* According to Mr. Eck (Inspector of Smelting Works in Silesia) and Mr. Chuchul (Machinist), the average cost of producing one ton of iron in Scotland, as calculated from the average cost of the raw materials employed at the chief works, is as follows: 35 cwts. of calcined ironstone (black-band, supposed, on an average, to contain 57 per cent. of iron), at 10s. per ton 2 tons 5 cwts of splint coal. at 3s. 8d. per ton 10 cwts. of limestone, at 4s. 6d. per ton 3 of small coal, at 1s. 6d. Labour at the furnace ... ... ... Interest upon capital, wear and tear of furnaces and blast apparatus, and sundry expenses, usually reckoned in Scotland at 6s. per ton ... Total cost of one ton of Scotch pig iron ... ... £ s. d. 017 6 083 023 0 1 1 0 1 0 060 £1 16 1 In many of the German iron works, from the smallness of the furnaces, the superior quality of the iron, (which fetches a much higher price than the commoner kinds of British, and especially Scotch iron,) joined with a considerable protection, the economy of working was not, up to a late period, carried to the same extent as in France, and now to a considerable extent in Great Britain. The average cost of production in Germany of coke pig iron approximates very closely to that established with great care at the furnaces of the Königshütte, in Upper Silesia, and which may be thus stated: Wear and tear, management, interest upon capital, &c. 0 11 10 £3 4 6 Silesian iron would thus appear to cost, according to the first of the preceding estimates, £1 5s. 3d. more than Scotch iron; or £1 8s. 44d. according to the second; or 64 per cent. and 78 per cent. respectively. In the Scotch estimates, the coal is reckoned at cost price at the mines, the latter being supposed the property of the proprietor of the iron works; whilst in the German, on the other hand, the coal is calculated at the usual selling price. By allowing for this difference, the German estimate will be reduced to the extent of 10s. 10d.; that is, one ton of pig iron will cost in Silesia £2 13s. 8d., or 14s. 5d. more than Scotch pig, according to the first estimate; and 17s. 6d. according to the second; or 36 per cent. and 48 per cent. respectively. A considerable reduction could be effected in the item of management, which, according to the preceding estimates, is nearly double as much in Silesia as in Scotland, if the trade increased so as to enable the works to be increased. The iron works of the latter have generally twice, and sometimes four times, as many furnaces as those in the former, and cach of these is also generally capable of producing perhaps four times as much iron; hence the greater expense under the head of management in Silesia. Several other improvements may also be introduced so as to lower the expenses of working, such as an improved method of removing the cinder, the substitution of machinery for hand labour in lifting the ore to the top of the furnaces-a method which is very generally practised with small furnaces-the better economising of the waste gases, &c. Another item to be also taken into account is the superior quality of the German iron, and the greater loss sustained in remelting Scotch pigs, from the adhering coarse moulding sand. Summing up all the deductions which may be thus made, it is probable that iron can be produced with coke in the coal dis * Zeitschrift für das Berg Hütten, und Salinenwesen in den Preussischen Staale -Herausgegeben von R. V. Curnall. Bd. 1, Lief 2. tricts of Germany, and in certain of those of France, for £2 10s.; but it is very improbable that it can ever be made as cheap as in Scotland, from the co-existence of certain circumstances there which scarcely exist anywhere else. Iron cannot, however, be made in other parts of Great Britain as cheaply as in Scotland; and it is probable that the average cost of producing one ton of pig iron of the same quality is fully as high, if not higher, in England, than what we have just set down as the minimum cost in Germany. From these calculations it would appear that German, and we may add, French, coke made iron will very soon be in a position to compete upon equal terms with that of Great Britain. Let us now see how the case stands with regard to charcoal iron. Instead of giving the results obtained at any particular iron works, we shall quote the opinion of perhaps the best authority in Europe upon the subject, M. Leplay.* From the most elaborate calculations, founded upon the present working of iron in Styria and Carinthia, he has come to the conclusion, that by a proper cultivation of the forest, which should be in the hands of the iron master, the economical production of the charcoal, and the most improved system of smelting, &c., the cost of producing one ton of charcoal pig iron, would not be more than £2 18s. 3ĝd., as is seen from the following statement:— ... ... 50 cwts. of Ironstone at 8s. 43d. per ton, ... ... £ 8. d. 0 11 0 1 2 0 191 0 8 5 0 4 5 £2 18 3 This scarcely exceeds the average cost of producing one ton of superior coke iron in England, notwithstanding the cheapness of fuel, and the other unexampled advantages, as an iron producing country, which Great Britain enjoys. There is, therefore, sufficient margin left for improvement, to enable the continental iron master to produce iron, whether with coke or with charcoal, at a cost sufficiently low to compete unprotected with British iron. The same observations apply with equal force to the manufacture of bar iron from charcoal pig iron. According to Leplay, the following table may be considered to represent the cost of making one ton of charcoal bar iron, if the manufacture be carried on upon the best principles: 25.19 cwts. of Charcoal Pig Iron, at 28. 