pression.
The origin of the pubhshing business of the
United States may be thus briefly described : In the
year 1640 the first book, the "Bay Psalm-book,"
was printed by Steven Daye at Cambridge, Mass.
After its publication in the colony it was reprinted
in England, where it went through seventeen
editions, the last one bearing the date of 1754-
308
John W. Harper.
AMERICAN PUBLISHING
It was also a highly popular work in Scotland,
twenty-two editions having been printed there, the
last dated 1759. It is somewhat remarkable that
the first colonial book written and the first book
printed were both in verse. Sandys's translation of
Ovid's " Metamorphoses " was the first true " copy "
written here, although issued in Great Britain; but
the " Bay Psalm-book " was the first book put into
type in this country. The first original American book
printed here was Mrs. Anne Bradstreet's " Poems,"
and this volume, issued in Cambridge, Mass., in 1640,
was repubhshed in London in 1650. Cambridge
remained the only pubhshing town for a long time,
and for twenty-one consecutive years issued about
one volume per annum. In 1653 Samuel Green
published John Eliot's famous Catechism in the
Indian language, followed in 1659 by the Psalms
in Indian, in 1661 by the Indian New Testament,
and in 1663 by the whole Bible in the Indian
tongue. This was the first Bible printed in America.
William Bradford, who moved to New York from
Philadelphia in 1693, was the originator of the pub-
lishing business in that city. To Christopher Sauer, of
Germantown, Pa,, the United States is indebted for
the first Bible printed in a civilized tongue, his German
Bible havingbeen issued in 1 743. Benjamin FrankHn,
in the first half of the last century, stood at the case,
worked the press with his own hands, first in Boston,
then in Philadelphia ; and he left an indelible impress
on this country, his " Autobiography " being the first
book of real importance in American literature.
It is interesting to note that the business of pub-
lishing has been identified generation after genera-
tion with certain famihes. Many of the best-known
firms of publishers in the United States to-day have
carried on their calling for over sixty years — in
some cases quite one hundred — through three or
four generations. The most notable instance is that
one of the direct descendants of Christopher Sauer
(established 1738), the pubHsher of the German
Bible in 1743, is still in the business of book pub-
lication in Philadelphia, It would be impossible,
within the limits of this article, to give any complete
Hst of publishing firms which are carried on to-day
by the descendants of those who established the
business several generations ago, but a few may be
named. For instance, in New York City : Harper &
Brothers, 181 7 ; Baker, Voorhis & Company, 1820 ;
D. Appleton & Company, 1825 ; David G. Francis,
1826 ; D. Van Nostrand, 1830 ; Ivison & Company,
1831 ; John Wiley & Sons, 1832; John F. Trow,
1835 ; A, S. Barnes & Company, 1838.
In Philadelphia : Lea Brothers & Company, 1785;
Henry Carey Baird, 1785; J. B. Lippincott Com-
pany, 1835; Butler & Company, 1837.
In Boston: William Ware & Company, 1792;
Ticknor & Company, 1832 ; Little, Brown & Com-
pany, 1837.
In other cities: Northampton, Mass., S. E. Bridg-
man & Company, 1785 ; Cincinnati, O., U, P.James,
183 1 ; Springfield, Mass,, G, & C, Merriam, 1831 ;
Louisville, Ky,, John P. Morton, 1825; Richmond,
Va., J. W. Randolph Company, 1831 ; Mobile, Ala.,
G. H. Randall, 1831 ; Montgomery, Ala., Joel White
& Company, 1833; Lancaster, Pa., John Baer's
Sons, 18 1 7.
Above the fireplace in the private office of one of
the publishers in New York are the following lines
by George WiUiam Curtis. They exemplify not
only the facts in that particular instance, but seem
further to apply to many firms of book publishers.
" My flame expires ; but let true hands pass on
An unextinguished torch from sire to son."
With the great massing of the population of the
country in certain cities, the character of the pub-
lishing business has become more general, and the
convenience of the purchaser now presents itself as
a constant factor. If New York City is to-day the
largest book mart and the producer of the greatest
number of books, Philadelphia and Boston still hold
their own. With new centers of population arising
in the West, also, other elements are being intro-
duced, and to-day Chicago is fast becoming an im-
portant publishing center. Examining the list, which
includes 617 American pubhshers who issued books
in 1894, New York is found to have 187, Philadel-
phia 60, Boston 52, Chicago 51, San Francisco 12,
and Baltimore 9, the remainder being scattered over
almost every State in the Union.
The great bulk of the books are published by less
than one hundred firms in the four chief cities. The
conservatism of the trade is shown in this. Before
there were easy means of transportation, as in the
first third of this century, a newspaper office in a
small town would pubhsh a book, and this business
has been retained in a lesser proportion until to-day.
In examining the number of books pubHshed by the
617 firms it is found that a large proportion of these
houses issue only one or two books a year. These
publishers of one or two books, however, are not all
to be classed as among minor producers of books.
In many cases a publisher may turn out but one
book in a year, but that single book may be of
paramount importance and may cost a very large
amount of money to produce.
310
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
In tracing briefly the history of book publishing
in the United States during the last one hundred
years various periods may be indicated. At the
conclusion of the War of Independence, with the
severance of the bonds which united us with Eng-
land, there sprang up a demand for books, prin-
cipally of a religious and educational character.
During this early period literary reputation was in
a measure dependent on the politician, and many
pamphlets on state and international topics were
published ; but books of theology were in the lead.
The second period of publishing owes its progress
in some degree to improved mechanical devices.
Stereotyping, first used in the United States in 1 813,
soon became of universal application, and very much
cheapened the price of books, though it led to the
persistency of typographical errors, and prevented
revision and enlargement when a new edition was
called for. The prime material — paper — was, how-
ever, costly. The raw material — rags — was not
readily obtainable in sufficient quantity at home or
abroad, and to furnish the necessary paper for new
publications old books and papers were regularly
collected and sent to the paper-mills.
The third period is one of marked improvement,
and dates from about 1843. It was not alone an
awakening on the part of the publisher as to the
better manufacture of books, but he called in the
artist for illustrative aid. Harper's Bible, with
1400 illustrations, Verplanck's Shakespeare, with
1 100 illustrations, and many other works, with and
without illustrations, were published in parts during
the period from 1843 to 1850 inclusive. They found
their way into almost every family in the United
States. The many thousands of illustrations made
during that period gave employment to artists, es-
pecially to wood-engravers, and laid the foundations
for that school of American wood-engraving which
soon took its place in the first rank, and which,
within a generation, was acknowledged to be without
an equal.
From 1850 to 1855 the demand for books in-
creased rapidly. The estimated output in 1850 was
$10,500,000, and in 1855, $16,000,000, being an in-
crease of over fifty per cent., whereas the population
had not increased more than twenty per cent, during
the same period. The panic of 1857, the Civil War
from 1 86 1 to 1865, and the disturbed state of the
country during the reconstruction period did not
prevent a steady growth of the publishing interest.
About the year 1872 the publication of standard
works in pamphlet form at cheap prices was begun.
Within a very few years everything that had ever
appeared worthy of note in English fiction, together
with books in every other branch of literature, was
issued in enormous numbers. Millions of books
were put on the market at nominal prices, and the
supply exceeded the demand. As a result a change
was made in the form of these cheap editions, from
a quarto to a handy i6mo or 12 mo form; and, in
addition, these same books were then bound up in
cloth, and offered to the trade at a very slight ad-
vance over the cost of paper, printing, and binding.
There was a perfect flood of books. Whenever a
new book by a popular English author appeared it
was seized upon by publishers in every portion of
the country, and reprints were thrown on the market.
This very excess of books in time brought about its
own cure, however. Many of the publishers of these
very cheap books went out of business. Others
joined together in one gigantic company ; and this
company, in turn, disappeared. A demand arose
for an International copyright law, and resulted in
the passage of the law in 1891. This copyright
law, during the four years of its existence, has
proved to be equally advantageous to the public,
the author, and the publisher.
It is needless to state that on the intelligence of
a people depends the prosperity of the book pub-
lishers. It would be trite to remark that where
there are illiteracy and ignorance there can be no
demand for books. It is the mental activity exist-
ing in the United States which has had all to do
with the business of the publisher. There must be
interdependence between the author and his readers.
Literature belongs to the civilized world, and au-
thors are of all nationalities. Our own writers have
achieved signal success, and we may be said in a
measiu"e to be freeing ourselves from foreign influ-
ence ; but yet no one would insist, from patriotic
motives, that publishers should confine their issues
of books to those of an American origin. It is
worthy, then, of mention that the American reader,
through the medium of the American publisher, has
had brought to his notice on many occasions the
works of foreign authors whose powers had been
overlooked in their own country. In this way the
excellence of many foreign authors, by their popu-
larity in the United States, has been revealed to
European readers, and finally their reputation at
home has been fully established.
A selective power on the part of the American
publisher is one of the elements of his success.
Though the publisher must always strive toward the
production of the best books, he must bear in mind
how different are the ages of his readers and the
AMERICAN PUBLISHING
8U
variety of tastes. Nevertheless the imprimatur on a
title-page must be regarded as the flag covering the
merchandise. A discerning public at a glance de-
termines for the most part from the name of the
publisher the quality of the wares purchased.
To estimate the value of the total output of the
book publishing business in the United States is a
very difficult matter. There are in the United States
over 70,000 post-offices, and this gives some idea of
the vast field for the distribution of literary matter in
book form. According to a careful estimate made
six years ago there were engaged in the publish-
ing, subscription, and retailing of books, periodicals,
and stationery, in the United States, not less than
40,000 concerns. Their number has not diminished
during the last six years, but has increased, and it is
estimated that there are in the United States at least
50,000 firms which make the selling of books the
whole or a part of their business. The major part
sell the cheapest kinds of paper-bound books only,
their main business being the sale of periodicals or
stationery.
Studying the output in books of the year 1894, and
counting the retail price of one copy of each book
published during that year, the total value amounted
to $11,000. As a great number of these books cost
less than fifty cents, an idea of the quantity may be,
in a measure, understood. Eleven thousand dollars
representing, then, the price of one copy of each
book, the number of these same books constituting
what is known as an edition must be borne in mind.
Sometimes very expensive books are limited to an
edition of 100 copies. On the other hand, there
are works of fiction of which from 20,000 to over
100,000 copies are sold within the year. Of school-
books, editions of 50,000 to 500,000 copies, in-
tended for one year's consumption, are not an un-
usual event. Messrs. D. Appleton & Company for
many years sold over 1,000,000 copies of Webster's
" Speller " every year ; and a Western house, W. B.
Smith & Company, of Cincinnati, O., was believed
to have sold over 1,000,000 copies of the Eclectic
Series diu-ing each year. If an edition of 1000
copies only be taken as an average of the books
published during the year 1894, their value would
be $11,000,000. This, of course, can be but a
small proportion of the total sales of books during
the year. The electrotype plates of school-books.
Bibles, prayer-books, hymn-books, and other books
of that nature, are very rarely changed, and enor-
mous quantities are sold every year.
Making the proper deductions for ages, the child
in the United States is a large consumer of books,
due to the public-school system. One other factor
often overlooked must be added, and it is that the
preparation of a large and increasing class of young
men and women for the higher professions is much
more extended as to time to-day than in the past,
and additional books have to be supplied.
Such books as the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " (of
which there are several editions in the market),
the " Century Dictionary," " Standard Dictionary,"
etc., are sold by subscription ; and the initial expense
of such books being enormous, before a single copy
of the book is made, the sales must be enormous
also. Then there are many " books which are not
books" — such as city directories, which are usually
pubhshed by a company devoted exclusively to the
publication of this one book ; State directories, lists
of dealers in each business, and commercial agency
reports (each of these agencies makes four revised
editions of their book each year, each book measur-
ing about eleven by thirteen inches, and containing
about 2500 pages of matter in close print). There
are innumerable genealogies, indexes, catalogues,
together with many other productions which are
truly books, but which cannot be called literature.
The records of American publications for the
twelve years ending in 1841 show an aggregate of
1 1 15 works. Of these, 623 were original and 492
were reprints from foreign works. It is believed,
however, that the list of reprints is incomplete,
owing to the difficulty of obtaining complete data.
Possibly twenty-five per cent, should be added to the
number given. The population of the United States
in that year was about 17,000,000. In 1853, 733
new works were published in the United States, of
which 278 were reprints of English works, 35 were
translations of foreign authors, and the remainder
were original American works. The population of
the United States had reached about 25,000,000,
an increase of fifty per cent, compared with 1841.
The original American works published in 1853,
compared with the twelve years ending in 1841,
show an increase of about 800 per cent, in less than
twenty years. In other words, the publications of
the book trade seem to have advanced about fifteen
times as fast as the population.
In 1880, with a population of 50,000,000, the
new books published during that year amounted
to about 2000 — nearly three times more than in
1853, whereas the population had only doubled.
The total number of new books published in each
year, according to the records of the "Pubhshers'
Weekly," from 1881 to 1894 inclusive, were as
follows :
312
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED.
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
2,991
3472
3.481
4,088
4.030
4.776
4437
1888
1889
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
4,631
4.014
4,559
4,665
4,862
5,134
4,484
These figures, of course, include the different edi-
tions of the same book issued by different publishers.
During the period from 1872 to 1890 inclusive it was
no unusual thing for six or seven editions to be
made of the same book by different publishers, most
of them being in the cheap pamphlet form or in the
cheapest cloth binding.
Below is a table of the publications for the year
1 894, classified according to subjects and the source
of origin. The variety of books by foreign authors
(chiefly English) imported bound or in sheets is very
large, but the number of copies of each book thus
imported is usually small.
PUBLICATIONS FOR 1894.
Classifications.
Fiction
Law
Theology and Religion
Education and Language
Juvenile
Poetry and the Drama
Political and Social Science
Literary History and Miscellany
History
Physical and Mathemat'l Science
Biography, Memoirs
Medical Science, Hygiene
Description, Travel
Fine Art and Illustrated Books .
Useful Arts
Sports and Amusements
Domestic and Rural
Mental and Moral Philosophy . .
