3 2 4 CLAYS AND CLAY INDUSTRY. 



of the earliest records, according to< Dr. Cook, shows that clay was 

 taken from Woodbridge to Boston in 1816, and used for manu- 

 facturing fire brick. The value of the clays of the Woodbridge dis- 

 trict does not seem to- have been widely recognized for some years, 

 however, although in 1855 the statistics, given in the Report on 

 Clays in 1878, show that clay for making 50,000,000 fire bricks 

 was then being taken annually from the pits at Woodbridge, Perth 

 Amboy and South Amboy. 



Perhaps the oldest factory in the State was that known as the 

 Salamander works (no> longer in existence), where brick were 

 made as early as 1825. A little later, in 1836, John R. Watson 

 established a factory at Perth Amboy, and in 1868 Sayre & Fisher 

 commenced making fire brick at Sayreville. The works of W. H. 

 Berry, at Woodbridge, began operations in 1845, an d have con- 

 tinued up to the present day, althoug-h in 1896 the name was 

 changed to J. E. Berry. 



Henry Maurer & Son established a fire-brick factory in 1856, 

 and M. D. Valentine & Bro. in 1865. The latter were started for 

 making "Bath brick," later sewer pipe, and finally fire brick and 

 other refractory forms. A branch works, located at Valentine, on 

 the Lehigh Valley R. R., was started in 1887. Within the last 

 two years several other firms have begun the manufacture of fire 

 brick, including the factories erected by the Mutton Hollow Fire- 

 Brick Company, and Anness & Potter, at Woodbridge, and The 

 Superior Fire-Lining Company, at Trenton. 



Other firms manufacturing- fire brick are : 



Adam Weber's Sons. 



Trenton Fire Brick Company, Trenton. 



The Pyrogranite Company, South River. 



Ostrander Brick Company, Ostrander. 



National Fireproofing Company, Keasbey works, Keasbey. 



Staten Island Clay Company, Spa Springs. 



J. H. Gautier & Co., Jersey City. 



METHOD OF MANUFACTURE OF FIRE BRICK. 



All fire-brick makers in New Jersey use a mixture of several 

 grades of clay, to which there is added a certain percentage of 

 grog, and occasionally some of the so-called "feldspar" found in 