11d. per cwt. 49.8 cwts. of Dried Wood, at 7s. 24d. per ton, ... ... ... £ 8. d. 3 13 5 Wages, or if we deduct the sum allowed for interest upon capital, the cost of producing one ton of charcoal bar iron would be £5 14s. 104d., a sum below which the price of English bar iron has hitherto rarely sunk, and to which it will scarcely again fall, with the increased price of fuel in every part of Great Britain. THE CUTLERY MANUFACTURE AT SHEFFIELD, IN ENGLAND, AND AT SOLINGEN, IN GERMANY. Most of our readers are perhaps aware of the unrivalled facilities possessed by Sheffield, for the manufacture of cutlery, principally owing to the organization of the workshops, and the division of labour. In the manufacture of the single article of table knives, 700 persons are employed in the forging, 900 in the grinding and polishing, and 1,300 with the preparation and putting on of the handles. * Annales des Mines, 1853. Tome III., p. 463. There are more than 3,000 persons engaged in the manufacture of pen and pocket knives, who work up nearly £100,000 worth of materials, of whom 250 to 300 are smiths, 500 grinders, and perhaps 2,500 men and boys employed in the other operations. In the making of razors, there are, it is said, no less than 160 smiths engaged, (two to each anvil); and 900 males, and 200 females, in the manufacture of scissors. The quantity of ivory and deers' horn used for knife handles is enormous, 140 to 150,000 lbs. of the former, and perhaps, 500,000 lbs. of the latter. The enormous extent of this cutlery branch of the Sheffield trade, enables all the most recent improvements, especially in machinery, to be rapidly introduced, and a most perfect division of labour to be adopted; and if to these advantages we add, that Sheffield is situated in the midst of a coal and iron district, it will at once be admitted, that there are few localities in the world in a position to produce cutlery to compete in price or in quality with that town and its neighbourhood. Nevertheless, it has found a rival in Solingen and the neighbouring villages of Gräfrath, Wald, &c. The system of manufacture followed in those localities is different from that of Sheffield; there are, properly speaking, no workshops provided with tools, and let to the workmen with the necessary power, where an article can be made from its first stage, until it is finished There is, however, as perfect a system of division of labour; the iron or steel is given out to the smiths who forge the articles at their own workshops, for which they find all the necessary tools; the forged pieces are then given to another set of workmen, who file them, then to a third, who grind them, and so on, until the last set finish them. It is, in fact, a domestic manufacture, with this advantage, that the merchant or undertaker having considerable interest in the improvement of the articles, and in the cost of producing them, endeavours as far as possible to bring the best machinery and processes into use in the district. Several articles can now be produced much cheaper at Solingen than at Sheffield, as, for example, scissors. All articles of this class, whether wrought or cast, with the single exception of the very cheapest kind of half-raw cast iron scissors, which are made in Sheffield at 4s. per gross or 4d. per dozen, are now extensively made at Solingen, and sold at lower prices than they can be made at in England. The better the quality of the scissors is, the greater is the difference of price between those of British and German manufacture; in some cases this even reaches one-half in favour of the latter; the consequence is, that the British manufacturers have been driven by the German from all foreign markets, and even a considerable importation now takes place into Great Britain itself for home consumption. It is proper to remark, that this great difference in favour of the German Scissors does not arise from inferior quality or finish, for in this respect they are fully equal to anything of the kind produced in England. The lower and middle qualities of table, pen, and pocket knives, especially those used in parts of America and the East Indies, &c., are now also produced at a slightly lower price than in England, and considerable orders for exportation are now sent by British houses to the Solingen manufacturers. Another article in which the German cutler has the advantage in price over the British is the large sabre-like knives or matchets used for cutting down the sugar cane, and for other purposes in the West Indies, South America, and along the west coast of Africa. From 4,000 to 5,000 boxes, of ten dozen each, are now annually exported from Solingen, chiefly upon orders from English houses.-Karl. Karmarsch in Amtl. Bericht über die Londoner Ausstellung iii. Thl. s. 4. COST OF OBTAINING AN ACT OF INCORPORATION FOR A TRADING COMPANY IN THE UNITED STATES. In the United States, where every species of manufacturing industry is carried on by the system of partnership en commandite, and where the greatest facilities are afforded for the formation of such companies, the expenses of incorporation are marvellously low. Mr. Whitworth mentions one instance where the capital of the company was 600,000 dollars (£120,000), and the expenses of the act of incorporation only 50 cents, or 2s. 1d.!! We recommend this important fact to the attention of those who follow the trade of law-making.