Humor and Satire
s - <
O T ^
P3 u'Z
370
474
184
330
261
107
174
152
125
76
50
^P
83
93
92
33
35
28
S5 o J £
K. "^ ~ 3
S« </■:«
X K <
O D h in
O S 3 Q
297
I
22
22
22
82
8
35
14
II
32
I
17
7
2821
577
S: O ">
O W H
£ U) K O
« O h
m O Q Jz
« a z "
O H &
o s o
P3<fq
62
10
262
90
61
77
72
52
48
78
79
14
44
38
46
23
14
17
I
1086
Several methods of estimating the yearly output
of books have been attempted. One of these was
to take the capital employed in every firm which
published books during the year 1894 — in the case
of firms not exclusively devoted to publishing,
subtracting from their known capital a definite
proportion, so as to allow for that part of the
business not connected with books. In the case of
several incorporated companies, their capital and
their output are known, thus giving a basis for cal-
culation. The same proportion of output to capital
was observed in the case of all the publishing-houses
given on the list. A second method was to estimate
the output by classes; for instance, the amount of
books used in schools and colleges, the amount
bought by free and subscription libraries, the
amount sold by subscription only, the amount
bought by lawyers, doctors, and other professional
men, etc. A third method was to take the reported
total value of books made in 1820, 1830, 1840,
1850, and 1855, and to carry forward the same
progression to date. Still another method tried was
by taking the retail prices of the books published
during 1894 as a basis. Estimating that each book
sold an edition of 1000 copies, which is probably
well within the limits, the result was multiplied by
the proportion estimated as sold of those books
printed previous to 1894.
These four methods were suggested to a number
of booksellers, with a request for their estimate of
the total amount paid by the public during the year
1894 for all classes of books. The results obtained
varied greatly, not only as to individuals, but in sev-
eral cases where persons made the estimate according
to each of the four methods suggested above, their
four estimates did not correspond in any appreciable
degree. After a careful comparison of all the esti-
mates it seems a fair conclusion that the public pays
at least $25,000,000 per year for what maybe called
" general literature," and probably an equal amount
is paid each year for school and college text-books,
for books sold by subscription only, for directories
and other similar works, and by the public and sub-
scription libraries.
For many years there has been a gradual increase
of American books in all departments of literature,
with the exception of fiction. The English novel,
owing to lack of international copyright, could be
printed and published at low prices ; but since 1891
the tendency has been altogether in favor of Ameri-
can novelists. In 1893, 263 American novels and
834 English or foreign novels were published in the
United States; but in 1894 there were 370 novels
by American authors and 297 by English and other
foreign authors.
The study of the export of books for the last year
shows that we sent books or other printed matter to
all parts of the civilized world to the amount of
$2,147,391. British North America was the largest
receiver, taking something over a half-million of
dollars ($581,066); and the United Kingdom was
the next, taking $548,358. The book business with
South America and the West Indies is an important
one, having amounted in 1894 to about $579,000.
I
AMERICAN PUBLISHING
313
Australia uses $50,780 of our books. In estimating
this total of exports of books to be $2,147,391, some
natural speculations arise as to what must be the
home consumption of books, since the exports can
express only a small proportion of the total output.
As to the hfe of the average book in the United
States during various periods, it has been estimated
as follows: During the first half of the century
probably three fourths of the books published at
any time during that period could be found on sale
in the book-stores at the end of it. During the
next twenty-five years the average life of a book was
from five to twenty years. In 1872 began the pub-
lication of the cheap " libraries." These " libraries "
tended to materially reduce the life of the average
book printed after that date. It is probable that one
third of the books published in any calendar year
will be out of date, and only asked for occasionally,
within one year of publication. Another third of the
books published during the same year will probably
have a life of about two or three years. Of the re-
maining third practically all but ten per cent, will
be " dead stock " within seven or eight years of their
publication. This arises from the fact that such an
enormous number of books are published to-day.
Prior to 1870 the publication of any book, and the
necessary machinery of distribution, required an out-
lay of capital which very few firms possessed.
One large and increasing demand for books is
that arising from the many public libraries in the
United States, which, according to the last enumer-
ation, in 1 89 1, numbered nearly 4000, having an
average of about 9000 volumes each. Some of the
most important libraries take copies of all the works
published. When a book is popular — not necessa-
rily fiction, but historical, biographical, philosophical,
etc. — many copies may be taken by a single library.
The increase of the legitimate business of book
publishing in the United States is a healthy and
perfectly natural one. The demand for books must
increase with the growth of the country. The pub-
lisher and the book distributer are at once in touch
with the new sections of the country that are being
opened constantly. The need of general instruction
is the predominant idea in the American mind, and
it is for that reason that the Americans are the most
universal of book-buyers and of book -readers.
This sketch of book publishing in the United
States was prepared by Mr. Barnet Phillips and
Mr. Frederick A. Nast, under my supervision.
CHAPTER XLV
AMERICAN PRINTING
WHEN the Revolutionary War closed, the
printing trade in America was almost ex-
clusively confined to the tide-water towns.
Except in two or three instances in Pennsylvania and
Massachusetts, the art had not penetrated inland, and
the total number of places where it was practised
before 1775 was only twenty-nine, aggregating about
100 offices. In most of these establishments printing
and the publication of newspapers were carried on
concurrently, the latter being esteemed an integral
portion of the printer's art. This continued to be the
rule for a long time after, and until within the mem-
ory of some living men ; and that extension of the
calling which began immediately after the struggle
for freedom was through newspapers. The first ones
established beyond the coast settlements were those
at Lexington, in Kentucky, and Pittsburg, in Penn-
sylvania. They were soon followed by another in
Cincinnati ; and by 1 8 1 o there were thirteen news-
papers in Kentucky, fourteen in Ohio, six in Ten-
nessee, and one each in Indiana and Michigan.
Each of these offices did whatever job-printing was
offered to it, and also printed and bound books on
occasion.
The chief centers of the printing trade, however,
have always been the three great cities on the At-
lantic coast. Baltimore has never executed much
printing in proportion to her size, and Charleston,
Savannah, and Norfolk did little except that which
was purely local in its character. Those towns
which first developed a comparatively large trade in
printing, not above mentioned, were Albany, Hart-
ford, and Worcester. The leading printer in the
latter place, Isaiah Thomas, was denominated by a
French traveler as the Didot of America. Of the
three great cities, Philadelphia was, for the first fifty
years after the conclusion of the War of Indepen-
dence, unquestionably the first in this line. There
the earliest daily paper was begun ; there bookbind-
ing and bookselling were most vigorously carried
on ; there the greatest publisher of the United States,
Mathew Carey, was established ; and there Congress
sat most of the time after the adoption of the Federal
Constitution, before a permanent seat of government
was established at Washington. Philadelphia was,
too, the largest city in the United States. So great
was this industry there shortly after the beginning
of this century that no presses were kept at work.
They were wooden presses, it is true, and their per-
formance was small, measured by the standards of
to-day ; but the number surpassed that of any other
English-speaking city on the globe except London.
New York and Boston were alike much smaller in
the quantity of the work they did, although the
latter had been on a parity with Philadelphia until
about 1760.
There was no job-printing to speak of in the year
that Jay's treaty was ratified. Probably one man
could have set up all the jobs that were executed
in Philadelphia in 1795. An important city of that
size would now require perhaps sixty men to do
the small work offered to its printers. In these
offices books and pamphlets took nearly the entire
force. Newspapers were little read, and there was
in them very little discussion of important matters.
They were repertories of dry American facts and
summaries of foreign news. Condensation and re-
writing were little practised, and there were no edi-
torials. Very httle local news was given. When-
ever a politician wished to address the public in
a forcible way, he wrote a pamphlet. The books
were very largely pirated from English publishers.
Next followed rehgious works, books upon law and
medicine, and school-books. A few original works
were issued each year, but the departments just
mentioned comprised the great bulk of all those
printed. There were no authors who lived by their
calling, and wood-engraving was commenced only
in 1793, any one who had natural skill in this line
being considered qualified to pursue it.
314
AMERICAN PRINTING
915
The printing art in both England and America in
1795 was substantially that which existed two hun-
dred years before. Type-founding was better exe-
cuted in England in the second quarter of the
eighteenth century than at any time before, and
there had necessarily been some development occa-
sioned by the greater wealth of the English printers
and the greater number of men they employed. But
with the single exception that the press had been
slightly altered, no new inventions had been made.
It was soon to improve, however, and marvelous
changes were to originate in the mother-land of the
race, and be carried still farther both there and here.
The shape in which progress was to appear in this
country was chiefly, for a series of years, in the en-
largement of printing-offices, the multiplication of
places in which the art was carried on, and the in-
troduction of minor industries which had not hitherto
been known in America. The first of these was the
establishment of a permanent type-foundry. Some
foundries had been started by self-instructed work-
men, and had attained a certain measure of success,
but none of them had been of long continuance.
Even a Scotch type-foundry which had been begun
in Philadelphia about 1785 had ceased operations, the
senior member of the firm having died in 1 790. The
first permanent establishment was also in Philadel-
phia, and began casting in 1796. It is still in exis-
tence and doing good work, and until lately was
known as the foundry of the MacKellar, Smiths &
Jordan Company. Those who began it were two
Scotchmen, who formed the firm of Binny & Ronald-
son. They had no competitors till 1805, when ingeni-
ous mechanics in Hartford started another foundry,
but with very indifferent success, until Elihu White,
one of them, brought the tools to New York in
1810. Here he did very well. A firm of printers
in New York, David & George Bruce, desired to
enter the field of stereotyping, and applied to the
two existing foundries to accommodate them by the
casting of types suited to their special needs. This
was refused, and the Bruces began making their own
type, and soon became successful. Other foundries
began in Boston in 181 6, and in Baltimore in 181 7 ;
in 1830 there were a dozen in the country.
Stereotyping by the plaster process was practised
in the city of New York by David & George Bruce
in 1 813. David Bruce had been to England to
learn the particulars of a process invented there,
but was able to do no more than to approximate
to the thorough knowledge requisite. Facts were
held back. When he returned he found that some
processes must be reinvented, and that Lord Stan-
hope had not attained complete success. His dili-
gence and mechanical skill finally enabled him to
make a plate which was perfectly level on both
sides, and of exactly the same thickness in every
part. This made the work far more perfect than
that done abroad, and an Englishman in New
York named Watts, who had succeeded in making
stereotype plates here by another process in the
same year with Bruce, left this city, with Bruce's
improvements, and went to Vienna and other cities
in Europe, where he taught master printers the art
of making stereotypes "in the American way."
Through him Germany acquired the art. His
sojourn in Vienna was in 181 9. In that year an
Englishman then traveling through the United States
declared that stereotyping was more largely em-
ployed in America than in England, and that the
results were excellent. It reached its acme of de-
velopment here by 1865, forty or fifty firms carrying
on the business, and 1 000 workmen being employed
in it. The plaster process was finally superseded by
the introduction of electrotyping for book work, and
the papier-mache process for news work, which had
been used concurrently with it for some time. The
facility with which, when types had been composed,
a cast could be taken of them through the agency
of plaster of Paris, that replica then remaining use-
ful for a lifetime, induced Americans to stereotype
almost all books that were likely to sell for longer
than a year. This proved a very great economy.
In England, and upon the Continent, where labor
was less high-priced and where stereotyping did not
meet with so much favor, the types were recomposed
for each new edition.
Ink, during the colonial period, was made by
most of our printers. Few attained the skill that
would enable them to manufacture a good article.
The theory is very simple. It is to mix soot or
lampblack with a boiled oil that is transparent and
sticky, remaining fluid when in mass, but rapidly
drying and adhesive even when laid in a very thin
coating upon a sheet of paper. But practice was
difficult. Most printers bought their good inks in
England and made their poor inks. About 1805
one firm in Philadelphia and another in Cambridge-
port began the manufacture of printers' ink. Shortly
after another was begun in New York, and in 181 6
a fourth one. After this date enough was made and
demanded to increase materially the standard of ex-
cellence. Competition has been active among these
houses, and as a result inks are now cheap and good.
There are perhaps thirty firms engaged in preparing
this article. Until 1850 no systematic attempt was
316
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
made to supply colored inks. Before that time almost
the only color used other than black was vermilion,
which each printer mixed as he needed for use. Ten
years after aniline colors appeared and became very
popular. Their use is still increasing. A curious
thing about bright-colored inks is that many of them
are made as near to the desired tints as possible by
the use of mineral and vegetable substances, each
variety then having brilliance added to it by the
employment of an aniline mixture which differs very
little from it in hue. Thus a very bright effect is
produced at the moment, but afterward vanishes,
although the substratum remains, and gives an in-
dication of what the color originally was. The
whole amount manufactured does not reach a value
of $1,000,000.
Another step in the progress of the printer's art
was the introduction of elastic rollers for inking the
types. In Washington's day ink was applied to
the face of types with balls of pelt in a slow and
laborious way. An ingenious compositor in Eng-
land found an elastic substance, formed from glue
and molasses, used in the potteries of England, and
fancied it might work well if employed on presses.
He tried the experiment, which was successful ; and
shortly after, when machine presses went into use in
England, composition rollers were found to be in-
dispensable. Their first employment in America, it
is believed, was in New York in 1826, but their use
soon rapidly spread throughout the whole country.
Printing-machines could not be used to profit with-
out cylindrical inking rollers. More than a dozen
establishments are constantly engaged in making
rollers for printers.
Another great change was that which came be-
tween 181 9 and 1830, when wooden hand-presses
were driven out and iron ones came in. To-day
this seems unimportant, but it was the greatest
change that had taken place in the printer's art
since the time of Gutenberg. The wooden press
was weak and wheezy ; it creaked with every pull ;
the sheets printed were no larger than about a page
of the ordinary daily, and each press required two
expert men to keep it going. It was very slow. A
year's work by four men would produce no more
than a man and two boys can now accomplish in a
single month with modern machines. The change
from wood to iron did not begin in the United
States until about 1820, although several presses
had been imported before that time, the invention
"being an English one. Nor was the change a rapid
one. Eight years later the majority of the presses
employed in New York were still of wood, and many
were used up to as late a date as 1840. The iron
press was very much stronger in all its parts than its
predecessor ; it took no more muscle, and it printed
a sheet three times the size of the former one. Among
the first manufacturers were Turney, Worrall, Wells,
and Smith ; but in a few years nearly all presses were
manufactured by Hoe in New York and Ramage
and Bronstrup in Philadelphia.
