G
HISTORY OF SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS.
j HONG THE WORKERS IN SILVER.
' BY JAMKB PAItTON.
Prom the Atlantic Monthly.
liCUislonUU to Lane Superior, when they
gctftwftjnp imhet.ort1.na part of Lake Huron
Wbeie those "four thousand Wanda" ljiog Hat
nd. preen In the sun, without a tree or a nut
m them, .ee at length. In the diataiico, a
bulldi'ng like a large storehouse, evidently noi
made by India" Th0 tbi" ,s nithc'
rirh nor rare; the only wonder is, how it Rot
there. For many hours before coming tn sight
of this building, no sign of humno life Is visible,
unlcce, perchance, the Jojiul passengers catch
the dent of a dug-out canoe, with a blanket for
a naXl, In which an Indian fisherman sits solitary
and motionless, hs thouch he, too, were one of
the Inanimate features of the scene. On drawing
near this most unexpected atructuro, the curi
osity of the travellers is changed into wild
-wonder. It Is a storehouse with all the modern
Improvements, and over the door Is a well
painted sign, bearing the words "Easpberry
Jam."
II Ihe present writer, when he first beheld this
sien. had rend thereon "opera glasses tor hire,"
or "kid gloves cleaucd by a new and improved
method," he could not nave been more sur
prised or more puzzled. The explanation, how
ever, was very simple. Many years ago, ic seeus,
a Yankee visiting that rep ion discovered inou
satide upon thousands ol acres of raspberry
but-hea banging full of fruit, and all goini; to
-waste. IIo also observed that Indian girh and
squaws in cousiderable numbers lived near by.
Patting this and thai tieeiher, he conceived tue
ideaol novel speculation. In the summer fol
lowing ho returned to the pluce with a copper
kettle, many barrels ot sugar, and plenty of
large stone Jars. For one cent a pail be bid as
many raopbeiries picked as he could use; and be
kept boiling and jarring until he bad tilled all
his vessels with jam, when he put them on b jard
a sloop, took them down to Detroit, and sold
them, the article being approved, and the specu
lation being profitable, he returned every year
to the raspberry country, and the business grew
to an extent which warranted the erection of
this large and well-appointed building. In the
Western country the raspberry jam made in the
region of Luke Huron has been tor twenty years
an established article of trade. We had the
curiosity once to taste tarts made of it, and can
testily that It was as bad as heart could wish.
It appeared to be a soppy mixture of melted
brown sugar and small seeds.
But that is neither here nor there. The oddity
Of oar adveoture was in discovering such an
establishment in such a place. Since that time
we have olten had similar surprises, especially
in New England, where curious industries have
established themselves In the most out of-the-waj
nooks. In a hamlet of thre or our houses
and a church we see such einns as "Melodeon
Manufactory." At a town in Northern Vermont
we hod lour hundred men busy the year round
in making those great Fairbanks' Scales which
can weigh an apple or a tram of cars. There is
nothing in St. Johnbbury which marks it out as
the town in the universe fittest to produce huge
scales for mankind. The business exists there
because, forty years ago, there were throe excel
lent heads in the place upon the shoulders of
three brothers, who put those heads together and
learned he to reako and how to sell scales. All
over New ingiand, ind ustn't! ha rooted them
selves which appear to have no coagruii? vlih.
the places in which they are found. We heard the i
other day of a village in which are made every
year three bushels ot gold ring-. We ourselves
passed, some time ago, in a remarkably plain
New England town, a manufactory of tine dia
mond jewelry. . In another town Providence
there are seventy-two manufactories of common
Jewelry. Now what is there in the character
or in the situation of thts city of Roger Wil
liams that should have invited thither so many
makers ot cheap trinkets? It is a solid town,
that makes little show of its great wealth, and
nr.rxt aya aam thon 4 It a o vara cm r tim hnt rf
VVU l ItlUR KOI V t U but- . V U U W S ft
people capable of wearing tawdry ornaments.
Nevertheless, along with, machine shops of
Titanic power, and cotton mills of vast extent,
wc find theft seventy-two manufactories of
Jewelry. The reason is, that about the year
.795 one man, named Dodge, prospered in
Providence by making such jewelry as the
simple people of those simple old times would
buy ot the passing peddler. His prosperity lured
otheisinto the business, until it bus grown to
its present proportions, and supplies half the
country with the glittering trash which we all
despise upon others and love upon ourselves.
But there is something at Providence lews to
be expected even than seventy-two manufacto
ries ol Jewelry; it is the largest manufactory of
solid silverware in the world I In a city so ele
gant and refined as Providence, where wealth is so
real and stable, we should naturally expect to
find on the sideboards i lenty of silver plate; but
we were unprepared to discover there three or
four hundred sJtUtul men making silverware for
the rest ot mankind, and all in oue establish
ment that of the Gorham Manufacturing f!nm.
yiany. This is not only the largest concern of
the kind in existence, Dut it la the most com
plete. Every operation of the business, from
the melting of the coin out of which the ware
is made, to the making of the packing-boxes in
which it is conveyed to New York, takes place
in this one congregation of buildings. Nor do
we hesitate to say, alter an attentive examina
tion of the products Vf European taste, that the'
articles bearing the stamp of this American
house are not equalled by those imoorted. There
is a fine simplicity and boldness of outline about
tne lorms produced nere, together with an
abunce of. useless and pointless ornament,
which render them at once more pleasing aud
more usef ul than any others we have senn.
It was while going over this interesting esta
blishment that the raspberry jam incident re
curred to us. Thu thing, however, is both rich
and rare; and jet the wonder remains how it
got there. It got there beeaue, forty years
ego, an . honest man began there (t business
Which has grown steadily to this day. It got
there just as all the rooled business of New Eng
land got where we find them now. In the brief
history of this one enterprise wo may read the
history of the industry ot New England. Not
the less, however, ought the detailed history to
be written; for it would be a book full of everv
kind ofiuterest and instruction.
