CERAMICS. 207 



I'eferring to the quality of bricks; therefore, «English bricks* mean « fireproof bricks » 

 ill Russia. Special efforts to further this branch of industry in Russia were made by 

 X. r. Gorizontov and K. Z. Vachter in the district of iiorovichi, near the deposits 

 of which many factories are now grouped. The largest establishmeut of the persons 

 mentioned above is owned by K. Z. Vachter, namel}'' the Zhdansk factory in the vil- 

 lage Zhdani, eight versts distant from Borovichi, founded in 1880 on lands leased from 

 Anichkov; the landowner Anichkov was himself formerly engaged in furnishing boro- 

 richsk fire clay, some sorts of which are until now known under the name of (luich- 

 kot'sJc, to the manufactories of St. Petersburg. During the fiist six years of the exist • 

 once of the business a hard task was set before Mr. Vachter, namely, the competi- 

 tion with English bricks imported duty free; while the sale of the Russian makes, 

 the chief markets being the manufactories of St. Petersburg, was greatly impeded 

 by the cost of the transport thither; the freight for bricks from England, chiefly 

 from New Castle, to St. Petersburg was on the average 6 shillings per ton; and the 

 freight for bricks brought from Borovichi, notwithstanding the short distance, (a 

 little over 300 versts), by water ways not very convenient, or by rail, amounted to 

 7 and 7*/2 kopecks per poud, which reckoned at the average par exchange is equal 

 to 8.5 to 10 shillings per ton. A considerable impetus to the fire-brick industry in 

 Russia was given in 1886 by the placing of a duty upon such wares, the tax being 

 also somewhat raised by the tariff of 1891, namely, to 4 kopecks in gold per poud. 



The production of fireproof wares at the manufactory of K. Z. Vachter had 

 attained a great development about that time; and now it not only comprises the 

 manufacture of all sorts of brick, but that of a series of special articles used at 

 some of the factories, requiring a high temperature as well, for example: massive 

 moulds and abutments used in the building of furnaces, gas retorts, grooved plates 

 for the vaults in muffle furnaces, melting pots, and all kinds of wares known by the 

 name of sliamoinij , that is, fireproof goods. Mr. Vachter, in addition to the above-men- 

 tioned factory in the village Zhdani, has recently built a large manufactory near the 

 station of Borovichi. The yearly output of fire brick at these two manufactories 

 amounts now to 5 million pieces, while in 1888 the output was only half that amount. 

 This production of course, as compared to that of the manufactories exporting their 

 goods over all Europe, as for instance, the factories of the Hoganas Co. in Sweden. 

 or that of Glenboig in Great Britain, the yearly production of the first ranging 

 from 40 to 50, and that of the second from 70 to 80 million pieces, is only a be- 

 ginning, made by a private person of great energy and ample means. However, this 

 splendid initiative will undoubtedly serve as a strong basis for the further develop- 

 ment of the manufacture of flre bricks in Russia. 



The making of drain pipes and of stoneware has greatly developed of late at 

 the same manufactory, owing to the excellent quality of the clays and to the rich 

 supply of technical' means furnished in both of these productions. Thus, there are 

 3 rolling and 3 cylinder presses for the making of drain pipes of the clay mass, 

 which undergoes a series of various processes, such as rolling, grinding, frequent 

 running through kneading machines, and receives as a necessary compound a certain 

 quantity of finely ground fire brick (shamot) prepared in special grinding appa- 

 ratus. For fuel, wood dried very thoroughly in a special wood kiln is used; there 

 are four such furnaces at the manufactory with a general surface of fire grates of 