It is to be noted throughout all the earlier history
of printing in the United States that our country
followed Great Britain. There the improvements
originated, after a time being taken up by us. This
continued to be the case till half a century ago,
since which time the lead has been on this side.
Among the inventions which were perfected to a
great extent in England before they came here was
the new method of paper manufacture introduced
by the Fourdrinier machine, which was brought to
America in 1825. The result of the change was
that paper immediately became lower in price, and
larger sheets were made. Only one further advance
was now necessary for the production of cheap
newspapers and books — the construction of rapid
presses.
In the third half-decade of the centvuy a German
named Konig, who lived in England, succeeded in
producing a cyHnder-machine upon which the Lon-
don " Times " was printed with great speed. After
constructing several, he returned to Germany, and
there began again the manufacture of presses. In
England engineers took up the problem of improving
the machine as he left it, and succeeded in doing so
in many important respects. But in America no
presses like Konig's were made which were success-
ful in practice until about 1829. Platen printing-
machines were made by Treadwell and Tufts, which
answered a useful purpose, but these could not
print as swiftly as those in England. About 1826
an English machine was imported, and it was while
repairing this that Colonel Richard M. Hoe gained
his first knowledge of power-presses. Shortly after-
ward Colonel Hoe's father began the manufacture
of presses on substantially the same plan as the
one imported, although certain improvements were
added. They were made strong where there was
much wear, and light where no wear was expected.
The very best material was used, and the most
thorough workmanship demanded. This thorough-
ness has always been kept up. As a result, although
English presses have always been cheaper than ours,
it has never been found expedient to import them.
The high pitch set by Hoe has since been followed
by all the manufacturers, and no more trustworthy
Theodore L. De Vinne.
AMERICAN PRINTING
817
ironwork is executed anywhere than by our press
builders. Hoe improved all machines that he con-
structed, brought out new patterns, and added new
devices. The other early power-press makers were
Adams and Taylor.
The early stage of American printing ended in
1833. For some years after the productions of the
art were not altogether pleasing, and some of them
were offensive to a cultivated taste. But all the
requisites for rapid development were at hand-
Paper, ink, type, and presses were made here ;
money which could be invested in new enterprises
had accumulated, and the people were anxious to
get cheap reading and better printing. By the inven-
tion of cloth bookbinding, which began to be used
here two or three years before, the production of
bound books had become much less costly. What
had before cost fifty cents or more a copy to bind
could then be bound for ten cents. Schools were
formed everywhere, mechanics earned good wages,
and roads had been much improved. At about this
time railroads first went into use, enabling news-
papers printed at one city in the morning to reach
another 150 miles distant by nightfall, which could
not have been done by any method of riding ex-
press previously known. On the 3d of September,
1833, the New York " Sun," the forerunner of a new
class of newspapers, appeared. At that time nearly
all dailies were slow and dull, having little in them
but political argument and foreign news. After the
power-press came in they began to enlarge, and in-
creased their sheets as they could, until finally some
of them had an area of two thousand square inches.
They printed few copies. The blanket-sheets, how-
ever, had to wait for the general employment of the
Fourdrinier paper-making machine, and those with
larger circulations required the double-cylinder print-
ing-machines. The New York " Courier " and the
New York "Daily Advertiser "were compelled to buy
their first paper in England after power was applied,
for the product of the American mills was too flimsy.
On the small papers there was a continual struggle
against time. The " Sun " was printed on a sheet
eleven and one half by seventeen inches, a hand-
press being used. Two persons, working at their
utmost speed, relieving each other every twenty
minutes, were able to produce about 400 copies an
hour ; but this performance did not supply the de-
mand for the papers. In 1834 a cylinder-press was
used, propelled by the arm of a laboring man at the
crank of a balance-wheel. This was followed, in
1835, by a double cylinder driven by steam-power.
Such, with a change of names and places, was the
experience of all other cheap dailies of that time, in-
cluding the Baltimore "Sun," the Philadelphia
"Ledger," and the New York "Herald." The
amount of printing increased rapidly. In 1808 the
combined circulation of all the New York dailies was
estimated at less than 9000 ; in 1840 ten dailies had
a circulation of about 87,000, of which 70,000 was
attributed to the penny papers. The population had
increased a little more than threefold; the circu-
lation had increased more than ninefold.
The changes in the decade from 1840 to 1850
were in the introduction of the lightning press, the
institution of news agencies, the testing of power-
presses in job-work and upon books, and the multi-
plication of shops and mills subsidiary to the art.
The double-cylinder press in general use by news-
papers in 1845 ^^s ultimately found to be too slow
for the requirements of a large circulation. R. Hoe
& Company in 1847 invented the type-revolving
rotary printing-machine, on the cylinder of which
the type was fastened, and successively presented
to the four, six, or ten impression cylinders placed
around it. For twenty years this form of cylinder
was approved as fast enough. After that time it
was adjudged too slow. In 1869 the same house
introduced the web printing-machine, which printed
continuously from stereotypes on a cylinder against
an endless roll of paper, with a speed that then
seemed incredible. This machine was made in
many forms: to print four, eight, twelve, or more
pages; to fold, count, and paste them, and to add
covers or insetted sheets ; or to print illustrations in
two, four, or six colors. All this can be done at
speeds varying from 6000 to 70,000 an hour.
Large as this performance is, one machine is not
enough for the needs of a paper of large circulation.
From two to twelve are used in the more prosperous
dailies. Fast newspaper machines are made in
Europe, but few of them are sold in America, al-
though the machines constructed here are used in
England and the English colonies. It is admitted
that the largest printing-press manufactory in the
world is that of R. Hoe & Company. The efficiency
of the fast machine presses is largely aided by im-
provements in stereotyping. Instead of printing the
type on one press, two or more stereotypes of a page
can be made for use on as many different presses.
This would have been impossible with the liquid plas-
ter method, but the use of paper pulp enables it to
be successfully accomplished. Moist papier-mache
is driven into the interstices of the type, dried, and
laid in a concave mold, so that when metal is poured
upon it it will make a convex plate. The stereotyp-
318
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
ing of curved surfaces was successfully done, for the
first time in America, by Charles Craske, of this city,
in 1854, and plates were made regularly in 1861.
Job-offices, as distinct from book-offices, first be-
gan to be numerous about 1850, and book printers
added to their facilities those of the job trade. Be-
fore 1830 printers had no opportunity to develop
their art. There were more printers than work, and
the abler men had to seek other trades for the exer-
cise of their ability. Jonathan Seymour, for many
years the leading printer of New York, became a
paper dealer. Others in New York also made a
change. Alderman Clayton gave up printing and
bestowed exclusive attention to the sale of paper and
stationery ; Mather undertook the manufacture of
ink ; Darius Wells began the making of wood-type ;
David & George Bruce, at first printers and
afterward stereotypers, became type-founders. All
these, and many others that could be named, both
here and elsewhere, achieved distinction in their
newly selected callings. Harper & Brothers, then
J. & J. Harper, became publishers by necessity.
Failing to get from established publishers work
enough to keep their presses busy, they selected and
printed at their own risk books which they sold in
small quantities to leading booksellers in every part
of the country, adding the purchaser's name to the
regular imprint.
The decade before the war was one of great ad-
vancement in every department of the art. New
press builders came in, and this branch, which had
been carried on almost entirely by Hoe, Adams, and
Taylor, was henceforth to be practised by many.
Among them were Cottrell, Babcock, Campbell,
Potter, and Huber, each making some new improve-
ment. The introduction of the power-press into
book and job offices was very slow. All the work
of Harper & Brothers in 1835 was done on hand-
presses. The first power-press used by this house
was introduced the next year. The first power
platen printing-machine was made in this country
by Daniel Treadwell, of Massachusetts. Although
bulky and inconvenient, it proved of so much ad-
vantage to Daniel Fanshaw, of New York, then the
printer of the Bible Society, that in 1829 he mort-
gaged his establishment to that corporation, so that
he might put in nine more. It was superseded in a
few years by the Adams press. In 1845 this latter
machine was the favorite in every office in the great
cities. Publishers of books would not allow their
plates to be printed upon a cylinder even as late as
i860. The use of cylinder-machines was confined
to newspapers, posters, and coarse job-work. Fran-
cis Hart was the first New York printer, and proba-
bly the first in the country, to prove that the cyHnder
could be successfully used on fine book and job
work, but for a long time his demonstration was re-
ceived incredulously by other printers.
In this branch of printing improvements in
machinery began with the small presses used by
job-printers. The Yankee card-press and the Gil-
man card-press, introduced in the decade between
1840 and 1850, took card-printing away from the
hand-press. Soon followed the Ruggles printing-
engine and the Gordon press, equally efficient for
the printing of circulars and hand-bills. These little
machines not only did the work quicker, but better.
They made a revolution in the methods of printing.
It was found that on these machines wet or damp
paper was not necessary ; a stronger and clearer im-
pression could be had on dry paper when the type
was resisted by the hard packing of glazed mill-
boards. This method of printing on dry paper was
afterward utilized on cylinder-presses, and applied
with great success to fine woodcuts. The success of
American magazines is largely due to the dry-paper
method of printing illustrations. The old " Scrib-
ner's Magazine," now the " Century," was the first
magazine to develop dry-paper printing. Its ex-
ample has been ably followed by " Harper's," the
"Cosmopolitan," and others.
The American method of making-ready woodcuts
was first shown in " Harper's Pictorial Bible," by
Joseph A. Adams, who made the engravings, also
made ready the forms, and developed the system of
overlaying that is now adopted in all printing-houses
of this country. The type-casting machine, that
rapidly reduced the price of printing-types, was in-
vented by David Bruce, Jr., of New York, in 1838.
For many years it was the only effective machine,
and as such was adopted in every type-making
country. About 1848, Lovejoy, from Boston, in-
troduced in New York the art of electrotyping.
The feasibility of the new process had been demon-
strated in this city by Joseph A. Adams in 1839,
who made electrotype plates in 1841 for " Mapes's
Magazine." On books the new art supplanted plas-
ter and papier-mach6 stereotyping, which could not
properly reproduce engravings on wood.
There are several claimants for the honor of
introducing and developing the art of photo-
engraving in America, but it is generally admitted
that John C. Moss was one of the earliest and
most efficient workmen in this field. This new pro-
cess has practically destroyed the art of engraving
on wood. Illustrations that once cost $100, and
AMERICAN PRINTING
319
that required a month of time, can be had for a
tenth of the price, and sometimes in one day. The
success of the cheaper illustrated magazines is based
on the low cost of ordinary illustration. When en-
graving on wood was in fashion, there were here
engravers of marked eminence, and their work
was admired abroad. Adams, Linton, Juengling,
Nichols, Rowland, Filmer, are but a few of the many
able men of that period. The high reputation of
New York engravers is now worthily sustained by
Cole, MuUer, Whitney, and King. Closson and
Anthony of Boston are equally famous.
The progress made in the United States has been
in many directions, and leaders in the art have been
found in many places. More printing has been
done in New England than elsewhere, in proportion
to the population. The two principal colleges of
the United States are located there, and the general
standard of education is high. Much book-printing
was executed in early years in Hartford, Boston,
New Haven, and Worcester, and each of these
cities is still steadily increasing in its production.
The chief center of the printing business is in
New York ; Philadelphia and Chicago coming next,
and Boston, Washington, St. Louis, and Cincinnati
following. The bulk of the work done in Washing-
ton is for the government. There are at least ten
other cities where the amount executed is great, and
where large establishments can be found. The
amount of capital required has greatly increased
since the beginning of the century, although each
tool or appliance is lower in price. Fifty years ago
an expenditure of $200 in types and materials was
enough to keep a man at work ; but now the mate-
rial required per hand in cities Avill cost at least
$1000. The growth of printing has been very rapid.
It is not probable that the total number of workmen
of full age in this art in the United States reached
beyond 500 at the beginning of the century ; it must
at present exceed 100,000. The product is in the
neighborhood of $150,000,000,
Type-founding is another branch of the business
that has increased greatly. The amount manufac-
tured in 1890 was supposed to be about $3,000,000
worth. Since then many of these establishments, of
which there were about thirty, were consolidated,
and the price of type has been lowered. Recent
improvements in the art have enabled type-found-
ers to cast type which is perfect, or nearly so, not
requiring much subsequent finish. A very great
change has been made in the composition of news-
papers, and to some extent in books. Matrices are
assembled upon a machine, and a whole line is cast
at once. Nearly all large daily papers employ this
apparatus, which saves a very large proportion of
the cost of composition. Type-setting machines,
handling separate types, are also in use, and promise
to be equally efficient.
Lithography, or printing upon stone, was em-
ployed in 1 819 in the United States, but not com-
mercially. Since 1825, however, it has thus been
used, and it has made wonderful progress since the
Civil War. Three or four years after that closed
this kind of printing was executed successfully on
a power-press. In 1890 the amount of work done
was about $20,000,000 a year, and 8000 persons
were employed.
For valuable assistance in the preparation of this
article I am indebted to Wesley W. Pasko, recording
secretary of the Typothetae of New York.