M,hl wa? "n koneBtmnn, we repeat, who founded
this establishment. We-believe there U no
of th!riv tAuVt of1the first class ,n thS world"
isnot c Uw?, "tanld'u5. ,th uccesi of which
hSj& traceable to its eervin the public
New York w 'd c'Cirkof Wr- A- T- Stewart,
email thiM. ku'ormed u that, in the day of
moderate extent, oue0, ,hdy food! storo of
blishment was th'liiiM of the esta-
but never fail to point ol?m Koods,
etrufrgling with the difflculiwe"ft8-, Now raan
Who lays down a rule of that nS., new outness
be a very honest or a very abT' UBt e.Vh?
likely to be both, for sterling abiliuaa iIe i
rily boneht. It is not surprising. thbiZP?
Mr. btewart Is now the monarch of the dry ' &tft
trade in the world; and we fully believe thai u
history of all lasting success would disclo
a similar root of honesty. In all the bust
which have to do wltn the precious metals and
precious stones, honesty is the prime necessity;
because in' them, though it is the easiest thin
in the world to cheat, the cheat is always
capable ol being detected and proved. A great
silver borne holds itself bound to take
back an article of plate made forty ye trs atro,
if it Is discovered that the metal is not equal in
parity to the standard of the silver coin of the
country in which it was made. The entire and
per'ect littoral honesty, therefore, of Jabea
Gorham, was the direct cause of the prosperity
of the house which he founded. Ue Is now a
serene and healthy man of eighty-two, long giro
ittired Irow business. He walks about the
fcsnulactery, mildly wondering at the extent to
which its uceratious have extended. "It is
liowa putt me h says with smile: "I know
JwUJiif but all th,
T1TE DAIL1 EVENING TELEGKAPU PHILADELPHIA, THUPSDAY,
In ihe year 1W5 this vrnrrnblo old man wis
an sppreuttce to tliHt Mr. Dodce w ho b'an in
Providence the manufacture of ear-rniB", breast
pine, and riiiR Hie only articles made by the
Province Jwrl.ers lor many yours. In due
time Jabez (iorbum et up lor himself, and he
added to the list ot articles tne important it"m
ol watrh-ebaius of n peculiar pattern, long
known In N?w Kneland as the "Gorham chain."
The old gentleman gives an amusing account of
Ihe simple manner in which business was done
tn those days. When he had manufactured a
tmnkfulof jeclrv he would log away with it
to HoPton, where, after depositina; the trunk In
his room, he would go round to all the jewellers
in the city to inform t hem of his arrival, and to
say that his jewelry would be ready in his roim
lor inspection on the following mornlnsr at 10
o clock.and not before. Detore the appointed
hour every jeweller in tne town would oe at h s
door; but as it was a point of honor to give
them all an equal chance, no one was' ad
mitted till the clock ptruck, when all pushed
In In a body. The iewelry -was spread out
cn the bed, oiound which all the jewellers
ot Uostcn, In 18?0, could matlier without crowd
ing. Kaoh man beean by placing his hat in
some convenient place, and it was in his hat
ihat he deposited the articles selected by him
for purchase. When the whole stock had buen
transferied from the bed to the several hats, Mr.
Gorbam took a list of the contents of each;
whereupon the jewellers packed their purchases
and carried them home. In the course of the
oay the bills were made out, and the next morn
ing Jlr. (iorhnm went his rounds and collected
the money. Tlie business beinir thus happily
couclnded, he returned to Providence, to work
uninterruptedly tor another six months. In this
manner Jabez (Jorbnra conducted business for
sixteen years be: ore he ever thought of attempt
ing silverware. Such was his reputation lor
scrupulous honesty that, for many years before
he lelt the biu-iuess. none of his customers ever
subjected his work to any test whatever, not
even to that of a pair ot scales. It is his boat
that during the whole of his business career of
more than hall a century he, never sold an arti
cle of a lower ttandard of purity than the one
establtthed by law or by the nature of the pre
CiOUs metals.
About the year 1825 some Boston people dis
covered that a tolerable silver spoon could be
made much thinner than the custom ot the
trade had previously permitted, and that these
thin spoons could be sold by peddlers very ad
vantageously. The consequence of this disco
very was that silver spoons became an article of
manufacture in Boston, whence peddlers con
veyed them to the remotest nooks of New Eng
land. Oue day, in 1830, the question occurred
to Jabez Gorbam, why not make spoons in
Providence, and sell them to the peddlers who
buy our Iewelry 1 The next time he took his
trunk of trinkets to Boston he looked about him
for a man who knew something of the art of
spoon-uiakiDg. One such he found, a young man
just "out ol his time," whom he took back with
him to Providence, where he established him in
an odd corner of his jewelry shoo. In this
way, thirty-seven years ago, the business began
which has grown to be the largest and most
complete manufactory of silver ware in the
world. - For the first ten years he made nothing
but spoons, thimbles, and silver eombs, with au
occasional napkin-ring, if any oue in Provi
dence was bold enough to order one. Busi
nesses grew very slowly ia those days. It was
thought a grand success when Jabez Gorham,
after neaily twenty years' exertion, had fifteen
men employed in making spoons, forks, thim
bles, napkin-rings, children's mugs, and such
small ware. Nor would Mr. Gorham, of his
own motion, have ever carried the business
much further; certainly not to the point of pro
ducing articles that approach the rank of works
of art. We have heard the old gentleman say
that he often stood at a store-window in Boston,
wonderirg by what process certain operations
were periormed in silver, the results of whieh
he saw before him in the form of pitchers and
teapots. .
