2C() Sweeping of Chimneys with Machine^-y, SfC. 



r;ents; oats fnim 25 to 31|: cents; coin 

 from 33 to 50 rents; potatoes 25 cents; 

 flour fioni 4 to 6 dollars per barrel; liay 

 from 5 to G dollars per ton ; salt G dol- 

 lars per lj:n icl of 28u!b. ; iron from 180 to 

 200 (lollnrs per ton; brown sng-ar from 

 12 to 20 dollars per cwf; cofiec from 30 

 to 37-^ cents per 11).; tea scarce and dear 

 at present, bciiia; from 2 to 4 dollars per 

 lb. ; .sliirtiiij muslin from 40 to 75 cents 

 per yard; cl(;tl), six or seven rpiarters 

 vide. IVom 3 to 10 dollars per \ard. retail 

 price. I*y beiiijjj thus particular, I con- 

 ceive a tolerable correct idea may be 

 formed of the cxpcnccs of a family. 

 Some of our lands aboinid with sujar 

 trees, and families, at a small expencc, 

 make plenty of sngar for their own nse ; 

 and in some seasons it is so plentiful, as 

 to be sold at 8 or 10 cents per lb. and ex- 

 ported to the Atlantic States. 



"In order topivc rn idcaofwiiat may 

 he done in this part of ihe world, by men 

 in diftercnt situations in life, it may not 

 be improper to stale, that tlat-bottomed 

 boats that will carry 300 barrels, ar.d 

 ships of several tons burthen, are built, 

 an<l loaded with the produce of the 

 country, are taken down the Ohio and 

 Mississippi rivers with great facility to 

 New Orleans: these, however, never re- 

 turn to ns ; but a niarkct is fonnd for the 

 ships in other pari s of the world. T>ut 

 llierc have lately been constructed ves- 

 sels of I'rom too to 500 tons, and propel- 

 led by stcani-cnp,'ines, as regular traders 

 from here to New Orleans; several have 

 gone down, and one returned lately 

 loaded : she made her passage from New 

 Orleans to 15rownsville, 50 mites above 

 pjttsbnrgh, and 150 above Mount I'lea- 

 sant, in 34 (In;)s, a distance of about 

 2,200 miles, the whole of it against the 

 Stream; and a number more are building, 

 and no t'onbt, as enterprising monicd 

 men are continually migrating To this 

 «onntry, there will be an increase of 

 these \esscls equal to the exporting of 

 the vast amount of the produce of these 

 fertile western regions, and bringing ns in 

 return spices, and such parts of the pro- 

 duce of other countries as there is a de- 

 mand for." 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIK, 



I READ your correspondent W. N.'s 

 letter, in your last Magazine, on the 

 subject of chimney-sweeping, with con- 

 siderable pleasure. 



A more determined and i>crsevering 

 effort has, I believe, been made in this 

 UiMti, tao substituLo luacliltjiSi kor oiiini>> 



fOct. 1, 



ing bovs, than in any other part of tl»e 

 kingdom, and with greater success. 

 The experience which we have had lias, 

 hov^ever, served only to produce a coiv- 

 \iclion on the minds of all, who have 

 taken an active part in the business, that 

 nothing less than an Art of Parliament 

 prohibiting the taking of any more ap- 

 prentices as climbing boys, and the em- 

 pk)ying of children at all for that pur- 

 pose, after a certain time, can possibly 

 produce any lasting good efl'cct. '\A itli 

 this, it is the general conviction here, 

 that chimneys would be better swept, and 

 with les" inconvenience, by other moans, 

 than by clinibing boys. Till within the 

 last century, they were cleansed ^vithout 

 climbing boys, in this country; and, to 

 this day, they are generally cleansed by 

 other means in Scotland, where the 

 chimneys are often much higher than 

 tliny arc in this country. The machines 

 which have hitherto been used rcijuirc 

 great labour, being worked from below. 

 The master chimney-sweepers, therefore, 

 invariably oppose th.em, either openly or 

 covertly, as they must work them them- 

 .sclves, or else employ journeymen to do 

 it. If yon engage a man from another 

 trade, as was done here, he finds that it 

 is mncii easier to him to employ climb- 

 ers; and he will, therefore, as our's did, 

 soon take apprentices, and disgust his 

 employers with the slovenly use of the 

 machine. 



In the course of the first year, the man 

 here swept more than two thousand 

 chimneys with the machine : he uovt 

 sweeps very icw. 'I'he method prac- 

 tised in Scotland is far more efficacious, 

 and less inconvcm'cnt, than sending up 

 climbing boys. When the houses are 

 low, a liglit ladder on the outside would 

 serve; and, when they are high, a small 

 trai)-door in the roof would not only suf- 

 fice for this purpose, but would be found 

 useful, in cases of fire, repairing the roof, 

 chimneys, ike. 



The hiiUet and brush would answer h\ 

 all kinds of chinmeys. There arc some 

 wliich cannot be swept by the present 

 machines, and others which the boj*s 

 cannot ascend. Your correspondent 

 W. N. justly observes, that the part in 

 which the machines fail of doing their 

 work, is in removing the hard soot, whiclt 

 adheres to the sides of tlic flue near the 

 top, but more particularly to the car- 

 then-ware pipes. This a boy miglit re- 

 move; but, if any of your readers will takt 

 the trouble of examining tlie soot whca 

 boys sw eep the ciiimiiey, he will rarely 

 fiuil Juiy of this sent down. By top* 

 * swecpiiiff 



