94 AMERICAN POTTERY. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



AMERICAN POTTERY. 



J3EFORE the series of Protective tariffs which began their 

 JD course in 1861, this country was disgracefully dependent upon 

 foreign manufacturers for its supply of earthen, stone, and porcelain 

 ware. Such was the state of facts, notwithstanding that the United 

 States hold the greater part of the available coal of the world, near to 

 inexhaustible quantities of varied clays and other potting materials, 

 besides possessing unusual attractions for skilled and ordinary labor. 

 Under Protection, the whole face of the situation has been changed. 

 Says William P. Blake, in his general survey of the ceramic arts, 

 which prefaces his report on that department of the late Exposition 

 at Vienna : 



The industry, especially in the d'rection of earthenware, and the common 

 cheap pottery, such as Rockingham, yellow-ware, and stone-ware, has increased 

 rapidly of late years, under the stimulus afforded by the tariff and the premium 

 on gold. According to the last census, there were 777 establishments for the 

 manufacture of stone and earthenware distributed through the several States, the 

 highest numbers being 170 in Ohio, and 198 in Pennsylvania. Only fifteen are 

 reported in Massachusetts. Eighty -two steam-engines, with an aggregate of 1,586- 

 horse power, were in use, besides eight water-wheels of 122-horse power. Hands 

 employed, 6,116; capital invested, $5,294,398; amount paid in wages, $2,247,- 

 173; materials are valued at $1,702,705; value of the products, $6,045,536. 

 The number of persons reporting their occupation as potters is 5,060. 



The following are the chief points at which the potteries are located: in New 

 Jersey, at Trenton, Jersey City, and Gloucester; in Ohio, at East Liverpool and 

 Cincinnati; New York, in the city, and at Flushing and Greenpoint, L. I.; 

 Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; Illinois, Peoria; Maryland,Baltimore ; 

 Massachusetts, Boston ; and in Missouri at St. Louis. In 1872 it was estimated 

 that there were 148 kilns in seven States, capable of producing at the rate of 

 $30,000 annually per kiln, which would amount to $4,440,000 per annum, and 

 would use 75,000 tons of coal, and 75,000 tons of clay and other materials. 



The industry has taken root firmly in New Jersey, at Trenton, and bids fair 

 to thrive permanently. That locality offers the advantages of extensive deposits 