CHAPTER XLVI
THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
THE probable period at which iron was first
adapted to the use of man is a disputed
subject among antiquaries. For a long
time the claim was generally conceded that the use
of copper and bronze by primitive man preceded
that of iron ; this assumption, however, appears to
be based almost entirely upon the fact that few or
no traces of iron implements have been found in the
prehistoric remains of man. This absence of iron
implements may readily be accounted for by the
very perishable nature of iron., and the comparative
rapidity with which it oxidizes or rusts away when in
damp places. The tendency of recent antiquarian
investigations is to place the use of iron by man con-
temporaneously with, if not antedating, that of cop-
per and bronze. It has been contended by some
authorities that the difficulty with which iron is
smelted from its ores would cause it to be one of
the very last metals used by a primitive race. This
claim, however, cannot be entirely substantiated,
from the fact that iron is not a difficult metal to re-
duce from its ores, particularly if they are rich, as
is abundantly illustrated by the methods of making
iron still in use among the savage and half-civilized
tribes of Asia and Africa. It is certain that both
the Assyrians and the Egyptians used implements of
iron many centuries before the Christian era. Iron
and furnaces in which it was made are mentioned
in the Pentateuch. The Greeks obtained their iron
from the Chalybes, a nation that dwelt on the south
coast of the Black Sea, from whom it was also ob-
tained by the Asiatic nations. The Romans not only
procured their iron from this district, but also from
Spain, Elba, and Noricum. The iron-mines of Elba,
which to the present day yield a large amount of
ore, were worked by the Etruscans, and the method
employed by them for extracting the iron from its
ores was probably very similar to that now known
as the Catalan forge process.
It may be safely assumed that the aboriginal in-
habitants of North America were unacquainted with
the use of iron in any of its forms. At the time of
the first visits of the Europeans to these shores the
few metallic implements in the possession of the
natives were probably made of copper. In order
properly to comprehend the development of the iron
industry in any country it is essential at the outset
that the distinctive characteristics of the three great
groups under which the iron of commerce is classi-
fied should be understood. Though the terms
" wrought-iron," " steel," and " cast " or " pig iron "
are not scientific and are incapable of technical dis-
tinction one from the other, they are by virtue of long
usage essentially broad, hence convenient for use.
When a lump of pure and easily reducible iron ore is
heated on a bed of ignited charcoal in a smelting-fire
or forge it is readily reduced to a lump of metallic
iron similar in shape to the mass of ore treated. If
the lump be sufficiently large one end may be ham-
mered and drawn out into a bar or rod, while the
other end remains in the fire as a mass of reduced
or partly reduced ore. Such an operation represents
the essential features of the primitive methods of
iron smelting practised in the early colonial days of
this country; the product thus obtained is known
as wrought or malleable iron, whether it is made
in the rude manner described or by the improved
bloomeries which later replaced the rude old forge.
From the bloomery, producing its soft malleable bar
or bloom, the blast-furnace was gradually evolved,
new metallurgical reactions were effected, and the
product obtained in a fluid condition, in which it
could be run into simple sand receptacles, forming
pig-iron, or into specially constructed molds to pro-
duce castings for practical use. The metal thus
obtained was hard, brittle, and possessed distinct
physical characteristics not found in malleable iron.
Since by the use of improved methods it became
possible to obtain the product of the blast-furnace
readily and with vastly greater economy, pig-iron
320
y
THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
321
soon became, as it is at present, what the Germans
call raw iron {Roheiseti), from which practically every
other variety of finished iron or steel is obtained.
The ton of pig-iron is therefore very properly taken
as the rough standard by which the world's produc-
tion of iron is now measured.
Prior to the year 1795 the iron industry in the
United States was not only of a primitive character,
but was essentially feeble. The British government
had for years been systematically discouraging the
efforts of the American colonists to produce iron,
in order to avoid competition with the home indus-
tries ; these repressive measures continued until the
Revolutionary War. Forges or bloomeries were to
be found in nearly all the colonies from the times of
earliest settlement, and as the population increased
in districts more or less remote from the seaboard the
difficulties of transportation were sufficient to stimu-
late the colonists at such localities to manufacture
iron for their own consumption. Unlimited sup-
plies of fuel being always at hand in the vast forests
which covered the country, it became only necessary
to find ore and obtain persons sufficiently skilled to
construct the smelting appliances. The rude forges
of earlier days were gradually, as the demand for iron
increased, superseded by simple forms of blast-fur-
naces, producing, as a rule, a strong and excellent
quality of charcoal-iron ; indeed, the earlier blast-fur-
naces in the United States were practically foundries
manufacturing all the hollow ware and iron castings
required for domestic consumption in the rural com-
munities in which they were established. The iron
required for structural purposes, such as bars, straps,
nails, sheets, etc., was obtained in the early days
either by hammering the bloom from the forge or
bloomery, or by shaping by means of rolls propelled
by water-power. In fact, before the invention of the
puddling process in England by Cort, in 1784, a
large proportion of all forms of wrought-iron were
derived in this manner. The old so-called "Wal-
loon " process of refining pig-iron into the malleable
or wrought form or into a crude mild steel was in-
troduced into the colonies at an early date in their
history. We have, however, no means of knowing
to what extent it was used ; but as it required skilled
workmen specially trained in its operations, it would
seem probable that the colonists, who were gener-
ally their own iron makers, did not take kindly to
its adoption. By the puddling process malleable
iron is not directly produced from the ore, as in the
older methods of manufacture, but indirectly from
pig-iron. The introduction of the puddling process
was second in importance to no other invention in
the history of the iron industry of this country; it
has, moreover, held its own with the greatest tenac-
ity wherever established, and may, in fact, be con-
sidered to have held the same relation to the iron in-
dustry of forty years ago that the Bessemer process
bears to that of the present day. The Revolution-
ary War, though causing the ruin of many colonial
industries, had the effect of stimulating the iron in-
dustry to some extent, by reason of the unusual de-
mand for cannon, projectiles, and other war material,
which could not be obtained abroad.
For a number of years after the Revolution the
iron industry developed steadily but slowly, probably
owing to the fact that, as in colonial days, much, if
not most, of the iron used along the seaboard was
imported. As the more remote communities in the
interior, however, increased in wealth and population,
the demand for iron grew apace, and the product
not only increased in quantity, but also in quality.
According to Mr. James M. Swank, who is undoubt-
edly the best authority upon the history of the iron
industry in the United States, no statistics of the pro-
duction of iron were collected before the year 1810.
The production of pig and cast iron in that year was
53,908 tons ; wrought and malleable iron of all kinds,
27,105 tons; having a total value of $6,081,374, of
which amount Pennsylvania produced $2,473,748.
The product of the steel furnaces of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
and South Carolina in 181 o was 917 tons, valued
at $144,736 ; of the whole number of steel furnaces
Pennsylvania contained five, producing 531 tons,
valued at $81,147. An analysis of these figures
gives us some idea of the state of the industry at the
beginning of the century. The product of the blast-
furnaces— pig, or, as it was at that time termed, cast
iron — was made or run directly into small castings
then in demand for commercial purposes ; the malle-
able iron was probably all derived directly from the
ore in forges or bloomeries, whence it was taken to
the rolling or slitting mills to be made into rods, bars,
plates, nails, etc. The steel made at this period in
the United States was probably all produced by the
cementation or blister process, and was all of the
grade now known as high-carbon or tool steel. Al-
though Huntsman's improvement of this process, by
which the steel bars thus made were fused in cruci-
bles and subsequently cast into ingots, had been in
operation in Sheffield, England, a number of years
prior to 181 o, it is doubtful if his invention had been
adopted in the United States at this early date. In
the census of 1820 the quantities of iron made are
not given ; their value, however, is stated as follows :
322
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
pig or cast iron, $2,230,275 ; wrought-iron, $4,640,-
669 ; total, $6,870,944. If these figures be correct
either the value per ton had decreased since 1 810 or
else the quantity produced failed to increase in a
ratio corresponding to the general growth and de-
velopment of the country. The census statistics of
1830, however, show a decided improvement as to
values, although no estimate of the quantity is quoted.
The returns for the year 1830 were: pig-iron and
castings, $4,757.403; wrought-iron, $16,737,251;
total, $21,494,654. As the puddling process had
probably not been used at this period to any extent,
the disproportion between the production of cast or
pig iron and that of wrought-iron is marked. This
condition could not be due to the difference in value
of the two products ton for ton, since in those early
days the blast-furnaces were small and crude, and
consumed what would now be considered an enor-
mous proportion of expensive (charcoal) fuel. As
a consequence the ton of pig-iron cost from $35 to
$40, and the ton of wrought-iron perhaps one third
as much more.
In the decade between 1830 and 1840 few changes
or innovations were introduced having much influ-
ence upon the character of the industry in the
United States. New inventions and improvements
devised and operated in Europe did not then, as they
do now, make their appearance here almost simulta-
neously with their practical application in the coun-
tries where they had their inception. During this
period the production of iron steadily increased, but
upon much the same Unes as heretofore. Primitive
and insignificant as compared with those of to-day,
the capacity of the blast-furnaces of that period
may be judged from the fact that it required, in the
year 1840, 804 of them to produce 286,903 tons of
iron. The number of tons of malleable (bar) iron
produced for this year were 197,233, by 795 bloom-
eries, forges, and rolling-mills. It will be noted
from this statement that for the first time in the his-
tory of thi industry the production of cast or pig
iron exceeded that from the bloomeries and forges ;
this was possibly owing to the fact that the puddling
process and other methods of refining from the pig-
iron instead of the ore, as in the case of forges and
bloomeries, were gradually being introduced. The
establishment of the puddling process as an adjunct
to the industry was of the very greatest importance,
as this method of refining iron was destined to sup-
plant all others and to continue in existence until in
turn replaced by newer methods of making mild steel
for structural purposes. No figures are published
for the monetary value of the product in 1840, but
if we assume the ton of pig-iron to have cost $30,
and the ton of hammered bar-iron $90, we obtain
$8,607,090, or nearly double the value of pig and
cast iron produced in 1830. The total value of the
bar- iron at this estimate would be $17,750,970. It
will be observed from these figures that the value of
the bar-iron rose since 1830 in a ratio considerably
less than that of the blast-furnace product, although
up to 1840 little or no iron was made in blast-fur-
naces using any other fuel than charcoal. In 1840
we arrive at a stage in the history of the American
iron industry when great changes were to be effected.
Notwithstanding the great supplies of timber still
available in even the more settled parts of the coun-
try, the relatively high cost of manufacturing char-
coal, and its enormous consumption in the furnace
per ton of iron produced, were serious obstacles to
the growth of the industry, even where a good sup-
ply of ore was well assured. The discovery a few
years previous of great deposits of anthracite coal
in northeastern Pennsylvania directed attention to
the utilization of this fuel in the manufacture of
iron. As early as 1835 ^^^ adaptation of anthracite
to the manufacture of iron began to attract atten-
tion. In that year the Franklin Institute offered a
gold medal " to the person who shall manufacture in
the United States the greatest quantity of iron from
ore during the year, using no other fuel than anthra-
cite coal, the quantity to be not less than twenty
tons." Mr. William F. Durfee, in his " History of the
Iron and Steel Industry of the United States," states
the medal was never awarded, and that it is fair to
assume that the required quantity of iron was not
manufactured in this manner. He further remarks
that there is abundant evidence to prove that from
1830 to 1840 a number of attempts to use mineral
fuel in smelting iron ores were made. The first prac-
tically successful attempt to produce pig-iron by the
use of anthracite was made by Mr. David Thomas
at Catasauqua, Pa. The furnace which he erected
there for this purpose was blown in on July 3, 1840,
and the first " cast " made on July 4th. This fur-
nace was equipped with a " hot blast " operated by
water-power, thus inaugurating in the United States,
simultaneously and at the same locality, two of the
greatest innovations in blast-furnace practice. This
furnace, producing from the original start fifty tons
of iron per week, continued in profitable operation
until the year 1879, when it was dismantled. The
earlier forms of hot-blast apparatus consisted essen-
tially of a series of nests of iron pipes heated exter-
nally by separate fires, the object being, in passing
the air from the blowing or blast engine through
THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
323
these pipes, thereby greatly augmenting its tempera-
ture, not only to increase the heat in the furnace,
but to decrease the consumption of fuel per ton of
ore smelted. The invention of the hot blast was
patented by James B. Neilson, of Glasgow, in 1828,
and subsequently improved upon from time to time,
notably by Cowper and Whitwell, until at the pres-
ent time the increased heat of the blast is not only
obtained by the combustion of the waste gases from
the top of the furnace without the expenditure of
additional fuel, but the temperature obtained in the
modem regenerative fire-brick hot-blast stove has
been increased to 1200° Fahrenheit, whereas in the
older type of stove the temperature of the blast
probably seldom exceeded 600° Fahrenheit. The
use of the hot blast is perhaps the most important
improvement ever made in blast-furnace practice,
for without it the production of pig-iron as cheaply
and in such enormous quantities as at present would
have been impossible. Notwithstanding that the suc-
cess in smelting iron in blast-furnaces with anthracite
had been practically demonstrated in 1840, the gen-
eral use of this fuel appears to have grown slowly ; it
was ten or more years before the use of coal (either
anthracite, coke, or a mixture of the two) became
general, and the broad river valleys were illuminated
by the flames of the furnaces which produced for
Pennsylvania the wealth of an empire. In 1846 the
first furnace constructed with the intention of using
raw bituminous coal as fuel was successfully placed
in operation at Lowell, Mahoning County, O. Al-
though coke had been in general use in England for
a number of years, it was not, according to Over-
man, until 1837 that it was successfully used in the
United States in the blast-furnace at Lonaconing,
Alleghany County, Md. The manufacture of Con-
nellsville coke was commenced in 1841, but, accord-
ing to Weeks, it was not until a number of years
later, when railroad transportation had become more
fully developed, that its value as a furnace fuel be-
came thoroughly demonstrated. The period between
the years 1840 and 1850 was a most eventful one in
the history of the American iron industry. The in-
troduction of the improvements in smelting already
indicated, together with the use of steam-power for
propelling the blast and in performing other varieties
of work about the furnaces, its replacement of water-
power in operating rolling-mills and hammers, in
mining coal and ore, and the rapid growth of the
railroads, produced a stimulating effect probably
never before experienced in a similar degree by
any American industry. The railroads contributed
largely to the development of the iron industry in
two ways : directly, by rendering transportation com-
paratively cheap, thereby enlarging the iron market
and increasing the demand ; and indirectly, by cre-
ating in their construction a new and unprecedent-
edly large consumption of iron. The railroads, in
fact, have perhaps had more influence in shaping the
character of American industry than any one other
factor. As the production of iron increased in later
years, the older iron-ore deposits became exhausted,
or else proved inferior to the newly discovered ore-
beds of the Lake Superior region. The problem of
suitably locating a modem blast-furnace producing
from 9000 to 10,000 tons of pig-iron per month
became a serious one, and its solution has had the
effect of moving the geographical center of the iron
industry west of the Alleghany Mountains, nearer a
new and larger ore supply, yet handy to the coke
of Connellsville. It is a curious fact of economic
geology that the best iron-ore deposits in any part of
the world are seldom found in the vicinity of large
coal-fields. As it is essentially cheaper, considered
bulk for bulk, to transport the ore than the fuel a
long distance, we find to-day most of the larger iron-
producing establishments clustered in the immediate
vicinity of the coal-mines, where they will doubtless
remain until the supply of fuel is exhausted or until
radically different methods of obtaining the iron
from the ore are devised. In 1850 there were pro-
duced in the United States 563,755 tons of pig-iron
by 377 establishments, and wrought-iron to the value
of $22,629,271 in 552 establishments. Swank gives
no estimate of the amount of steel produced, but as
it is probable that most of the steel consumed in the
United States in this year was imported, the domes-
tic product must have been necessarily small.