—See Whitworth's report on the New York Industrial Exhibition. THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS. No. VI.-JUNE, 1854. ART I.-INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. No. III.-On Societies for the Promotion and Encouragement of Industrial Arts. By the EDITOR. If there be any one proposition, upon the truth of which we could reasonably hope that an unanimous opinion would prevail in Ireland, it is undoubtedly that our industry wants encouragement, and the natural resources of the country require to be properly developed. How this is to be done is quite another matter, and one too upon which much diversity of opinion no doubt prevails. Without discussing the individual merits of each of the many ways in which industry might be promoted, we may assume that special education is at least one of the most potent agents. We have already on two occasions brought this subject under the notice of our readers. In the first instance,* we alluded to the principles upon which the higher schools for industrial education should be founded; and in the second instancet we gave a brief account of the progress of agricultural education in Ireland; and we now purpose to follow up the subject by some remarks upon the influence which societies, acting as the collectors and distributors of information amongst the manufacturing class, stimulating by prizes inventions of various kinds, and encouraging by their judicious approval all such inventions, or the introduction of new branches of manufacture, would exercise on our material progress. Although at first sight it may appear strange that we should consider a society of the kind alluded to as an educational institution; yet a little reflection will show that a properly organized one, which would confine its functions to the realizing of possible and rational results, would be in truth an adult school, where men may learn all the most recent information concerning their business, and be taught how to apply it to the best advantage. That every thing, however, depends upon the organization, is shown by the little profit which has hitherto been derived from the many societies * Vide Journal of Industrial Progress, No. II., February, 1854. + Ibid, No. IV., April, 1854. M which have been founded ostensibly for the promotion of industry in Ireland, contrasted with the results which have followed the labours of analo gous institutions elsewhere. Our societies may be divided into two distinct classes, the one established for rational and attainable objects, but which, with few exceptions, have neglected those objects; and the second, those which have undertaken impossible and absurd tasks, which of course could not be performed. In both cases the results, so far as the promotion of Irish industry is concerned, have been trifling. And yet had several of the societies of the first class been properly organized, and their functions limited to practical objects, a great imimpulse might have been given to our manufactures. With the view of directing attention to the importance of establishing such a society, or of remodelling some existing one, which would be the more desirable course, we shall state what we would consider to be the objects, for the carrying out of which such a society would be beneficial. Before laying down our own plan, it will be useful to state in a few words, the constitutions of some of those societies established elsewhere for similar objects, whose labours have been successful, in order that our readers may have the materials of comparison which would enable them to form a proper judgment on the matter. Among all such societies, the first place undoubtedly belongs to the Société d'Encouragement pour l'Industrie Nationale of France, not alone from its extent, and the vast influence which it has exercised upon French industry, but because, like all French institutions connected with human progress, it has a cosmopolitan character, which renders it in some respect the centre of industrial information for Spain, Italy, and even for Western Germany and Holland. The Society of Encouragement was founded in 1802, and has since then carried out its objects with undiminished activity, and with considerable success. These objects are limited and may be summarized as follows: 1, to encourage all inventions and improvements in the useful arts by means of prizes and medals; 2, to institute experiments and trials in order to test the value of new processes, or to solve important questions connected with the industrial arts; 3, the publication of a fortnightly journal containing the reports of the committees of the society upon all inventions, processes, or other methods, upon which the decision of the society is asked, and a succinct account of all useful discoveries made in connection with industry in France or elsewhere; 4, the providing of scholarships for deserving pupils in the schools of arts and manufacture, and in veterinary and other colleges; and 5, the annual distribution of medals to such workmen and foremen in agricultural and manufacturing establishments, as have distiuguished themselves by their good conduct and by their talents. The funds of the society are altogether derived from the annual subscriptions of the members, each of whom pays 36 francs (£1 9s.) To become a member of the society, one must be first proposed by a member, then admitted by the council, and lastly by the society. The privileges of members are, to receive a copy of the journal free, no matter where they may reside, and to attend and vote at all the meetings of the society. |