OHAJPTK^ III. 



THE CLAY WORKING INDUSTRIES OF OHIO. 

 By Edward Orton, Jr., E. M. 



The manufacture of clay wares of all kinds in Ohio has experienced 

 very great expansion in the last decade. Next to the mining of coal, it 

 is probable that clay working occupies the highest position in those 

 industries which depend upon the natural mineral resources of the state. 

 It a prophecy without risk to say that it will be only a short time until 

 clay working becomes the more important of the two, as our coal deposits 

 have been subjected to a } r early increasing strain for over half a century 

 and are becoming every year less accessible in location and smaller in area, 

 while on the other hand, the clay deposits have so far been only barely 

 touched and still yield new measures of their enormous value and extent as 

 attention is turned to their exploration. 



The expansion which has prevailed in the last decade in the clay 

 business has several causes : one of them is the natural increase which 

 has blessed alike all of the healthy, well-located industries of the state; a 

 second reason is the recent adaptation of brick to the paving of city 

 streets, which has opened a new and virgin field to our manufacturers, 

 and thirdly: the comparatively recent discovery of the great value of 

 the shale deposits of the state in the manufacture of the grosser forms 

 of clay wares. 



A careful statement of the origin of clays and the geological and 

 geographical distribution of the shales and clay deposits of Ohio, as well 

 as a discussion of the relation that these shales and clays bear to each- 

 other, will be found in the preceeding chapter of this volume. 



It is the intention to confine this article to a description of the 

 various clay working industries established in the state, giving such 

 information in regard to the development of each and the underlying 

 principles of manufacture and to the chemical technology of the proces- 

 ses as has been found current among the clay workers of the state, or 

 has been available from other sources. In order to properly take up 

 the discussion of these questions it is fitting that a brief review of the 

 main points as to the origin, composition and properties of clay should 

 be first presented, even though it duplicates to some degree the work of 

 the preceding chapter. The present review is written from a practical 

 standpoint. 