But in due course ot time Mr. John Gorham,
the present bead of the bouse, eldest son of the
lounder, came upon the scene an aspiring, in
genious young man, wnose nature it was to
excel in anything in wmcn ne migm caance iq
engage. The silversmith's art was then so little
known in the United States that neither work
men cor information could be obtained here in
its higher branches. Mr. John Gorham crossed
the ocean soon after coming of age, and exam
ined every leading silver establishment in
Kurope. He was lreely admitted everywhere,
as no one in the business had ever thought of
America as a possible competitor; still less did
any one see in tins quiet xanitee youtn tne per
son who was to annihilate the American demand
for European silverware, and produce articles
which famous European nouses would servilely
copy. - From the time of Mr. John Gorham's re
turn dates tne eminence oi tne present company
and of the production of the costlier kinds of
silverware, on a great scale, in the United
6tate, From first to last the aompany have in
duced sixty-three accomplished workmen to
come from Europe and settle in Providence,
some of whom might not unjustly be enrolled in
the list of artists. ,
The war gave an amazing development to
this business, as it did to all others ministering
to pleasure of the sense of beauty. When the
war began, in 18C1, the Gorham Company em
ployed about one hundred and fifty men; and in
1864 this number had increased to four hundred,
all engaged in making articles of solid silver.
Even with this great force the company were
sometimes unable to supply the demand for
their beautiful products. Uu Christmas moro
lug, 1864, there was left in the store in Maiden
lane, New York, but Beven dollars worth of
ware, out of an average stock of one hundred
thousand dollars' worth. Perhaps we ought not
to be surprised at this. Consider our silver
weddings. It is not unusual for several thou
sands of dollars' worth of silver to be presented
on these occasions in one iastance.sixteen thou
sand dollars worth was given, And what
lady can be married, nowadays, without hav
ing a few pounds of silver given to herf For
Christmas presents, of course, silverware is
always among the objects dangerous to the
sanity of those who go forth, just before the
holidays, with a limited purse and unlimited
desires.
What particularly surprises the visitor to the
Gorham Works, at Providence, is to see labor
saving machinery the pouderous steam ham
mer, the stamping aud rolling apparatus em
ployed in silver work, instead of the baser
metals to which they are usually applied.
Nothing is done by hand which cau be done by
machinery; so that the three hundred men
usually employed in solid ware are in reality
doing the work of a thousand. The first opera
tion is to buy silver coin lu Wall street. In a
bag of dollars there are always some bad pieces;
and as the Company embark their reputation in
every silver vessel that leaves tho factory, and
lire always respomiblo for its purity, each dollar
is wrenched asun Jer and its goodness positively
ascertained before it is thrown into the crucible.
The subsequent operations, by which these
spoiled dollars are converted into objects of
brilliant and enduring beauty, can better bo
imagined than described.
New forms of beauty are the constant study
of the artist in silver. One large apartment in
the Gorham establishment the artists' room is
a kind of maeaziue or storehouse of beautiful
forms, which have been gathered in the course
ol years by Mr. George Wilkinson, the member
of Ihe Company who has charge of tho design
ing, and who is himself a designerof sing ul tr
ttiste, fertility, end judgment. Here are de
posited copien or drawings of all the former
inouucts or tne establishment. Hero is a large
costly library of illustrated works in every
geUril"l'ut of 81 1 ftnd science. Mr. Wilkinson
laudsea1 11 works upon botauy, scu'pture,
porcelalu',om aiiclt'"t bas-rellels and modern
volumes wbluLInore frfc(luently from those large
ture. "Tne tirexllimt lne P'orles ot arcliiteo
vood pieee ot slf.flui,,lte" ue maintains, "of a
The ai iist in silver l'e U ,bat 11 btJ w"
in view the practical ami80 t0 keen constantly
of his art. The forms wuPutnmerc'ttl luUtlo8
such as can be executed wif d"'lllnB must be
labor aud material, such as can b?ue econou,I of
and such as will pleano the tastS?!!,,7 cleaned,
puicbosiuB public. It is by hiseViii?e llyer
(ng with theue inexorable condition woruplj"
ducing forms of real exoWlouce! thai p!i
Wllkiuson has given such celebrity to the artilr"
made PJ the conipaoj to which ha buloags,
Pew of ne, however, will ever be able to buy
the diiimi set, trie ten sets, iho eorgeou
snlvors, and the tall epersrues with which the
wsreroonis of this manufactory are hll"d. A
silver salver of largo size costs a thousand dol
lars. A cunipleto dinner set tor a party ol
twenty-four cosis $12,000. The price ol a nice
tra set chu easily run into $ 3000. We noticed
one small va.o, six or eight inches high, exqui
sitely chase a on two sides, which Mr. WiUiii
sou assured ns cost the Company about $700 to
produce. There are, as jet, but two or three
persons in all America who would be likely to
become purchasers of the articles in silver
which rauk In Eurore ns works of art, aud
which are strictly entitled to that distinction.
The wonder is who buys tho massive utilities
that are stacked awny In such profusion in
Maiden lime. The Gorham Company have
always In course of manufacture snout three
tonso: silver, and. usually have ft ton 01 finished
work lor sale.
An Important branch of the busiiie8 is one
recently introduced the manufacture of a very
superior kind of plated-were, intended to com
bine ibe strength of baser metal with the
beauty of silver. The manufacture ot such
ware has attained a greut development in Eng
land ot late year, owing chietly to the appli
cation ol the mjsterious power ol electricity lo
the laving on of the s.lver. We must discourse
a little upon this admlrablo application ol sci
ence to the arts.