The evolution of iron and steel plate making, par-
ticularly boiler-plates, which are of immense com-
mercial and industrial importance, forms an interest-
ing chapter in the growth of our great industry. As
I have stated, the pig-iron made early in the century
was either used for foundry purposes or was taken
to a Catalan forge, where it was reworked and
brought to the condition of wrought-iron. It was
then made into bar-iron or sheet-iron for commer-
cial use. About the year 181 5, when steam began
to be used. Dr. Charles Lukens remodeled his mill
to produce a thicker plate for that purpose. The
bloom, as it was called, was reheated at the forge
and hammered as thin as possible, usually about
one and one half inches thick. It then went to the
rolling-mill, where it was laid on a bed of coal in
what was called a grate-furnace. After heating, it
was rolled into plates one quarter and three six-
324
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
teenths of an inch thick and sent to the boiler maker.
He, however, soon tired of shearing and having such
a quantity of scrap on his hands. The mill then
sheared the product into the regular commercial
sizes: forty-eight and forty-nine by twenty-six by
one quarter or three sixteenths ; or, if large enough,
it was sheared into plates sixty-eight and sixty-nine
by twenty-six, the scrap being cut into nails. . Very
soon, however, the reverberatory furnace was intro-
duced, the scrap being arranged into piles of such
size as was necessary to produce the required plate,
heated to a welding heat, and rolled in the mill.
This state of things continued until the introduction
of the puddling furnace. In 1852 Congress passed
a law requiring all makers of boiler-plate to stamp
their names, place of business, and letter to indicate
whether charcoal or puddled, upon the goods pro-
duced. This led to a great amount of deception,
as there was no penalty; and very soon the repu-
tation of the maker was the only safeguard. In
1872 Congress passed another law requiring the
maker of boiler-iron for marine boilers to stamp his
name and place of business upon it, with the tensile
strength which he would guarantee, under a penalty
of $2000 fine and imprisonment of two years for
fraudulent stamping, and making it obligatory for
the inspector to see that the law was complied with.
This also proved a dead letter until the present su-
pervising inspector-general, James A. Dumont, was
appointed in 1877, as appears by the report of the
Board of Inspectors to the Secretary of the Trea-
sury in January, 1878, and subsequent years. He at
once went to work and placed a testing-machine in
each of the ten districts, allowing no plate subject to
tensile strain to be used until after it had been tested
and approved. Feeling the necessity of a better
knowledge, I began, as soon as the law was passed,
to test my own manufactiu-e, and when General Du-
mont came into office he requested the makers of
boiler-plate to appoint a committee to come to
Washington and appear before the full Board of
Inspectors to devise "a set of rules which would
protect the public without unnecessary hardship to
the manufacturer." I was appointed chairman of
that committee, and after several consultations the
rules at present in use were adopted, very little
alteration having been found necessary since their
adoption. In connection with this subject I pub-
lished in the " Franklin Institute Journal " for Feb-
ruary, 1878, an article upon 'The Strength and
Ductility of Iron and Steel Boiler- Plate at Different
Temperatures," and another in January, 1879, upon
" The Effect of Continued and Progressively In-
creasing Strain upon Iron." The Hartford Steam-
Boiler Insurance Company about this time wrote
to me for a standard for steel, which was given to
them, and still forms their standard. It places the
tensile strength of boiler-steel at 55,000 to 60,000
pounds to the square inch, with an elongation of
twenty-five per cent, in eight inches. In reference
to this rule, I have recently written to Mr. J. M.
Allen, president of the Hartford Steam-Boiler Instu*
ance Company, who has had eighteen years' testing
practice, and quote from his letter in reply :
"You told me at that time that you thought it
would be from 55,000 to 60,000 tensile strength on
the specimen tested, with an elongation of twenty-
five per cent, in eight inches. We had various tests
made about the same time, and have since had
them made on other machines, more particularly
at Watertown Arsenal, Massachusetts, and we have
found that your opinion in regard to this matter
has been carried out in every instance, and we now
vary but little from it in our requirements, except in
some cases where the steel is to be used for special
purposes, where we have gone a little over 60,000
tensile strength ; but our standard rule does not ex-
ceed 60,000, and as to the elongation of twenty-five
per cent, in eight inches, we have never changed
that. We have found the ductility ample in most
cases in connection with the thousands of boilers
which we have insured."
It has now become the practice in all engineering
work to fix some standard, and there is hardly a day
that we do not have one or more inspectors in our
mill ; so that what a very few years ago was merely a
rule of thumb is now reduced to a rule by which the
quality of all iron or steel is weighed and measured.
The period in the development of the iron indus-
try between the years 1850 and i860 was not char-
acterized by the introduction of any such changes or
innovations as in the preceding decade. The most
important changes appear to have been in increas-
ing the efficiency of the rolling-mill machinery and
appliances then in use, as, for example, the invention
of the " three-high " roll-train ; the introduction of
mills for rolling beams, by Cooper & Hewitt, at Tren-
ton, N. J. ; and the invention in 1848 of the "uni-
versal mill," by Daelin, a German engineer, which
invention found its way to America some twelve
years later. Between the years 1850 and i860 the
production increased steadily, if slowly, foreign com-
petition being at this time a particularly serious ob-
stacle to overcome. In fact, in the manufacture of
the finer qualities of steel, no progress was made up
to the year i860. The first edition of "Appleton's
Charles Huston
THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
325
Cyclopedia," printed that year, states that " Ameri-
can cast-steel is hardly known in the markets." Ac-
cording to the census of i860, 97 establishments in
the United States produced 51,290 tons of blooms,
valued at $2,623,178 ; 286 establishments produced
987,559 tons of pig-iron, worth $20,870,120; 256
estabhshments produced 5 13,2 13 tons of rolled iron,
worth $31,888,705; 13 estabhshments produced
11,838 tons of steel, worth $1,778,240. These last
figures probably refer to the crude or cheaper grades
of steel, if the statement in " Appleton's Cyclopedia "
be correct. Such was the condition of the American
iron industry at the beginning of the decade which
saw the country in the throes of the most dreadful
war of modern times. During the years 1861-65
the resources of the iron industry in the Northern
States were taxed to their utmost to provide the
Federal armies with war material and the navy with
guns and projectiles. The industry in the South,
strained at an early day beyond its feeble capacity,
soon broke down, and most of the requirements of
the Confederate armies were supplied from abroad.
In the train of dire disaster wrought by the Civil
War some good to the iron industry may be found ;
for not only did iron ships make their appearance
in the navy, but the application of iron plates or
"armor" to their sides had its inception. The
American iron-clad monitors which made their ap-
pearance at this period were not, as has been popu-
larly supposed, the first armor-clad vessels ever con-
structed, since in 1859 the French built the frigate
Gloire, which was armored with iron plates five inches
in thickness. The British, not to be outdone by
their ancient naval foes, constructed in 1 86 1 the mag-
nificent frigate Warrior, which was protected on its
sides by solid iron plates four and one half inches in
thickness. As regards armor, either of these vessels
was much better protected than any of our monitors
constructed during the Civil War. It appears doubt-
ful if we possessed any rolling-mills at this period
capable of producing as heavy iron armor-plate as
was then made abroad, for we find the first monitor
was protected by armor consisting of from six to
eight thicknesses of one-inch iron plates bolted one
on the other with overlapping joints. The later ves-
sels were probably protected in much the same way
by armor made up of a greater number of similar
one-inch plates. One of the marked incidences in
the history of the iron industry between the years
i860 and 1870 was the gradual abandonment of the
production of iron in districts remote from the coal-
fields, charcoal-iron continuing, as at present, to
be made in large quantities, its superior qualities
for certain purposes rendering the demand fairly
uniform.
In the New England States, containing no coal
deposits, but some fairly good iron ores, all the iron
smelted in the earlier days was by use of charcoal.
As the timber supply decreased and the competition
from furnaces more favorably located became greater,
the industry began to wane, and gradually, one after
the other, the old furnaces were abandoned and dis-
mantled, until to-day scarcely any remain. In 1855
and 1856, Henry Bessemer, of London, obtained
patents for a process of converting molten pig-iron
into steel by forcing small jets of cold air through
the molten iron ; but he did not achieve success
with his invention until a modification of the process
was patented by Robert F. Mushet. Mushet's im-
provement consisted in adding to the molten steel,
after the blast had been stopped, a sufficient quan-
tity of spiegeleisen (an alloy of iron and manganese)
to neutralize the oxide of iron caused by blowing and
to give the steel the proper degree of hardness and
fluidity. In 1856 Bessemer obtained two United
States patents for his invention, but was immediately
confronted by a claim of priority of invention pre-
ferred by William Kelly, a native of Pittsburg, Pa.
The result of this incident was that Kelly obtained
a patent, but did not appear to avail himself of his
success, and the introduction of the pneumatic or, as
it is now universally termed, Bessemer process was
delayed several years. Since neither Bessemer's
nor Kelly's United States patents could be made of
much practical value without the control of those of
Mushet, it became necessary, in order to create the
Bessemer-steel industry in this country, to consoli-
date all the conflicting interests, which was done in
1866 ; and the first plant to produce the steel as a
commercial article was put in successful operation
by the Pennsylvania Steel Company at Steelton,
near Harrisburg, Pa., June, 1867. The first steel
rails ever rolled in the United States upon order in
the way of regular business were rolled by the Cam-
bria Iron Company, Johnstown, Pa., August, 1867,
from ingots made by the Pennsylvania Steel Com-
pany. The production of Bessemer steel in the year
1867 was 3000 tons, the industry continuing to grow
with rapid strides. In 1890, 4,131,535 tons were
produced. Of these amounts, 2550 tons were made
into rails in 1867, and 2,091,978 tons in 1890. In
the year 1891 3,247,417 tons and in 1892 4,168,435
tons of ingots were produced. The output of 1892
was the largest in our history, but in 1893 and 1894
it decreased about eighteen and twelve per cent, re-
spectively. The importance of the mvention of the
326
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
Bessemer process to the world in general and the
United States in particular cannot be overestimated,
since it has reached a development with us greater
than in any other country in the world. In 1890
the total amount of all varieties of steel made in
the United States was 35.2 per cent, of the entire
world's product. The rapid and enormous develop-
ment of the Bessemer-steel industry in the United
States is attributable to the great extension of our
railroads, as nearly all the steel rails used in their
construction were made of this material. Within
recent years Bessemer-steel ingots are becoming
largely used in the manufacture of black and tinned
plates.
The open-hearth steel process had its inception
in the year 1856, when the Siemens Brothers, who
were natives of Germany, but then residents in Lon-
don, perfected what is now generally known as the
Siemens regenerative gas-furnace, without which no
open-hearth steel can be made. In 1864, Messrs.
£mile and Pierre Martin, of the Sireuil works in
France, erected, with the assistance of Dr. Siemens,
one of the regenerative gas-furnaces to convert steel
in an open-hearth or reverberatory fiurnace of their
own construction. This scheme was a success from
the start, and by a subsequent consolidation of the
Siemens and Martin inventions a steel-making appa-
ratus was devised, known as the Siemens-Martin or
open-hearth process. The first open-hearth furnace
introduced into this country for the manufacttue of
steel by the Siemens-Martin process was built in 1868
by F. J. Slade for Cooper, Hewitt & Company, at
the works of the New Jersey Steel and Iron Com-
pany, at Trenton, N. J. The building of this fur-
nace was commenced in the spring of 1868, and in
December of the same year it was successfully put in
operation. In 1870 the production of open-hearth
steel in the United States was 1 500 tons, and in 1 890
574,820 tons, the industry showing a rapid develop-
ment during the intervening twenty years. Great
Britain is at present the largest producer of open-
hearth steel in the world, and in this branch of the
iron industry the United States is still somewhat
behind its great rival. In 1890 Great Britain pro-
duced 1,564,200 tons, as against 574,820 tons in
the United States. In 1894 the production in the
United States amounted to 784,936 tons, and in
Great Britain 1,575,318 tons, of which 104,531 tons
were made by the basic process. From the present
indications it seems probable that the production of
open-hearth steel in the United States for the year
1895 will reach nearly 1,000,000 tons, and that it
will not be many years before it equals that of Great
Britain. The so-called " basic " open-hearth process,
although having been in successful operation in Eu-
rope for a number of years, did not have its incep-
tion in the United States until the year 1888, when
a number of such furnaces were constructed at the
works of Carnegie, Phipps & Company, at Home-
stead, near Pittsburg, Pa. The manufacture of the
basic open-hearth steel has developed slowly in the
United States, and it does not seem likely to increase
with great rapidity as long as the supply of cheap
and excellent iron ore from the Lake Superior region
continues undiminished. Dtuing the remarkable
boom in the iron industry of the Southern States a
few years ago we heard much about the possibilities
of making steel by the basic process in this part of
the United States, the cheaply available iron ores of
this section being assumed to be particularly suitable
to the production of steel in this manner. These
expectations, however, appear to have failed to
be realized. Without going into technicalities, the
basic open-hearth process may be briefly defined as
an ordinary open-hearth plant whose furnace lining
is made of a basic material, such as dolomitic lime-
stone or the mineral magnesite. When pig-iron con-
taining a sufficiently great quantity of phosphorus to
render it unfit for conversion into steel by any other
method is melted in a furnace thus constructed, the
basic lining, together with a basic flux which is
added, removes the objectionable phosphorus and
renders (other conditions being normal), in most
cases, the resulting steel equal to that prepared in
the open-hearth furnace in the old and usual man-
ner. The purposes for which open-hearth steel is
ordinarily adapted are quite different from those for
which the Bessemer steel is most suitable ; but the
converse of this fact, however, is not true, since
open-hearth steel may be and frequently is used to
an equal, if not greater, advantage wherever Bes-
semer steel is employed. In this country, at least,
all high-grade structural material, such as boiler and
ship plate, bridge and building members, high-grade
castings, etc., is almost invariably of open-hearth
steel, which is generally considered, and doubtless is,
more uniform in quality than soft steel made by the
Bessemer method.
