CERAMICS. 20f> 



by their own means the so-called diiias. a special kind of quartzite or sandstone fire 

 brick, until then reckoned as the special attribute of some metallurgical works. The 

 production of fire bricks as an article of trade, for the use of the factories and foi- 

 the aims of architecture, for the building of stoves for example, is as yet but feebly 

 developed, and in very few special centres, the yearly output of which can be fixed 

 approximately at 15 million pieces. The official statistics of the manufacture of bricks 

 do not separate this amount from the general total of bricks, which for all Russia 

 and Siberia in 1892, was reckoned at about 850 million pieces; the largest quantity 

 was furnished by the Moscow government, namely about 140 million pieces, by the 

 St. Petersburg government 73 million, by the government of Kharkov 45 million, 

 by the governments of Kiev and Ekaterinoslav 35 million each, and by the Tanride 

 government and the Don disti-ict 26 million each; the governments of Poland gave 

 a general output of 142 million, those of the Caucasus 55 million, Turkestan 

 6,400,000, and Siberia, according to the publi.slieil data, only 5 million pieces. The 

 local production of bricks at the metallurgical works for their own use is not included 

 in this number. Some of the smaller and temporary establishments also escape re- 

 gistering. 



The figures showing the production of ordinary bricks are of course very 

 small in comparison with those giving the production of the United States of 

 America, and with those of the more prominent manufacturing countries of the Con- 

 tinent. As to the special demands for fire brick, as a ready article of trade, it may 

 be stated for example that the demand of St. Petersburg alone ranges from 8 to 9 

 million pieces annually; the yearly demands of Moscow and other chief manufacturing 

 towns can be fixed at 16 to 20 million pieces; thus the annual requirements of flre 

 brick, partly satisfied by the home production and partly by imported goods, may 

 be given at 25 to 27 million pieces. 



The import of fire brick chiefly from the manufactories of Great Britain, Ger- 

 many and Sweden, has averaged of late years from 10 to 12 million pieces yearly. 

 Thus, between 1886 and 1890, 10 to 12 million pieces were imported annually; in 

 1891 the figure was 8,500,000 pieces and in 1892 it exceeded 12 million pieces. 



To conclude this review of the historical development of the manufacture of 

 fire bricks and drain pipes, as a specialty in the district of Borovichi the production 

 of stonewares for chemical use, the material of which is very much like the imper- 

 vious pipes hard baked, should be mentioned. The production of this class of wares 

 for the last two years has developed at the above mentioned factory of K. Z. Vachter, 

 which has been greatly enlarged by buildings especially adapted to the purpose, and 

 which now supplies the chemical works of the regions of St. Petersburg and Moscow 

 with apparatus and appliances, the demands for which have also greatly increased 

 of late, owing to the increased activity of the chemical factories. Bomboloes of all the 

 usual dimensions, pipes with thin sides and vases for special use, such as closed 

 mixture vases for the uitrogenizing process used in the production of smokeless pow- 

 der, having a diameter of 2.5 arshines, earthen bottles for the keeping and shipment 

 of acids, small jugs and the like, are made at Vachter's factory, of a quality which 

 is in no way inferior to that of the wares produced in the centres of ceramic 

 industry in Austria and Germany, which during the last ten years have furnished 

 these goods to the Russian chemical factories including even those in the Ural, al- 



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