"Hamlet" amused his friend "Horatio" by
tracing the noble dust ot Alexander till he fouud
it stopping a bunghole. If we trace the course
ol discovery that resulted in this beautiful art,
we shall buvo to reverse "Hamlet's" order; we
must begin with the homely object and end with
magnificent ones. Electroplating, electrotyping,
the elecitic telegraph, and many .other aits and
wonders, all go back to that dish o' frogs which
the amiable and lond Professor Galvanl was
preparing for his sick wile's dinner one dav.
about the year 17H7. It was a curious reflection,
when we were illuminating our houses to cele
brate the laying of the first Atlantic cable, that
this bewildering and unique triumph ot man
ovi r nature had no more illustrious origin thau
the lets of an Italian frog. We are aware that
the honor has been claimed for a Neapolitan
mouse. There t a story in the books of a mouse
in Naples that had the impudence, in 1786, lo
bite the leg of a professor ot medicine, and was
caught in the act by the Pioi'essor himself,
who punished his audacity by dissecting him.
While ooing so, he observed that whe,n he
touched a nerve of the creature with his knito
its limbs were slightly convulsed. The Pro
fessor, struck witn the circumstance, was
puzzled by it, mentioned it, and it was
recorded; but as nothing iurther came of ft, no
connection Can be established between that
mouse and the splendors of silver-plated ware
and the wonders of the telegraph. The claims
of Professor Galvani's frog rest upon a sure foun
dation of tact. Blgnora Galvanl so rune one
version of the 6tory lay sick upon a couch in a
room in which there was that chaos of domestic
utensils and philosophical apparatus that may
still be observed sometimes in the abodes of
men addicted to science. The Professor himself
had prepared the Irogs for the stewpan, and
lelt them upon a table near the conductor of. an
electrical machine. A student, while experi
menting with the machine, chanced to touch
with a steel instrument one of the frogs at the
intersection of the legs. The sick ladv observed
that as olten as he did so the legs were convulsed,
or, as we now say, galvanized. Upon her hus
band's return to the room she mentioned this
strange thing to him, and he immediately re
peated tho experiment.
From 1T60 to 1790, as the reader is probably
aware, all the scientific world was on the qui
cite with regard to electricity. The most bril
liant reputations of that century had been wou
by electiic discoveries. Franklin wa3 still
alive, to reward with his benignant approval
those who 6hould contribute anything valuable,
alter bis cwn immense additions, toman's know
ledge of this alluring and battling element. It
was, therelore, as much the spirit of the time
as the penias ol the man that made Galvanl
seize this new fact with eagerness, and investi
gate it witn untiring enthusiasm, it was a sad
dSJ for the frogs of the Pope's dominion, wheu
Mguora Galvanl observed those two naked legs
fly apart and crook themselves with so much
auimation. There was slaughter in the swamps
of Bologna for many a month thereafter. For
mankind, however, it was a day to be held la
everlasting lemembrance, since it was then that
was taken the first step towards the galvanic
battery 1
As fortune favors the brave, so accident aids
the ingenious. Alter Professor Galvanl bad
touched the muscles and nerves of many frogs
with the spark drawn from the electrical
machine, another accident occurred which led
directly to the discovery of the galvanic battery.
Having skinned a frog, he chanced to hang it
by a copper hook upon an iron nail; and thus,
without knowing ft, he brought together the
elements of a battery two metals and a wet
frog. His object in hanging up the frog was to
see if the electricity of the atmosphere would
f roduce any efiects, however slight, similar to
hose produced when the spark ot the machine
was applied to the creature. It did not. After
watching bis frog awhile, the Professor was
proceeding to take it down, and while in the
act of doing so the legs were con
vulsed. Struck with this occurrence, he re
placed the frog, took it down again, pat it back,
took it down, until he discovered that, as
oiten as' the damp frog (still hanging upon
its iron hook) touched the iron naU, the con
traction of the muscles took place, as if the
frog had been touched by a conductor con
nected with an electrical machine. This experi
ment was repeated hundreds of times, and
varied in as many ways a9 mortal ingenuity
could devise. Galvanl at length .settled down
upon the method following: He wrapped the
nerves taken from the loins of a frog in a leaf
of tin, and placed the legs of the frog upon a
plate of copper; then, as olten as the leaf of tin
was brought in contact with the plate of copper,
the legs of the frog were convulsed.
People regard Charles Lamb's story of tho
discovery of roast pig as a most extravagant
and impossible fiction; but, really, Professor
Galvani comported himself very much in the
manner of that great discoverer. It was no
more necessary to employ the frog's nerves in
the production of the electricity, than it was
necessary to burn down a house in roabting pig
for dinner. The poor frog contributed nothing
to it but his dampness as every boy in a tele
graph office now perceives.' He was merely the
wet in the small galvanic battery. Professor
Galvani, however, exulting in his discovery,
leaped to tho conclusion that this electricity
was not the same as that produced by friction.
He thought he had discovered the long-sought
something b,y which the muscles move obedient
to the will. "All creatures," he wrote, "have
an electricity inherent in their economy, which
resides specially in the nerves, and is by the
nerves communicated to the whole body. It is
secreted by the brain. The interior substance
of the nerves is endowed with a conducting
power tor this electricity, and facilitates its
movement and its passage from one part of the
nervous system to another; while the oily coat
ing of these organs hirnrs the dissipation of
the fluid, and permits lis accumulation." He
also thought that tho muscles were the Leydeu
iaj;s ot theuuimal system, in which tho elec
tricity generated by the brain aud conducted
by the nerves was hoarded up for use. When a
man was tired, he had merely used his elec
trlcity too fast; when he was iresb, his Leydeu
jtir were all full.