One of the most curious phases in the history of
the American iron industry is the fact that although
the United States at one time consumed nearly sixty
per cent, of the world's entire production of tinned
plates, with the exception of a few sporadic attempts
in 1873 and 1875, no tin or teme plates were made
in the United States until the year 1891. This
phenomenon cannot be explained by the fact that
THE IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY
327
this country mines or produces no tin, because Great
Britain, since the practical exhaustion of her Cornish
deposits, has been similarly situated, and is obliged
to import over two thirds of the tin consumed from
the East Indies, whence comes, also, most of the tin
used in the United States. According to the report
of Colonel Ira Ayer, special agent of the Treasury
Department, the total amount of tin and terne plate
produced in the United States in the year ending
June 30, 1892, was 13,646,719 pounds or 6092 gross
tons; for the year ending June 30, 1893, — which
was a very bad year for the iron trade, — 99,819,202
pounds or 44,563 gross tons; the year ending June
30, 1894, 139,223,467 pounds or 62,153 gross tons;
and, finally, the year ending June 30, 1895, 193,801,-
073 pounds or 86,518 gross tons. In 1889 the im-
ports of tin and terne plate from Great Britain into
the United States were 331,311 gross tons, having
a foreign value of $21,726,707. Great Britain fur-
nished virtually all the tin-plate used in the United
States during the twenty years ending 1 890. No bet-
ter evidence of the success of our domestic tin-plate
industry could be afforded than the fact that our im-
ports have steadily decreased since 1889, those for
the year 1894 being 215,068 gross tons, having a
foreign value of $12,053,167. It will be observed
from the figures given for the American production
that the industry has increased more than fourteen-
fold in four years. Verily this industry is here to
stay, and it is not too much to expect that within a
very few years we will be able to supply our entire
domestic demand, and importations will practically
cease.
If the history of the development of the American
blast-furnace practice were written it would form a
large book of itself, and it is therefore only possible
in this sketch to mention very briefly some of the
most important factors which influenced it. I have
already intimated how the introduction of the hot
blast, coke-fuel, and the use of steam-power in-
creased the efficiency of many of the furnaces. In
1870 most of the blast-furnaces in operation were
still very primitive, and although no statistics for
that year are given, it is probable that the best of
them did not produce as an average over fifty tons
of pig-iron per day, whereas in 1895 the production
of 300 tons per day is a common occurrence, and
in exceptional cases 350 to 400 tons per day have
been made by some of our best furnaces. The fol-
lowing table from the United States census reports
exhibits the rate of production of pig-iron in the
different sections of the United States during the
twenty years ending in 1890:
PRODUCTION OF PIG-IRON.
Tons op 2000 Poumds.
District.
Year ending
May 31, 1870.
Year ending
May 31, x88o.
Year ending
June 30, 1890.
New England States . . .
Middle States
34,471
1.311,649
184,540
522,161
30,957
2,401,093
350,436
995.335
3,200
33,781
5.216,591
1,780,909
2,522,351
26,147
Southern States
Western States
Far Western States ....
Totals
2,052,821
3,781,021
9.579,779
From the above figures it will be noted that the
manufacture of pig-iron in New England was prac-
tically stationary for the period of twenty years
ending in 1890. Between this date and 1895 it has
steadily decreased, the total amount produced in
1894 being 7572 tons. During the twenty years
between 1870 and 1890 production in the Middle
States had nearly quadrupled, in the Western States
increased nearly five times, and in the Southern States
nearly ten times. The production of pig-iron in the
United States for the census year 1890 was 9,202,-
703 gross tons, the largest in the history of the coun-
try ; in fact, larger than that of any other nation in
the world, being 616,023 tons in excess of the pro-
duction of Great Britain in 1882 — the greatest on
record. In 1870 Great Britain produced 5,963,515
tons of pig-iron ; in 1880, 7,749,233 ; in 1890, 7,904,-
214; in 1894, 7,364,745, The United States pro-
duced in 1 89 1 8,279,870 tons of pig-iron; in 1892,
9,157,000; in 1893, 7,124,502; in 1894, 6,657,388.
It will thus be observed that, owing to the general
depression in the iron business during these latter
years, the production has gradually decreased and
fallen considerably short of that in Great Britain dur-
ing the same period. The production in 1895, how-
ever, will probably show a great increase, although
it is not likely to equal that of the phenomenal year
1890.
A sketch of the American iron industry in the past
hundred years would be incomplete without some
reference to the introduction of the manufacture of
armor-plate into the United States. This class of
material not only has a peculiar and limited demand,
but its manufacture requires the highest degree of
metallurgical and mechanical skill, together with an
exceptionally expensive plant. When the reconstruc-
tion of the United States navy was begun, some ten
years ago, we had absolutely no facilities for mak-
ing the simplest kind of armor-plate, although pos-
sessing some of the largest steel-works in the world.
328
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
One of the first of the new armored vessels com-
pleted (the rciomior Miantonomoh) was protected by
" compound " plates imported from England. All
the large forgings for the guns and shafts of the
earlier ships were likewise imported. Owing to the
wise and liberal policy of Congress, the Bethlehem
Iron Company and Carnegie, Phipps & Company,
of Pittsburg, were induced to erect expensive plants
necessary for making not only the heavy gun-forg-
ings required, but also for all the different grades
and thicknesses of armor-plate. In 1891 these
firms began to supply armor for the ships in course
of construction, although at first their output of fin-
ished armor was extremely slow. The delays have
now been slowly overcome, and at the present time
there is little doubt that these great steel-works will
be able to supply the armor as fast as new ships are
constructed. How successful these works have been
in furnishing our government with the best grades of
armor-plate could have no better illustration than
the fact that the Bethlehem Iron Company is now
supplying foreign governments with armor for their
ships. The only two important iron and steel com-
modities which the iron industry of the United States
did not supply in i8go (tin-plate and armor-plate)
are at present being made in large quantities, and
the year 1895 sees this country for the first time in
its history absolutely independent as regards the pro-
duction of every important variety of iron and steel.
Vast improvement has been made in the machi-
nery necessary to manipulate iron and steel. The
Bethlehem Iron Company has, I believe, the largest
hammer in the world, of 125 tons' capacity. This
hammer was built by Mr. John Fritz and put into
successful operation in 1891. The Bethlehem Iron
Company and Carnegie, Phipps & Company are now
prepared to make the heaviest forgings required for
armor-plate, heavy shaftings, etc., up to forty to
fifty tons in weight. Long previous to this, how-
ever, Mr. Fritz, while at Cambria, put into success-
ful operation the three-high roll-train invented by
him (and afterward adapted to plate-mills by Mr.
Lauth) ; and his brother, Mr. George Fritz, in-
vented what is known as the " automatic tables," all
of which improvements enable the manufacturer to
successfully handle almost any weight of ingot. I
well remember when a 500-pound mass of iron was
thought to be so heavy that the whole neighborhood
gathered in to see it rolled. The necessity of han-
dling such very heavy weights as could be made from
ingots cast in large masses brought into play the in-
vention of hydraulic machinery, so that we now have
pumps to produce any required pressure in a series
of pipes which deliver the water to the hydraulic
engines in any part of the works. By simply turn-
ing a valve now a boy will pick up a heavy ingot
(say of 10,000-pound weight) with his hydraulic
crane and deliver it anywhere within reach of the
crane. If on a car, it may then be taken by a small
locomotive to the rolling-mill, where another crane
picks it up and puts it into the furnace, and, after
heating to the required degree, takes it out and de-
livers it to the machinery at the rolls ; then the auto-
matic tables push it back and forth through the rolls
until it is reduced to the required dimensions. The
same tables now take it to the shears, which are also
operated by hydraulic power, and the plate, some-
times two inches thick, is sheared ready for ship-
ment. All this is done with more ease than was
possible a few years ago. Within the last few years
electricity has been brought into play to do some of
the heavy work, being for some things even more
available than hydraulics.
In this brief account of the evolution of this
great industry I have been much indebted for infor-
mation to Mr. James M. Swank, secretary and gen-
eral manager of the American Iron and Steel Asso-
ciation, and author of the elaborate work, " Iron in
All Ages." My space has been too limited to more
than outline the vast subject, but I have endeavored
to give a slight idea of the giant in iron production
our country has become in so short a space of time.
/t^/hj/^mM-
CHAPTER XLVII
COPPER AND BRASS
THE Naugatuck River has its sources in the
hills of northwestern Connecticut, and flows
southward for about forty miles to its junction
with the Housatonic River at Derby, taking its course
through a narrow, winding valley, between steep,
well- wooded hills, that rise directly from the river-
bank to a considerable height. From Torrington,
at the head of the valley, to Derby, there is a fall
of about 600 feet. Four times, within six miles from
its mouth, the water is diverted from its channel by
dams, and held in large reservoirs to furnish water-
power. Further up the valley, wherever it broadens
to give room for a village or a city, there are water
privileges, and the power is utilized for manufactur-
ing purposes.
In this narrow valley, which contains a popula-
tion of more than 80,000 people, evidence of thrift
and prosperity is everywhere seen in the neat, com-
fortable homes of the workingmen, and the fine
houses of their employers. This is the seat of the
brass-rolling industry of America. Ten great cor-
porations are here directly engaged in this business,
producing about three fourths of the total quantity
of rolled brass manufactured in the United States,
giving direct employment to 8200 persons, and indi-
rectly to many thousands more. Nearly 100,000,-
000 pounds of copper, or about one half the total
quantity of this metal consumed in the United
States, are conveyed annually to the Naugatuck
Valley for use in these manufacturing establishments.
The Naugatuck is a capricious stream. It is sub-
ject to freshets in the early spring months, while in
the summer there is often a scarcity of water. The
valley of the Housatonic River, running parallel
with the Naugatuck through Connecticut, furnishes
better water privileges, and broader plains for laying
out towns and cities; but in the Naugatuck Valley
were found the men of foresight, energy, and ac-
tivity who could originate great enterprises and
carry them to completion. They began the brass-
rolling industry sixty-five years ago. Its develop-
ment and progress with the growth of the country
are due to the energy and ability of those who have
conducted the business and furnished the necessary
capital for its enlargement. The causes that have
led to the concentration of so large a proportion of
this industry in the Naugatuck Valley are more
complex. The cheap power afforded by the water
privileges in the valley undoubtedly led to the es-
tablishment there of the first roHing-mills, which, as
they increased in size and capacity, finally outgrew
the water-power, and are at the present day operated
by steam, or by steam and water-power together.
An abundant supply of pure water is always neces-
sary in a brass-mill for washing the metal, for fire
protection, and for use in condensers in connection
with steam-power; and the water-supply from the
Naugatuck River is very useful for such purposes,
as well as for power.
The mills originally established in the valley
have enlarged and extended from time to time to
keep pace with the growing demand for brass. Ac-
cording to the general law governing the concen-
tration of kindred industries and trades in particular
localities, new mills were started there, even after
the water-power had ceased to be a determining
factor in the problem of location. Other advan-
tages, such as the cheapness and accessibility of
wood of the variety best suited for annealing pur-
poses, were among the causes that held the trade in
the valley. Then, too, there arose a race of work-
men skilled from generation to generation in the
mixing, rolling, and manipulation of brass ; and
as time went on and competition increased, the
production of rolled metal becoming less profitable,
many of the roUing-mills began remanufacturing
their own metal. Other corporations were formed,
some being direct oifshoots from the brass-mills,
329
330
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
until the location became what it is to-day; a
great center for the reworking and consumption of
metal. There are many reasons why it is desirable
that a brass-mill should not be too far from the
place where its product is chiefly consumed, and
thus it happens that, while a few brass manufac-
tories are operated in other parts of the country,
the Naugatuck Valley still is and probably will re-
main the seat of the brass-rolling industry in Amer-
ica. Other enterprises, such as the rolling of iron
and steel, thrive best where their raw material, their
fuel and labor, are cheapest and most accessible,
transportation, labor, and fuel being great factors
in the cost of the product; but the brass manu-
facturer, working a high-priced raw material, and
bringing his finished product to the point of nicety
in gauge and quaUty, finds the cost of labor, fuel,
and transportation factors of far less importance
relatively, and he is governed largely by other
considerations in his choice of locality. There-
fore, while the shifting centers of the manufac-
ture of iron and steel are marked throughout the
country by abandoned furnaces, the seat of the
brass-rolling industry remains to-day where it was
established sixty-five years ago, it being a note-
worthy fact that, with hardly an exception, all of the
brass-mills which are operated outside of the State
of Connecticut were constructed and are carried on
by Connecticut men.
