PENSYLVANIA 119 



year a great quantity of shoes are brought over, par- 

 ticularly to the southern provinces. But women's 

 shoes find a good market everywhere. There is made 

 in America almost as good upper leather as in Eng- 

 land, but not in sufficient quantity. Their sole leather 

 is inferior to the English. A sort of rough paper is 

 made in America, but not enough of it to supply the 

 printers of newspapers. There are sugar-refineries in 

 New York, at Philadelphia and in New England 

 here and there the domestic maple-sugar is mixed in 

 and boiled with the rest. Rum and brandy distilleries 

 are everywhere. Several glass-fabrics have been set 

 up but they have not all succeeded. One at Boston and 

 one at New York went to nothing. At Frederick-town 

 in Maryland, in Pensylvania, and if I am not mistaken, 

 in Jersey, there are several fabrics but the product is 

 only a bad sort of green glass. It is said that no suit- 

 able earth has yet been found in America for the glass 

 smelting-furnaces, and hence the necessary materials 

 have had to be brought from England ; but the 

 materials will certainly be found whenever a vigorous 

 enough search is made for them. 



A porcelain fabrick was about to be established at 

 Philadelphia [August 1783] by a French regimental 

 surgeon. The clay brought from Maryland for the 

 purpose is fine and smooth, and some small specimens 

 of porcelain had been fused out very successfully. 

 However, many difficulties are yet to be overcome and 

 the price of the finished porcelain must be greatly more 

 than for European ware. 



Someone at Philadelphia had made steel from 

 American iron, which, by the account of trustworthy 

 people is equal to the best European steel ; but nothing 