The publication of these experiments in 1791.
accompanied by Galvani's theory of amoral
electricity, produced a sensatiou in Bcioutitio
circles only inferior to that caused bv Frank
lin's demonstration of the identity of lightning
with electricity, thirty years before. The mur
der of innocent frogs extended from tho
marshes of Bologna to' the swamps of ail Chris
leniiom. "Wherever," says a writer of the
time, "frogs were to be found and two dilleront
metals could be procured, every one was
anxious to see tho mangled limbs of frogs
brought to life in this wonderlul way." Or. as
Lamb says, in the dissertation upon Roast Pig:
"iho thing took wing, and now there Vas
nothing to be seen but fire in every direction."
At ttrt the facts and the theory of Galvanl were
equally accepted; aud a grateful woild Insisted
uion styling the new suieuee, us it was deemed,
"Galvanism." Thus a word was added to all the
anguei, which has bceu found useful In it
literal lensc, and forcible in ns figurative.
Whatever we may think of Galvani's philosophv,
wc ennnot deny tuat he immortalize I his name
He died a few jcars sftet, fully satlitied wi h
Lis theory, but having no suspicion of the
msny, the peculiar, Ihe marvellous results thai
were to flow fiom the Chance discovery of the
fact that a moist fiog placed boiween twodii
leient metals was a kind of eleetricul machine.
Among the Iia tans who caught at Galvani's
discovoiy, the most Fkilful and learned wa Pro
leo VoltH, of Conio, who had been an ardent
electrician from his youth. Many of our read
ers have seen this year the colossal statue of
that gient man, which adorns his nalive city on
the southern shore of the luke. Tho statue was
wonhily decreed, because the man who contri
butes ever so little to a grand discovery in
science provided that little is essential to it
ranks among the greatest benefactors of his
species. And what did the admirable Volt-i dis
cover? Iteduciiig the labors of his long liie to
their simplest expression, we should say that
his just claim to immortality consists in this
be lound out that the trog hai nothing to do
with the production of electricity in Galvani'o
experiment, but that a wet card or rag would do
as well. This discovery was tho central fact of
his scientific career of sixty-four years. It took
all of his lamiliar knowledge of electricity,
acquired invtwenty-seven years of entire devo
tion to the study, to enable him to Interpret
Galvani's apparatus so far as to get rid of the
frog; and he spent the remaining thirty-seven
years of his existence in varyiug the experiment
thus freed from that "demd damp, moiut, un
pleasant body." It was a severe ailliction to the
followers of Galvanl and to the Uulversity ot
Bologua to have their darling theory of the ner
vcus electricity so rudely yet so unausweraoly
reluted. I do not need jour frog I" exclaimed
the too Impetuous Volla. "Give me two metals
and a moist rag, and I will produce your animal
electricity. Your Irog is nothing but a moist
conductor, and in this respect is not as good as
a net rag." This was a decisive fact, and it
silenced all but a lew of tho disciples ot tc
dead Galvani.
Volta was led to discard the frog by observing
that no electric tesulis followed when the two
plates were ot the same metal. Suspecting from
th.s that the frog was merely a conductor (In
stead of the generator) of the electric fluid, he
tried the experiment with a wet card placed
between two pairs of plates, and thus discovered
that the secret lay in the metals bciog hetero
geneous. But it cost thousands of experiments
to reach this result, and ten years of ceaseless
thought and exertion to arrive at the invention
of the "pile," which merely consists of many
pairs of heterogeneous plates, each separated by
a moist substance. The weight of so much metal
squeezed the wet cloth dry, and this led to vari
ous contrivances for keeping it wet, resulting at
last in the invention ot tho familiar "trough
battery," now employed in all telegraph olficca
and manufactories ot electro anything. Instead
of Galvani's Irog, or Volta's wet rag, the con
ductor is a solution of sulphuric acid, which
Volta himself suggested and employed. The
negative electricity is conveyed to the earth by
a wire, and the positive is conducted from pair
to pair, increasing as it goes, until, if the bat
tery is large enough, it may have the force to
send a message round the world. And the cur
rent is continuous. The galvanic battery is an
electrical machine that goes without turning a
handle. By the galvanic battery electricity 1b
made subservient to man. Among other things,
it sends his messages, faces his type with copper,
silvers his coffee-pot, and coats the inside of his
baby's silver mug with shining gold.
The old methods of covering metals with a
plating of silver were so difficult and laborious,
that durable ware could never have been pro
duced by them except at an expense which
would have defeated the object. In those slow
and costly ways plated articles were made as
late as the year 1840; and thus they might be
made at the present moment, if Signora Galvani
had been looking the other way when the stu
dent touched the frog with the knife. More
than fifty years elapsed before the chance dis
covery was made available id the art we are.
considering. For many years the discoveries ot
Galvanl and Volta did not appear to add much
to the resources of man, though they excited
his "special wonder." Eldeily readers can per
haps remember the appalling accounts that
used to be published, forty vears aeoormore,
of the galvanizing of criminals after execu
tion. In 1811, at Glasgow, a
noted chemist tried the effect of a voltaic
"pile" of two hundred and seventy pairs of
plates npon the body of a murderer. As the
various parts of the nervous system were sub
jected to the current, the most startling results
followed. The whole body shuddered as with
cold; one of the legs nearly kicked an attendant
over; the others heaved, and the lungs inhaled
and exhaled. At one time, when all the power
of the instrument was exerted, we are told that
"every muscle of the countenance was simulta
neously thrown into feartnl action. Kage,
horror, despair, and anguish, and ghastly smiles
united their hideous expression on the mur
derer's lace, surpassing tar the wildest repre
sentations of a Fusseli or a Kean. At this period
several of the spectators were obliged to leave
the room from terror or sickness, and one gen
tleman fainted." The bodies of horses, oxen,
and sheep were galvanized, with results the
most surprising. Five men were unable to hold
the leg ot a horse subjected to the action of a
powerlul battery.