Israel Coe, a farmer of Connecticut, John Hun-
gerford, of Connecticut, and Anson G. Phelps, a
capitalist of New York and founder of the house of
Phelps, Dodge & Company, were pioneers in brass-
manufacturing in this country, and in 1834 they
built a brass-mill at Wolcottville, now Torrington,
Conn. Previous to 1830, brass was imported, or
manufactured here in a very primitive way. As
early as 181 1, James G. Moffett, of New York, rolled
brass in small quantities, using for power a sweep
actuated by oxen. In 1802, the manufacture of
gilt buttons was begun in Connecticut by Abel Por-
ter & Company. At that time these buttons were
articles of fashionable use. To obtain brass for this
purpose, the mixture was cast in ingots at Water-
bury, and taken to Bradleyville, near Litchfield,
Conn., where there was an iron-mill driven by
water-power; here it was broken down and rolled
into strips, and returned in a rough state to the but-
ton factory in Waterbury, where it was rolled thin-
ner by being passed between two rolls two inches in
diameter, driven by horse-power. The copper for
brass-making was obtained from old boilers which
had been used in distilleries and in sugar-making.
This copper was cast into ingots and mixed with
spelter, which was obtained from abroad. In 1808,
Abel Porter & Company purchased the water-power
now owned by the Scovill Manufacturing Company at
Waterbury, and soon afterward put in rolls suitable
for breaking down and finishing brass. For a period
of about twenty years they rolled brass, but it does
not appear that their production was any more than
enough to supply their own requirements. In 1830,
the firm of Holmes, Hotchkiss, Brown & Elton es-
tablished a mill and engaged in the manufacture of
sheet brass at Waterbury. This was substantially
the beginning of the sheet-brass business in America,
although the metal, in small quantities, may have
been occasionally supplied to consumers before that
time by the firm of J. M. L. & W. H. Scovill, and by
Benedict & Coe, of Waterbury.
There was at that time also a demand for brass
kettles, which were manufactured in England by a
process known as the "battery" process: that is,
they were hammered into shape from metal blanks.
The establishment of the mill at Torrington, at the
head of the Naugatuck Valley, in 1834, was for the
purpose of rolling brass for use in manufacturing
these kettles, and to supply the growing demand of
the button factories. A small rolling-mill was built,
with machinery imported from England, and Israel
Holmes, of Waterbury, was engaged as manager of
the mill. There was great difficulty in securing
workmen competent to carry on the business. Mr.
Holmes was sent to England, and succeeded in
procuring a few experienced men. He afterward
made another trip abroad for the same purpose, but
the English manufacturers, fearful of losing their
American trade, endeavored to prevent him from
hiring their men, and it was with great difficulty and
some danger to himself that he succeeded in em-
barking a colony of workmen and their families,
about thirty persons in all. These were landed at
Philadelphia, taken in a schooner from there to
Hartford, Conn., from which place they proceeded
on foot through the woods, a distance of twenty-
five miles, to Torrington.
From this small beginning, and with no end of
difficulty and discouragement, the enterprise con-
tinued to grow. Local competition arose, and in
1840, Edwin Hodges, of West Torrington, started a
mill for the purpose of making brass kettles, and
also for drawing brass wire. This seems to have
been the first brass-wire-drawing establishment in
this country. It was located in Cotton Hollow, in
the town of Torrington. The enterprise was un-
successful, and the mill was soon closed, with the
COPPER AND BRASS
331
loss of all the capital invested. In 1841, the origi-
nal enterprise at Torrington was made into a stock
company, with a capital of $56,000. It was named
The Wolcottville Brass Company, and the incorpo-
rators were John Hungerford, Anson G. Phelps, and
Israel Coe. The records of this company for the first
few years of its existence contain some interesting
details. The copper used was imported from Chile,
or was obtained in the form of old copper, which
was collected from different places throughout the
country. The price of copper was then eighteen and
three fourth cents per pound. Spelter, which was im-
ported, cost eight and three eighth cents per pound.
The fuel used was mainly wood, but some Lehigh
coal was procured, which cost, at Hartford, $8.43
per ton, to which was to be added the cost of trans-
portation by teams from Hartford to Wolcottville.
Fire-brick for the furnaces cost $60 per 1000. The
manufactured product, in the form of rolled and
sheet brass, was valued at twenty-six to thirty cents
per pound. It was taken by teams either to Water-
bury, or twenty-five miles across a hilly country to
Hartford, and from there shipped on sloops to New
York. Upon the site of the works occupied by the
Wolcottville Brass Company are to-day the great
factories of the Coe Brass Manufacturing Company.
The name of Anson G. Phelps is perpetuated by the
city of Ansonia the Ansonia Brass and Copper Com-
pany, and the Ansonia Clock Company, as well as by
the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Company, which he
founded ; and the name of Israel Holmes appears in
the title of the corporation of Holmes, Booth & Hay-
dens, of Waterbury.
The decade from 1840 to 1850 saw the birth of
many of the prominent brass-manufacturing corpo-
rations of the present day. In 1843 a joint-stock
company, at Waterbury, was organized under the
title of the Benedict & Bumham Manufacturing
Company, with a paid-up capital of $100,000.
Aaron Benedict was president and treasurer, and
John S. Mitchell secretary. Mr. Aaron Benedict
continued at the head of the company until his
death in 1873. This company now operates exten-
sive works, and gives employment to 967 persons,
manufacturing brass, German silver, etc., and re-
manufacturing metal.
The Waterbury Brass Company began business in
1845 with a capital of $40,000. Among the incor-
porators were John P. Elton, Lyman W. Coe, Israel
Holmes, and Hobart V. Welton. They now give
employment to 525 persons, and manufacture brass,
brass wire, etc., and also remanufacture.
In 1849 the Naugatuck Railroad was completed,
and the product of the valley mills was thereafter
shipped by rail to tidewater at Bridgeport.
In 1848 Thomas Wallace and his sons, John,
William, and Thomas, began the business of wire-
drawing at Birmingham, Conn. Their cash capital
was $500. Their knowledge of their trade enabled
them to increase their business, and in a few years
they built a factory at Ansonia, which has since
been greatly enlarged. At present it is conducted
under the name of Wallace & Sons, and gives em-
ployment to 646 persons, in manufacturing brass and
copper wire, and remanufacturing.
The Scovill Manufacturing Company, of Water-
bury, succeeded the firm of J. M. L. & W. H. Sco-
vill, and was incorporated in 1850, with a capital of
$200,000, which has since been increased. They
now manufacture brass, German silver, etc., employ-
ing 1650 persons, and are extensive remanufacturers
of metal.
The Coe Brass Manufacturing Company, of Tor-
rington, Conn., was founded by Lyman W. Coe in
1863, and succeeded the Wolcottville Brass Com-
pany. Lyman W. Coe, the son of Israel Coe, was
the president of the corporation, which began busi-
ness with a capital of $ioo,oco. Their capital has
been increased from time to time, and they now em-
ploy 650 persons, manufacturing brass, German sil-
ver, tubes, wire, etc. They do not remanufacture.
In 1844 Anson G. Phelps purchased extensive
lands in the vicinity of what is now the city of An-
sonia, which was founded by him, and named in his
honor. He constructed a dam across the Nauga-
tuck River, a canal, large reservoirs for water-power,
and built a mill for rolling copper. The firm of
Phelps, Dodge & Co. had for some years prior to
1844 operated a copper rolling-mill at Birmingham,
Conn. The water privilege at Ansonia is now
owned and operated by the Ansonia Land and
Water-Power Company, and is the source of water-
power for the city of Ansonia. Mr. Phelps brought
from the Wolcottville works J. H. Bartholomew and
George P. Cowles, who managed the business at
Ansonia under the name of the Ansonia Brass and
Battery Company, the term " battery " being indic-
ative of the process by which brass kettles were
hammered from metal blanks. This method of
making kettles was in use until 1851, when it gave
place to a patented process for spinning kettles from
circular blanks of metal. The business of the An-
sonia Brass and Battery Company was conducted
by the firm of Phelps, Dodge & Company of New
York. A brass-mill was built, and later a wire-mill.
The company afterward engaged in the manufac-
^32
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
ture of clocks. In 1869 this manufacturing enter-
prise was incorporated under the name of The
Ansonia Brass and Copper Company. In 1877 the
manufacture and sale of clocks had increased to
such an extent that it was decided to form a new
joint-stock corporation under the name of The An-
sonia Clock Company, which began business on
January i, 1878. The location of this part of the
company's business was transferred to Brooklyn,
N. Y., where large factories were erected and are
now in operation.* The ownership and management
of the two companies are practically the same.
They operate at Ansonia four factories, where they
give employment to 11 25 persons, and in the fac-
tories in Brooklyn 1000 persons are employed.
They manufacture at Ansonia sheet brass, sheet cop-
per, wire, tubing, etc. They also remanufacture their
metal, making brass bedsteads and other articles.
During many years brass manufacturing was con-
ducted on what would now be regarded as a very
small scale, and, although the methods pursued at
the present day are substantially the same as at the
beginning, wonderful progress has been made in
cheapening these methods, and improving the qual-
ity of the articles manufactured. It is stated that in
the early forties it was customary for the manufac-
turers at Waterbury annually to appoint a committee
to make the long journey to Baltimore for the pur-
pose of purchasing copper for the season's supply.
At that time the purchase of 500,000 pounds of cop-
per was sufficient for a year's supply for these manu-
facturers. At present that quantity would not supply
the demand of the Naugatuck Valley for two days.
Copper and spelter being the metals from which
brass is made, a brief account of the sources of sup-
ply from which these materials are obtained will
throw some light upon the development of the busi-
ness of brass and copper rolling. The first copper-
mine worked in the United States was the Sims-
bury Mine, at Granby, in Connecticut. The record
of this mine extends back to the year 1705. It was
worked until 1770, but was not profitable, and
only a small quantity of ore was taken out. Dur-
ing the War of the Revolution it was used as a
prison, and to-day it is an object of interest to those
who are curiously inclined. About the year 17 19,
the Schuyler Mine, near Belleville, N. J., was
opened and became one of a number of small
mines which were worked in that section of the
country for a series of years following. The Gap
Mine, in Lancaster, Pa., was started in 1732. The
production of copper from all these openings, how-
ever, was of very little commercial importance, and
until the Lake Superior region became a source of
supply, thie consumers of copper in the United
States. had to procure their raw material in Chile.
It was brought to this country in the form of pigs^
and refined near Boston, at Baltimore, and at other
points along the coast. In 1844, the Cliff Mine,,
near Eagle River, Lake Superior, was opened, and
in 1845 regular records of production were begun.
The great development of the copper-mining in-
dustry at Lake Superior soon placed the United
States in the front ranks of the copper-producing
countries of the world, and the product of these
mines, being of a quality much finer than the cop-
per produced abroad, naturally took the place of
the foreign product for home consumption. Cop-
per production in the United States from 1845 to-
1880 kept pace with home consumption, a com-
paratively small quantity being exported up to the
last-named period, so that the record of the cop-
per produced in the United States between the
periods named will indicate the progress made in
manufactures of brass and copper. Beginning in
1845 with a product of 100 tons (which was much
less than the quantity required for home consump-
tion), the record as shown by periods of ten years
is as follows: 1850, 650 tons; i860, 7200 tons;,
1870, 12,600 tons; 1880, 27,000 tons.
Very little copper was imported to the United
States after i860. In 1879 the Lake Superior
region furnished about eighty-three per cent, of the
total quantity of copper produced in the United
States, but after 1880 the opening of the copper-
mining regions of Arizona and Montana increased
the output largely beyond the quantity required for
use here. A heavy exportation at once followed,
and this country became one of the world's great
sources of supply of copper. The quantity of cop-
per produced in the United States in 1894 was
157,814 long tons, of which there were consumed
here 78,687 tons, and the quantity exported was
75»737 tons.
A fair estimate of the average price of copper in
the United States from 1845 to 1859 is twenty-
cents per pound. From 1859 to 1876 the yearly
average price of copper varied from twenty and a
half cents to thirty-two cents per pound, with the
exception that in the years 1864 and 1865 the price
was advanced, so that in 1864 the average price of
Lake Superior copper was forty-six and one fourth
cents per pound, and in 1865 thirty-six and one
fourth cents. Since 1876 there has been a gradual
decline in the yearly average price, which was
eighteen and five eighth cents in 1877, and eleven
Alfred A. Cowles,
COPPER AND BRASS
333
and one fourth cents in 1887. In 1894 the price
touched nine cents per pound, which is the lowest
point recorded. The price at present is twelve cents
per pound. Since we became great exporters of
copper, the price of this metal in the United States
has been nearly at a parity with the price in Eu-
rope. With increased production the cost of min-
ing has been greatly reduced, while improvements
in metallurgy, and methods of electrolytic extrac-
tion, have brought into the market great quantities
of copper suitable for the finest work from sources
which formerly furnished only coarse and ordinary
grades of material. In former years the tariff upon
copper had affected the price of the raw material
in this country, often enabling the mining compa-
nies to obtain from the consumer at home a higher
rate than that which ruled abroad. The price of
copper in this country was sometimes sustained by
arrangement between the mining companies, who
would market the copper here at a fixed price,
and ship their surplus product abroad at a con-
siderably lower rate. The American brass manu-
facturer was, therefore, usually confined to a home
market for his product, and the statement that, in
certain cases, he succeeded in taking large foreign
contracts for brass, with the disadvantage of having
to pay a higher price than his competitor abroad,
not only for his raw material but for his labor and
supplies, is the best possible tribute to the excellent
quality of his work. Ingot copper was admitted to
this country, duty-free, until the Act of July 30,
1846, when a duty of five per cent, was imposed.
The Act of March 3, 1857, restored copper to the
free list. Subsequent duties were imposed upon
copper: in 1861 of two cents per pound, and after
that period of from two and a half to five cents per
pound. The McKinley Bill made the duty one and
a quarter cents per pound, and at present ingot
copper is on the free list.
The first refined spelter produced in this country
was made in the year 1856, at Bethlehem, Pa., from
ores mined there, and it was sent to the govern-
ment arsenal at Washington. Up to 1865 or
1866, the spelter used by brass manufacturers was
imported from Germany and Belgium. In 1867
the Missouri Zinc Company, at Carondelet, Mo.,
began to make spelter from Wisconsin ores. The
first year they made about 1800 tons; the next year
about 2500 tons. This was used in the United
States. In 1869 the first zinc ores were discovered
in southwestern Missouri, and since then the devel-
opment of the zinc industry has been constantly
increasing. The output of the present year will
probably be between 80,000 and 90,000 tons. The
American brass manufacturers have used domestic
spelter almost exclusively for the past twenty-five
years, the quality of the American spelter being su-
perior to that of the foreign article. One of the
finest grades of spelter is produced in New Jersey,
and is sold at a high price, but the greater part
of the spelter produced at present in this country
comes from southwestern Missouri and Kansas.
