THE GLASS INDUSTRY. 579 



phia and the eastern part of the State could not possibly compete 

 with the Pittsburg district. The conditions are much less favor- 

 able in the matter of fuel and crude materials. Skilled labor, how- 

 ever, is more available, and artistic influences are more in the air. 

 In the production of this finer ware the intellectual element is so 

 much the larger ingredient that the cost of the bare material itself 

 is of less moment. In consequence we find Philadelphia at the pres- 

 ent time an important center in what may be called the aesthetic 

 department of glass-making. We find here the manufacture of 

 large quantities of decorated gas globes, together with such other 

 wares as require the etching action of hydrofluoric acid, and of 

 cut and engraved articles of various designs and for multiform 

 uses. It was here that the process of making cameo glass was 

 imported from England. This department of glass-making, it is 

 true, has not proved commercially successful, but the manufacture 

 of the cameo ware well illustrates the tendency toward variety 

 of product which is shown by industrial centers depending for 

 success upon nicety of workmanship rather than quantity of out- 

 put. 



These conditions have also given rise to the invention of ma- 

 chines and processes noted for their ingenuity and importance. 

 The sand blast, by which glass is quickly and cheaply ground by 

 exposure to a blast of air charged with sharp sand, is the inven- 

 tion of a Philadelphia gentleman, General B. F. Tilghman. So 

 powerful is the abrading action that a plate of corundum may be 

 drilled in this manner, and even the diamond is worn away. The 

 blast has also been applied to the manufacture of files, and to the 

 drilling of metal plates. 



The industry also started up in a number of other districts 

 in the eastern part of the State. The attempt made by Mr. 

 George Lewis, an English gentleman, to establish glass works at 

 Eaglesmere some time between 1803 and 1809 was scarcely less 

 picturesque than the earlier efforts of Baron Steigel. In 1886 

 the ruins of the glass-house were still to be seen on an emi- 

 nence overlooking the lake. An old frequenter of the place — for 

 it has since become a well-known summer resort — was fortunate 

 enough to have in his possession some excellent specimens of the 

 early glass. But in the first decade of the century it must have 

 been a lonely place, and we can not help wondering that any 

 one should have had the temerity to put a glass-house there. 

 It is true that the natural conditions were good. The sand at 

 one end of the lake is beautifully white and pure, while the sur- 

 rounding forests furnished an abundance of fuel and alkali. 

 The glass-making seems to have been a technical success, and it 

 is said that Mr. Lewis made considerable money during the War 

 of 1812, but the difficulties of transportation were ultimately too 