So far as we know, nothing of much import
ance has yet been inferred from such experi
ments as these. Davy and Faraday, however,
and their pupils, did not confine their attention
to these barren wonders. Sir Humphrey Davy
took the ''pile" as invented by Volta, in 1800,
and founded by its assistance what may be styled
a new science, and developed i to the point
where it became available for the arts and utili
ties of man. The simple and eu y process by
which silver and gold are decomposed, and then
deposited upon metallic surfaces, is only one of
many ways in which the galvanic battery minis
ters to our convenience and pleasure. If the
reader will step into a manufactory of plated
ware, he will see, in the plating room, a trough
containing a liquid resembling tea as it comes
from the teapot. Avoiding scientific terms, we
may say that this liquid is a solution of silver,
and contains about four ounces of silver to a
gallon of w ater. Tnere are also thin plates of
silver hanging along the sides of the trough into
the liquid. The galvanic battery which Is to set
this apparatus in motion is in a closet near by.
The vessels to be plated, after being thoroughly
cleaned and exactly weighed, are suspended lu
the liquid by a wire running along the top of the
trough. When all is ready, the current ot elec
tricity generated by the small battery in the
closet 1b made to pass through the trough, and
along all the metallic surlaces therein con
tained. When this has been done, the spectator
may lork with all hia eyes, but he caunot per
ceive that anything is going on. There is no
bubblii.g nor fizzing, nor any other noise or
motion. The long row of vessels hang silently
at Heir wire, Immersed in their tea, and nobody
appears to pav any attention to them. And so
they continue to bang for hours, for rive or six
or seven hours, if the design is to produce worlc
which w ill answer some oiher purposo than sell
ing. All this time a most wonderful and mys
terious piocecs Is going on. That gentle cur
rent of electricity, noiseless and invisible as it
is is taking the silver held in the solution, and
iaviug it upon the surfaces of thooe vessels,
within and without; aud at the same time it is
decomposing the plates ol silver hanging along
the sides of the troush in such a way as to keep
np the strength of the solution. Wo cannot
recover from the wonder into which the con
templation of this process threw us. There
are some things which the outside and occa
sional obBervercan never be done luarvelliuK
For our part, we never hear the click of a to e
giaphic apparatus wlihout experiencing the
anme. sna.-ui of astonishment as when we were
firlt Introduced to that mystery. The beautiful
manner too. in which this silvering work is
done! The most delicate brush in the most
svnVatbetio hand could not lay on the colors of
the palate so evenly, nor could a crucible melt
the metals into a completer oneness.
And here is tne cpponum-j uve
if it Were solid plate. Nay, it will look rather
better; since the silver deposited by this exqui
site process is perfectly pure, while tho silver.
minutes an article is cu w.w, ,u every
psrt, iuslde aud out; and that mere "bluah" of
Pilver, as the platers, term It. will receive as bril
i;i . rw.ii.h .n.i look as well (tor a monlhi as
DECEMBER 5, 18G7.
rmpt jed in solid wire Is o' the torn standard
one-teiuh alloy. Ihepla'er can d'-poit upon
hi" woik a Utile silver ns he chooses, either by
ncnkening his solution or by h aving tne article
in it lota verysboit time: and no man ran
detect i he cheat with cenainty except by an ex
pensive and troublesome process. Nor will 11
suflice lor the operator to attend to the strength
of his solirioiis, aud keep Ins eje upon tho
clork. As in certain conditions of the aimo
spheie w e cau scarcely get a spark fiom the elec
trle.Hl niHcbme, so there are times when the
galvan'c batury works fccblv, and when the
silvenng goes on much more slowly than nsual.
To gusrd against errors from this cause, there is
no sure resource but a sjstem of careful weigh
ings. In such establishments as that of the
Gorbam Company, ot Providence; Tifninv'8 or
Hatighwoui's, of New York; Bailev's, ot Phila
delphia; and bigelow Brothers' and Kennard's,
or Palmer & Batchelder's. oi Boston, each article
Is weighed before it Is immersed in iho solution,
its Wfieht is ierorded, and it is allowed to
rema'n tn tho solution until It has taken on the
whole ol the precious metal it was designed to
receive.
There was a lawsuit ibe other day 1n New
York, which turned upon the quantity of silver
depos'ted upon sundry gross ot lorks and sp.ons.
The rdatcr agreed to put upon them twelve
ounces of silver to the gross, w hich is about as
much as is ever deposited upon spoons or forks.
It he bud performed his cou tract he would have
spread over each tablespoon about as much
silver as there is in a ten-cent piece; and such is
the nature of silver that these spoons would
have worn well for five or six years. In fact,
there are no better plated spoons yet iu use than
tltse were designed to be. The' plater meant
to comply with the Ufages of tho trade. Ho
m( oot to put upon those spoons the quantity of
silver which, in the trade, stands for twelve
oi.rces to the gros, which Is about ten ounces
to the gross. Huch was probably bis virtuous
intention, and he supposed ho had can led out
that Intention. But when the spoons were put
to the test, it was discovered that upon one
hundred and forty-four tablespoons there were
but three ounces and a half of 6ilver. It came
out on the trial that the plater never weighed
his work, and trusted wholly to the length ol
time he It tt it in the solution. He appeared to
be honestly indignant at the testimony showing
that his spoons, which had been left four hours
subject to the action of the battery, had ac
quired only a film of silver. To the eye of the
purchaser, theie spoons would have presented
precisely the same appearance as the best plated
ware in existence. For two or three months, or
even tor six mouths, they would have retained
their brilliancy. What their appearance would
have been at the end of a year or two we need
not say, for most readers have encjunteerd the
spectacle in their pilgrimage through a world
which is said to resemble plated articles of this
quality in being "all a fleeting show.''