At no time within the past twenty-five years has
spelter been admitted to the United States free of
duty. The duty under the McKinley Bill was one
and one half cents per pound. Under the present
tariff the duty is one cent per pound.
On January 13, 1801, Paul Revere, of Revolu-
tionary fame, wrote to a friend in London, request-
ing him to go down to Maidenhead, where rolling
machinery was manufactured, and ascertain the
price of a pair of rolls nine inches in diameter and
twenty inches long, for making sheet copper. Col-
onel Revere was a silversmith, and had previously
corresponded with Benjamin Stoddard, Secretary of
the Navy, upon the subject of copper rolling. It is
not known whether or not these rolls were procured
at that time, but in January, 1801, Colonel Revere
purchased an old powder-mill at Canton, Mass.,
where he began the production of sheet copper.
The business has been carried on continuously since
that time, and is now incorporated under the name
of the Revere Copper Company. Among the
names of those originally connected with this en-
terprise are Joseph A. Revere, James Davis, John
Revere, and S. T. Snow. This company now manu-
factures sheet copper and yellow metal, giving em-
ployment to 125 men.
In 181 2 the Soho Copper Company was estab-
lished in Belleville, N. J., where there is a good
water-power, and water transportation by canal and
by the Passaic River, The originator of this enter-
prise was Harmon Hendricks, the son of Uriah Hen-
dricks, who was an importer of copper and metals.
Some of the buildings were of brick, roofed with
tiles imported from Europe. The rolling-mill was
of wood, and contained one pair of breaking-down
rolls, one pair of sheet rolls, and one pair of bolt
rolls, all of which were imported from England.
The plant and machinery cost $50,000, and were
intended for the purpose of furnishing the United
States government with heavy copper sheets for
boilers, and bolts for ship-building, during the War
of 181 2. This business has descended from father
to son in a direct line, until it is now in the hands
of the fourth and fifth generations, and is known
:)34
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
as the " Belleville Copper Rolling Mills," operated
by Hendricks Brothers, and employing loo men.
In the year 1815, ingot copper sold for eighteen
and one half cents per pound, and the price of copper
sheets was thirty-nine cents per pound.
The Gunpowder Copper Works were built in 1817,
on the Gunpowder River, ten miles from Baltimore,
by Levi HoUingsworth. Water power was used in
manufacturing. In 1866 the rolling-mill was trans-
ferred to Canton. It is now operated by the Balti-
more Copper Smelting & Rolling Co., who are en-
gaged in smelting, and in the manufacture of blue
vitriol and sulphuric acid. They employ in all
about 500 operatives, of whom fifty are employed in
the rolling-mill.
The manufacture of yellow metal for sheathing
vessels was the subject of a patent by H. F. Muntz, of
Birmingham, England, about the year 1840. This
mixture, which contains a large percentage of spelter
and can be rolled while hot, being cheaper than cop-
per, naturally came largely into use for ship-sheath-
ing. It was first made in this country by the Revere
Copper Company, within a year or two after its pro-
duction in England. Later, it was made by the
Taunton Copper Manufacturing Company, the New
Bedford Copper Company, and the Bridgewater Iron
Company. The decline of American ship-building,
and legislation permitting American vessels engaged
in foreign trade to use the foreign metal without pay-
ment of duty, have greatly decreased the demand
for yellow metal in the United States.
The causes that have tended to localize the
manufacture of sheet brass do not affect the rolling
of copper. There is no mixing to be done, and
less skill is required in rolling copper than is need-
ful in rolling brass. The makers of sheet copper do
not remanufacture their product. So that, while
out of a total of nineteen brass-mills fourteen are
located in Connecticut, the copper-mills are distrib-
uted throughout the country : in Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Michigan, and Illinois. The following is a list of
the brass and copper rolling-mills in this country at
the present time :
BRASS AND COPPER ROLLING-MILLS, 1895.
Name.
Ansonia Brass & Copper Co
American Electrical Works
Benedict & Burnham Mfg. Co
Baltimore Copper Smelting & Rolling Co
Brooklyn Brass & Copper Co
Birmingham Brass Co
Bristol Brass & Clock Co
Bridgeport Brass Co ....
Coe Brass Mfg. Co
Chicago Brass Co
Detroit Copper & Brass Rolling-Mills .
Holmes, Booth & Haydens
Hendricks Bros
C. G. Hassey & Co
Manliattin Brass Co
Edward Miller & Co
New Haven Copper Co
New Bedford Copper Co
Plume & Atwood Mfg. Co
Park, Bro. & Co., Ltd
Parsons Manganese Bronze & Copper Co,
Randolph & Clowes
Rome Brass & Copper Co
Revere Copper Co
Scovill Mfg. Co
Se3rmoar Mfg. Co
Taunton Copper Mfg. Co.
Tamarack Osceola Copper Mfg. Co
Wallace & Sons
Waterbury Brass Co
Location.
Ansonia, Conn.
Providence, R. I.
Waterbury, Conn.
Baltimore, Md.
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Birmingham, Conn.
Bristol, Conn.
Bridgeport, Conn.
Torrington, Conn.
Kenosha, Wis.
Detroit, Mich.
Waterbury, Conn.
Belleville, N. J.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
New York.
Meriden, Conn.
Seymour, Conn.
New Bedford, Mass.
Waterbury, Conn.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Waterbury, Conn.
Rome, N, Y.
Boston, Mass.
Waterbury, Conn.
Seymour, Conn.
Taunton, Mass.
Dollar Bay, Mich.
Ansonia, Conn.
Waterbury, Conn.
Year
Estab-
lished.
1845
1882
1843
1887
1865
1863
1886
1881
1853
1812
1848
1865
i860
1869
1894
1886
1879
1828
1850
1878
1831
1888
1848
1845
Number
Persons
Em-
ployed.
hi3S
967
50
206
455
750
650
144
275
1,012
100
90
575
100
791
50
550
397
1,600
150
90
646
52s
Principal Products.
Re-
Re-
Rolled brass, sheet copper, wire, etc
manufacture.
Wire.
Rolled brass, German silver, wire, etc,
manufacture.
Sheet copper.
Rolled brass, copper, etc.
Rolled brass, wire, etc. Remanufacture.
Rolled brass, etc. Remanufacture.
Rolled brass, German silver, wire, etc. Re-
manufacture.
Rolled brass, German silver, wire, etc.
Rolled brass and copper.
Rolled brass, sheet copper, wire, etc.
Rolled brass, wire, etc. Remanufacture.
Sheet copper, etc.
Sheet copper, etc.
Rolled brass, etc. Remanufacture.
Sheet copper, etc.
Sheet copper, yellow metal, etc.
Rolled brass, wire, etc. Remanufacture.
Sheet copper.
Sheet copper, etc.
Rolled brass, sheet copper, etc. Remanu-
facture.
Rolled brass, copper, etc.
Sheet copper and yellow metal.
Rolled brass, German silver, etc. Remanu-
facture.
Rolled brass, German silver, etc.
Sheet copper, yellow metal, etc.
Sheet copper, wire, etc.
Rolled brass, sheet copper, wire, etc. Re-
manufacture.
Rolled brass, wire, etc. Remanufacture.
COPPER AND BRASS
335
In addition to these, there are two manufacturers
of iron wire, who are extensive manufacturers of
copper wire also. They are the Washburn and Moen
Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Mass., and
the John A. Roebling's Sons' Company, of Trenton,
N.J.
Brass founders or manufacturers of articles of cast
brass are not included in the foregoing list. This
is a separate branch of business, and it is carried
on by a great number of foundries in the United
States, some of the most prominent of these being :
The Eaton, Cole and Bumham Company, of
Bridgeport, Conn. The Crane Company, of Chicago.
The Buckeye Brass and Iron Works, of Dayton, O.
The Wm. Powell Company, of Cincinnati. Henry
M'Shane Manufacturing Company, of Baltimore.
M'Nab and Hariin Manufacturing Company, of New
York. Jarecki Manufacturing Company, of Erie, Pa.
Walworth Manufacturing Company, of Boston.
It is estimated that these eight companies con-
sume about ten million pounds of ingot copper an-
nually, and that the total consumption of ingot cop-
per by all the foundries is from eighteen to twenty-
five million pounds. In addition to this there is a
large quantity of old metal annually converted into
brass castings by these foundries.
Many manufacturing concerns, also, have their
own foundries, where metal is cast, to be used in
their various departments. These foundries are not
included in the foregoing estimate.
Seamless Brass and Copper tubes are made by a
number of the brass-mills in Connecticut, by the
American Seamless Tube Company, near Boston,
and by the Bloomsburg Brass and Copper Company,
in Pennsylvania. Early in 1848, Joseph Cotton,
Joseph H. Cotton, William E. Coffin, Holmes
Hinckley, and Daniel F. Child, all of Boston, de-
spatched to England an engineer, Joseph Fox, to
learn how to make seamless brass tubes, paying a
large sum to Messrs. Green and Alston, the English
patentees, for the instruction of Mr. Fox, and the
right to make tubes by their process in the United
States. Previous to that time all copper and brass
tubes for use in locomotive and marine boilers and
for the hundreds of other uses to which tubes were
put, were brazed ; that is, made of strips of metal put
in a rounded form, and their edges brazed together.
In 1850, the gentlemen before-named organized a
corporation called the American Tube Works, of
Boston, and began the manufacture of seamless
drawn brass tubes. These tubes have taken the
place of the brazed tubes in all cases where steam or
other high pressures are involved, and they are made
by seven or eight manufacturers in the United
States.
There are no public records showing the present
condition of the brass and copper industry in
America. Figures can only be obtained by per-
sonal application to the manufacturers themselves.
The following details, showing the state of the busi-
ness at present and covering the year ending July
I, 1895, are taken from information furnished by
twenty-seven corporations, and include the entire
business of the country in rolled brass, copper, and
wire. In a few instances, where information could
not be obtained, an estimate of the business has
been made.
The nominal capital invested is $12,137,000, but
the amount of the actual investment is about
$28,000,000.
The number of persons employed is 14,350.
The annual consumption of copper is 191,000,000
pounds.
The annual consumption of spelter is 31,500,000
pounds.
The value of the annual product is $36,400,000,
of which the metal is valued at $29,700,000, and
the remanufactured products at $6,700,000. This
includes only remanufacturing by brass rolling mills.
Any one of the principal establishments in Con-
necticut will serve as a type of the modern brass
and copper rolling-mill. The buildings are usually
of brick, roofed with iron, and contained in an in-
closure of from twelve to twenty acres. They are
generally one story high, and are light and well
ventilated. An air of neatness and order prevails.
The machinery is of modem construction and the
best that can be made. The motive power is steam.
In the remanufacturing departments automatic ma-
chinery takes the place of hand labor. In the roll-
ing-mill, metal of the finest finish is produced, and
brought to a degree of accuracy in gage which is not
usually found in other countries. Eyelet metal, for
example, is required to be rolled to a width of six
inches, and not to vary more than one two-thou-
sandth of an inch in gage; that is, it must not vary
in thickness more than one-fifth of the breadth of a
human hair. A skillful roUerman will produce metal
within these requirements. It is well understood
by those who are familiar with the methods em-
ployed abroad, that nearly all the improved pro-
cesses of brass rolling have originated in this
country; that we have taken the lead in this branch
of business from the beginning, and that our pro-
ducts at present, in point of accuracy of gauge and
fineness of quality and finish, are far in advance of
336
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN COMMERCE
similar articles produced in other countries. This
has been brought about indirectly by the fine qual-
ity of our copper and spelter, which has enabled
our manufacturers to produce brass of a kind readily
adapted to mechanical manipulation, while Yankee
ingenuity has taught our mechanics to invent ma-
chinery for metal rolling and metal working, which
in its turn has created a demand for metal of the
utmost nicety in gauge; so that a very large propor-
tion of the brass produced in this country to-day is
gauged by the micrometer, which registers fractions
of the thousandth part of an inch.
Many of these brass manufacturing corporations
have a nominal capital, which represents only a
small part of the real sum invested. They have
from year to year enlarged their plants, using their
surplus earnings, and increasing their outlay with-
out increasing their capital, so that often the real
investment is three or four times the amount of
the capital stock. Seven of the principal brass
rolling-mills, with a nominal capital amounting to
$2,419,000, claim an actual investment of $12,000,-
000; nearly five times the amount of their capital
stock. Brass rolling is now carried on upon a very
narrow margin of profit, so that what would appear
to be a fair dividend upon the nominal capital is
a very small return for the actual investment. As a
natural result, in some cases new plants, that have
been erected with modem machinery, have had to
close their doors, being unable to compete with
those already established. Laborers employed in
brass-works are well paid, and, as a rule, are thrifty,
often owning their houses. Difficulty with workmen
is of very rare occurrence, and no serious labor
troubles are recorded in the history of the business.
That the present low price of copper, the revival
of business, the natural increase in consumption
following the growth of the country, and the ex-
tension of electric lighting and telegraph lines, all
using a great quantity of metal, will lead to in-
creased production of every form of manufactured
brass and copper, is already shown by figures indi-
cating that the domestic consumption of copper for
1895 will be at least twenty per cent, in excess of
the quantity consumed in 1894.
The writer is indebted to the courtesy of the
manufacturers of brass and copper for such infor-
mation concerning their business as was necessary
to enable him to compile the statistics contained
in this article, and he desires also to acknowledge
his obligation to Messrs. S. T. Snow, of Boston,
Edmund Hendricks, of New York, F. J. Kings-
bury, of Waterbury, and Charles F. Brooker, of
Torrington, Conn., for facts relating to the early
history of the manufacture of brass, copper, and
yellow metal; to Mr. E. H. Cole, of New York,
for a list of brass foundries, and to Messrs. John
Stanton and Edward F. Byrne, of New York, for
information touching the history of copper-mining
and the production of spelter.
j
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