1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



239 



as it obeys the irresistible force of the "water 

 power," a plate of the right size is cut from a 

 sheet of steel as if it were a sheet of silk before the 

 scimitar of Sahidin. Two more similar clips from 

 two similar knives gives the right outline for the 

 shovel. To remove the "black scale" the plate is 

 ground on a grindstcme ; then it is punched for the 

 rivets which arc to hold the back and front straps 

 to the blade ; then, after having been heated, its 

 surface is shaped by pressure between two dies 

 with a weight of about 1200 pounds. Next comes 

 the "setting" done by hand, to remove "wakes," 

 straighten sides and correct twists. A vitriol bath 

 to remove scales, and a vigorous polishing on 

 wheels covered with emery, dismisses the plate for 

 the present, and leaves us at liberty to prepare 

 the "straps" needed to bind it to the handle. 

 These are cut, rolled, sheared, pounded, levelled, 

 shaped, annealed, polished, countersunk, &c., 

 mostly by ingenious machinery, and then they are 

 riveted to the front and back of the shovel, close 

 as you see them, fitting like a glove that fits as a 

 well behaved glove should. 



We move on now to the handle shop. The two 

 holes for rivets in the head of the handle are bored 

 at once, by bits revolving two thousand times a 

 minute. The "bending" -to give the graceful 

 curve and right balance for easy working, is an 

 amusing operation. The lower end is boiled for 

 an hour or two to take the obstinacy out of it and 

 make it pliable. When it is soft enough to be 

 docile and manageable, it is placed between two 

 iron blocks, with the rightly undulating grooves 

 and connected by a hinge, as a lemon is put into 

 a squeezer ; and then the blocks are brought to- 

 gether by a powerful pressure and fastened, and 

 so the prisoner is kept encased until he grows cool 

 and promises never again to straighten himself out. 

 With this underatanding he is released and put 

 away for three weeks to dry, and get thoroughly 

 seasoned for the laborious Hfe before him. How 

 the caps to the rivets and the rivets themselves 

 are made, how tlie handle is inserted between the 

 straps and screwed and wedged, how all rough 

 edges are filed down, and wood and iron rendered 

 agreeable to the liand, — how the plate is scoured 

 and all metal parts of the tool burnished, and the 

 shovel complete is made bright, clean and trig 

 ready for inspection — we have neither time, room, 

 nor descriptive power to tell. Suffice it to say that 

 such facility and perfection has been attained 

 in the manufacture of the respective parts, and 

 Buch the number of persons employed, that on the 

 average a shovel is made now in less time than it 

 once took to bore the holes through the head of 

 the handle. Experiment and ingenuity and in 

 dustry have achieved this really marvellous result 

 in this model establishment, whose name and 

 fame are such, that it has not been able for years 

 to fill all its orders or to supply the demand for 

 its products. This success is greatly due to strict 

 observance of these principles, viz : 1, that the la- 

 bor shall be divided into as many distinct process- 

 es as possible ; 2, that each man shall learn but 

 one process, and learn that thoroughly ; 3, that 

 each workman shall be paid so much per doz., for 

 his work — so if indolent he shall be the loser, and 

 if industrious the gainer ; 4, that the shovels shall 

 be inspected at every stage of their manufacture, 

 and when they are finished, In order to guard 

 against poor work ; and 5, that none but the very 

 best materials shall be used. 



Of the statistics, of "Shoveldom" it is enough to 

 say — omitting all reference to its indirect effects, — 

 that it uses each day 4 tons of iron and 2 tons of 

 cast-steel, — it employs 250 men, paying them from 

 5 to $n,000 per month in wages, — turns out more 

 than 2000 shovels of various stylos and prices per 

 day, — and sold last year something like $000,000 

 worth of its fabrics. In view of tiiese figures were 

 we not right in designating "Slioveldom" as a 

 kingdom ; and who will deny that its liberal-mind- 

 ed, intelligent and enterprising proprietors, have 

 been and are, in the way of business, benefactors 

 to the community, by furnisliing employment to 

 so many operatives, creating as it were a thriving 

 town, and equipping armies for the peaceful phy- 

 sical conquests of the times? No one certainly 

 who has visited their establishment. 



WEALTH OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The property, real and personal, in the United 

 States, is estimated by the census at $7,133,369,- 

 725. This will make an average of between S300 

 and $400 to each individual, or $1,800 to each 

 family. Upon this the Providence Journal re- 

 marks : 



"Considering the .great distribution of wealth in 

 comparison with the accumulation of foreign wealth 

 in few hands, this shows a degree of material 

 prosperity which, we presume no other country 

 can approach. The fourth of July talk about our 

 being, "as we ourselves have voted," the freest 

 and most enlightened nation on earth, is not an 

 idle boast. It is literally and strictly true. No 

 where else is there so much freedom ; no where 

 else is intelligence so generally diffused, although 

 in many parts of the world, science and learning 

 are carried to a far greater height ; no where else 

 are the physical comforts of life so widely distrib- 

 uted among all the people, and these comforts are 

 the only sure foundation of moral and intellectual 

 improvement. 



"How deeply it concerns us to guard this great 

 inheritance, and to transmit it as we have received 

 it. Most of all can we do this by assuring the 

 prosperity of the country in all the peaceful arts, 

 in the development of its miglity resources and in 

 all its means of contributing to human happiness 

 and human advancement. We cannot do it by an 

 insane desire for territorial aggrandizement, by un- 

 scrupulous means of extenuing our area, and by 

 bad fiiith with the nations around us. Never was 

 the course of power and greatness more plainly 

 marked out to a people. It will ho sinning against 

 the hght of Heaven if we tail to pursue it. Our 

 punishment will be as well deserved as it will be 

 signal and severe." 



Remarks. — We have no doubt that the state- 

 ments made above are true, and the reflections on 

 them are certainly just. And yet, amidst the 

 abundance so liberally bestowed by Him who con- 

 trols all things — amidst such fertile soils and con- 

 genial seasons, pouring into the lap of industry 

 more than enough for all, if their products were 

 more equally distributed, how muny languish and 

 suffer for want of employment and food, and a per- 

 manent home! With all our freedom, our excel- 

 lent institutions, our safe and wholesome municip- 