Eveiy one is f amiliar with the gold lining that
is now io generally seen in silver vessels. This
is laid on -by the same process as that which
covers the outside with silver. The vessel is
tilled with a solution of gold, and in this solu
tion a thin plate of gold is suspended. The elec
tric current being made to pass through the in
terior thus prepared, the liquid bubbles up like
soda-water, and in three or lour minutes enough
gold is deposited upon the inside surface for the
purpose designed. When this is accomplished
ncthing remains but to polish the vessel, within
and without, and we have a piece of ware which
is silver when we look at it, and golden when
we drink from it.
The obstacle to the introduction of the supe
rior plated ware now made by the Gorham
Company is its costliness. The best plated waro.
costs five times as mnch as the worst, and one-'
fourth as much as solid silver. We saw the
other day three large salvers, which at a dis
tance of six feet, looked very nearly alike. All
of them fore a most brilliant polish, and all
were elaborately decorated. One of them was a
trashy article, made of an alloy of lead and tin,
coveied with a "blush" of silver. It had been
stamped out and shaped at one blow by a
stamping machine, and left in the silver solu
tion subject to the action of the battery for per
haps fifteen minutes. It was very heavy, and
when it was suspended and struck it gave forth
a dull leaden sound. The price of this abomina
tion was $a7 60, and it would last, wit k careful
occasional usage, tor a year. Dally use would
disclose its real quality in a lew weeks.
Another of these salvers was of solid silver,
to which no objection could be made except
that its price was $950. The third was of
that superior plated ware introduced re
cently by the Gorbam Company, of Provi
dence. The base of this article was the metal
now called nickel-silver a mixture of copper,
nickel, and zinc a very hard and ringing com
pound, perfectly white, and capable of high
polish. Upon th'.s hard surface as much silver
bad been deposited as upon the best Sheffield
plated-ware, which is about as much as can be
smoothly put upon it by the electro-plating pro
cess. When the salver was struck, it rang like
a bell, and it would not bend under the weight
of a man. Such a salver, used continually, will
retain its lustre for a whole generation, aud
when, after that long period, it begins to lose
its coaling, it can be rcsilvered and made as
good as ever. But the price of this article was
$200 more than five times the cost of the
leaden traib, and a fourth ot the price of the
solid salver. Nevertheless, plated-ware of this
quality is the only kind which it is good economy
to buy. There are few more extravagant pur
chases we can make in housekeeping than lead
and brass-ware covered with a film of silver so
thin that an ounce of the precious metal can
actually be spiead over two acres of it.
One fact can easily be borne in mind; good
serviceable plated articles cost, and must cost,
fiom one-fourth to one-third as much as
similar articles of solid silver. Anything of a
much lower standard tbad this is trash and
vulgarity.
For our part we prefer good plated ware to
solid plate. In plated ware we can now have
all the beauty of form, all the brilliancy of sur
face, all the durability aud utility of solid
silver, without its excessive costliness, without
appearing to be guilty of ostentation, without
putting our neighbors to shame, and without
offering a perpetual temptation to burglars.
LEGAL notices.
TN THE DISTRICT COURT FOR THE CITY
J. AN1J COUNTY OF PlULAUKLViilX.
MlCHAia, SHAFFIE VS.JOUN OATCITELL.
Levari Facias. June Term, 167. No. 7i s.
The Auditor unpointed by the Court to distribute
(be tund arlBioic from the sale under His above writ
from the loiltiwlug described reul tate, to wit: -All
triht certain Jul or niece ot ground situate on ibe
souib side or Coates t treet, at the distance of Hfiy five
itet len Indies aud Hiree-iiuRrters of au lucb east
ward froni ibe east side of TUlrleentb street, lu tbe
late liiitrlct ol Spring (harden, now tbe Fourteenth
Ward of tue City of Philadelphia: oontaloirif lu from
or hreadtb on Baid Coates si reel eighteen teet, aud ex
tending eoutbward between Hues at rlfiht annles wiib
said Coatea street, lu lenKili or depth on the east line
tbereol sixty feet, and on tbe went Hue thereof fortv
three leet to Ibe bead ol a three leet wide alley load
inn southward lino l'pon street, tbeuce along the
eustwaialy side of (aid alley still southward seven
teen leel; bounded northward by said Ooates s'reet,
eastward by Kround now or late of William lUrnitn.
southward by grouLd ol Mary llrown, and westward
partly by a certain two feet six Inches wide alley lead
ing northward lulo tne said Coates street, partly by
the back ends or Ann W, KngllsU and. Nalhsii
S-tielch's Thirteenth sireet lots, and partly by said
three-leet wide alley leading- southward into said
lVnn street.
Will meet tbe parties Interested for the purpestsot
his appointment at his Ollice. No. e). (1 b 1 II Hireet,
In the city of Philadelphia, TUKSUAY, Ihe 171U day
or Lieceuiber, 1M7, at 4 o'clock P. M wheu and where
all persons luleiesled are requited to make their
claims, or be debarred from coming in upou said (uud.
UbHl AMUS BiUOUS. Auditor.
TN THE ORPHANS' COURT FOR THE CITY
J. AND COUNTY OK P111LA UJKLPU I A.
luilate of JOHN W W A U.W1CK., deceased, '
Tbe Auditor appointed bv tbe Court to audit, settle,
and adjust the account ot JOHN K, MhVl., Adml is
Irator or JOHN W. WAHWJCK, deceased, aud to
report distrlbu Ion of tbe balance In tue bauds of thtf
Accountant, will meet tbe parties luteresled for U'
purposes ol bis appointment, on WON DAY, I'eo!'!"
ber IS 1HH7. at 4 o'clock P. M., at bis ollice, -
W A I. NUT blreet, second story, In the cltv of Pnua
delpbla. WlidJAM A, Al.i's('o
JlWetuthDt Auditor..
rn"io GAIIDNER A FLEMING,
OOAqil MAKERS
no. Hi uvsu. nrxu stbect,
NwandBwond-rian40arrlaKeforMl. Pal
Itoolai- tuition paid to repairing ( 80 3 a)
INSTRUCTION.
gTEVEN8D ALE INSTITUTE.
HOARDING BCnoOL tOH VOUNO LADIES.
Terms Board, Tuition, etc.-per scholastic year, 1500
NO EXTRAS.
Circulars at Messrs. Fairbanks A Swing's, No. TU
CnrsNUT Street; also at Messrs. T. B. tersou
Brothers', No. Kt CHE8NXJT Street.
Address, personally or by note,
N FOSTEB BROWNS, Principal,
10 t thrntf Bonth Arnboy.K. J.
FURS.
1867.
FALL AND WINTER.
1867
FUR HOUSE,
(established In 1018.)
The undersigned Invite the special attention of the
Ladles to their large stock of FURS, consisting of
Muffs, Tipocts, Collars, Etc..
IN RUSSIAN BABLK,
HUDSON'S BAT SABLB,
MINK SABLB
ROYAL ERM1NK, CHINCHILLA, FITCH, ETC.
U of the LATKHT STYLES, BUPERIOB FINISHJ
and at reasonable price.
Ladles In mourning will find handsome article
PERHIANNES and SIMIAS; the latter a most baa.
Mini for.
CARRIAGE ROBES, BLEIQH ROBES, and FOOT
MUFFS, In great variety.
A. EC. & F. K. WO M RATH,
tlltm NO. 417 ARCH STREET.
AS'W'ill remove to our new Store, No. 1212 Cliesnut
street, about May 1, 1R8.
p A N C Y F U R O.
Tbe subscriber having recently retained Irons
Europe with an entirely new stock of
FURS
Ot bis own selection, would ofler the same to hie cus
tomers, made np In the latest styles, and at reduced
prices, at his OLD ESTABLISHED STORE,
NO. 189 NORTH THIRD STREET,
10 26 2mrp ABOVE ARCH.
james rp:isky.
REMOVAL.
JBMOTA li.-R EfflOT At,
C. W. A. TRUMPLER
HAS REMOVED HIS MUSIC STORE
FROM SEVENTH AND CHESItUT STS.
TO
Ao. 92G CHESJSUT STREET,
12 tfrp PHILAD SXPHIA;
SOAP.
1MP0TANT TO THE LADIES V
Ko 31 ore Dread of Wash-Day I !
MOORE'S
ELEQTRO-MAQNETIQ SOAP.
"WASHING HADE EAST."
Accomplished without boiling or rubbing.
The finest and most delicate fabrics, a well as the
coarsest, made beautliully clean without boiling ot
robbing, saving In tne process half the time, labor,,
soap,
AND 1U THE FUEL It
This la the beat Soap ever invented lor washing
purposes.
We offer this Soap to the ladles, confident that they
will find, after the first trial, that. they caanot do wlthv
outiU
SOLD BY ALL GH0CER8. 10 21 thmI2t
GROCERIES, ETC. .
gnOT WELL'S SWEET CIDER-
Our nsual supply of this
i CELEBRATED CIDER,'
JUST BECEITED.
AIXEBT C ROBERTS,
Dealer In Fine Groceries,
ll7(rp. Corner ELEVENTH and VINE St.
pRESH FRUITS, 1867.
PEACHES, PEARS. PINEAPPLES,
PLITSIS, APRICOTS, CHERRIES,
BLACKBERRIES, QUINCES, ETC.
PRESERVED AND FRESH, IN CAMS AND
ULAbjS JABS,
Put np for our partlcu.ar trade, and tot sale by the
dozen, or in smaller quantities, by .
MITCHELL & FLETCHER,
10 9m NO. 1804 CHESMUT STREET.
JAMES R. VV E G D,
TEA DEALEB AND GROCER,
S. E. COB. EIGHTH AND WALNUT STS.
Extra Fine Souchong, or English Breakfast Teat,
Superior Chulan Teas, very cheap.
Oolong Teas of every grade.
Young Hysou Tea of finest qualities.
All fresh Imported. Ht
RATIONAL UNION
CiROCEBT AND PROVISION COM PAN TV
Groceries and rrvlslo at Cost.
OFFICE ! No. 23J South THIRD Street. - -STOKE!
No- ,8 ABCH Street. . . ,
Cash Capi'-" .......,.(30,000
foment-WHILL. D. II ALFMANM U 16 lo
ZZ 11 1 ' . . -si
T.STEWART BROWN, V
B.C. CoCIMTOf ' i
FOURTH & CUEiTXVT BTH
MANUITAOTUaU OI
tmrorKS, valises, bags, reticules, enivrl
STRAPS, BAT OASES, F0CKX 00&B, FLA&&4
aod Traveling Oeods ceneraUv.
W I L L I A M P. O It A N Ij
COBfMIHBION MKHOHANT,
MO, 81 B, JjJb.JUA.WAKR Avenue, I'UUadeljihU,
iUKNT tlH .
Iu pout's Gunpowder, Helloed Nitre, Charcoal, Etc.
W. Baker t o.'. Chocolate, Ooooa, and Brouia.
Crocker Bros. A (,'1 Mela fcUealhlng
UU, and Rails, M