It is a difficult task to describe the curious and interesting operations of the glass. blowers; for the present we may say, that there is no other employment so largely dependent upon steadiness of nerve and calm self-possession. The power of manipu lation is the result of long experience. The business of the glass-blower is literally at his "finger's ends." It is most interesting to witness the progress of his labor, from the first gathering of the liquid metal from the pot, and the passing it from hand to hand, until the shapeless and apparently uncontrollable mass is converted into some elegant article. Equally interesting is it to witness with what dexterity he commands, and with what entire ease he controls the melted mass-the care, also, with which he swings it with force just enough to give it the desired length, joins it to other pieces, or with shears cuts it with the same ease as paper. The whole process, indeed, is one filled with the most fascinating interest and power.

Of all the articles of glass manufacture, none command a greater degree of attention than the article called the salver, and no other develops so pleasing and surprising effects in its processes. When seen for the first time, the change from a shapeless mass, the force with which it flies open at the end of the process, changing in an instant into a perfect article, all combine to astonish and delight the beholder.

Mystery is as much a characteristic of the art now as at any former period; but it is a mystery unallied to superstition-a mystery whose interpreter is science-a mystery which, instead of repelling the curious and frightening the ignorant, now invites the inquiring and delights the unlearned.

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS OF GEORGIA.

D. J.

In the Cotton Plant, a valuable and interesting paper, published at Washington devoted to the development, agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing, of the South' as well as to the promotion and cultivation of every other species of industrial pursuit, having in view the commercial emancipation and real independence of the Southern section of the confederacy, we find the following brief, yet comprehensive summing up, of the progress which Georgia-justly styled the "Empire State of the South" -has made in the growing, fabrication and encouragement, of the different branches of industry, upon the sound, stable, and permanent advancement of which, the prosperity, the strength-in fact, the future independence of the South-mainly depends:

"Georgia has advanced most rapidly in her industrial progress. Her manufactories, railroads, and agricultural reform, have caused this. In castings' she has four estab. lishments, with a capital invested of $35,000. They consume 440 tons pig iron, 100 tons mineral coal, 9,800 bushels of coke and charcoal. There are 39 hands employed in them. The value of raw material, etc., is $11,950. These establishments turn out 415 tons castings. The entire value of product being $46,800. In 'Pig Iron' she has three establishments

There is turned out 900 tons pig iron, value of entire product, $57,300. She has in 'Woolen Goods' three establishments

In 'Cotton Goods' she has over thirty-five establishments

"Can the South manufacture? Has she capital? Do manufactories produce?"

13,643 62

74,573

894,877

North Carolina...

55,000

13,830

131,679 264

3,667

...

13,830

110,000

261,832

1,750

5881

1,814

:62:

3,851

32,900

78,774

78,950

29,800

14,900

93,380

75

MANUFACTURE OF LADIES' MUFFS IN LONDON.

There are many processes in manufacturing industry which, were they known to the wearers or users of the manufactured article, would create a disgust to it; but perhaps none are so degrading as the process of "tubbing" the skins for ladies' muffs, boas, &c. The workmen are ranged in tubs along the sides of an apartment, or shed, or any kind of out-house, in a yard or some secluded place in London. Every tubber, with the exception of those who may be unwell and who may then wear a loose sort of jacket, which, however, tells against the efficiency and rapidity of his work-is altogether naked! The tub in which the man works reaches up to the waist, and a thick yellowish cloth is thrown over its top, which the workman keeps every now and then gathering about him, and which he can draw around like a bag, so that, while at his labor, the upper part of his person alone is visible. To a stranger, the effect of a visit to such a workshop-to which it is not easy to gain admission-is startling. Pale, brown, and often hirsute men move up and down in their tubs, stamping and alternating their feet with little cessation; sometimes in silence, and in many cases with little or no expression in their faces. Each of these men is "tubbing," that is, he is treading or stamping, first on one foot and then on the other, on the skins which are the complement of his tub. These skins are for the supply of the furriers who employ the master skin-dressers. There is no water or other fluid used in tubbing, but the fleshy part of the skins are all buttered, and with the cheapest butter or scrapings, and in some places rancid butter, when such things are purchasable in sufficient quantity. Sawdust is used, which gives the tubber a firmer tread, and tends to aid, by its friction, in scouring the skins. Upon these tubbed skins, so prepared, the men tread, and the perspiration which sometimes pours from them is considered better and readier for the cure of the skins than any butter or other fatty compound, which are looked upon as merely auxiliary to what oozes from the workman's body. And in this way men's sweat is forced for hours together into the skinny parts of the furs which are to be ladies' muffs, boas, and tippets! The majority of the workmen are Irish. The wages are very scanty.

ITEMS OF GOLD MINING IN CALIFORNIA.

The Placer Herald of September 20th, 1852, says the Sub-Marine Company, numbering 13 men, at work on the Middle Fork of the American River, were averaging over $3,000 per day on last accounts, and have reached as high as $4,000 in one day. The Macatee Company numbers three men; and is averaging $3,000 per week.

The company at work at Sandy Bar, according to the Caleveras Chronicle, are among the most fortunate on the river. The company is composed of Frenchmen and numbers about ten persons. On Tuesday, September 23d, 1852, they dug out the surprising amount of one hundred and twenty-one pounds of gold! This claims pays richly throughout, averaging $3,000 daily, which, with the produce of these pockets, frequently met with, makes it by far the most desirable on the river.

The Gold Hill Quartz Mining Company, as we learn from the Placer Times and Transcript, have two mills-one having a steam-engine of 25 horse power, driving 18 stampers, capable of crushing 30 tons of quartz per day; and the other of 65 horse power, driving 10 stampers, and a saw mill that will cut 8,000 feet of lumber per day. The quartz yields from $45 to $50 per ton. The capital of the company is one million of dollars.

PROGRESS OF BRITISH COTTON MANUFACTORIES.

The prosperity which has attended the cotton manufactures during the last three or four years has, very naturally, given an impulse to their extension. Mr. Leonard Horner, the inspector of factories, states, in his report of November last, that up to that time 81 new factories had been built or set to work in the course of the year, (that is, up to October 31st, 1851,) in the district of which Manchester is the capital. These establishments employed steam-power equal to 2,240 horses; besides which there had been an enlargement of mills within the same period to the extent of 1,477 horse

VOL. XXVI.-NO. VI.

48

power. The total increase of steam-power within that single year was, therefore, equal to 3,717 horse-power, and calculated to give employment to about 14,000 additional work people.That the profits of factories continued, on the average of years, to be abundantly remunerative," Mr. Horner thought, "these facts of the investment of fresh capital in them abundantly proved." Since then, capital has become still more abundant, whilst the means of otherwise profitably investing it have probably somewhat decreased, and that the building of factories is on the increase will not be a matter of surprise.

PRODUCTION OF INDIGO IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

The Camden (S. C.) Journal says:-Indigo and silk, previous to the Revolution, were two of the principal productions of the South; these, together with skins, quercitron bark, and various roots, formed the chief articles of export. The introduction of cotton in a few years caused these articles to be laid aside. The only place that we know of where indigo has continued to be cultivated up to the present time, is in the district of Orangeburg, S. C. Several thousand pounds are annually made in this district, and carried to Augusta, Columbia, and Charleston. There are two kinds of indigo-the tame and the wild. The former requires to be sown annnally, the latter once in five or six years; the wild is the most valuable. The season for manufacturing commences in June-the weed is cut several times in the course of the summer, but only in the early part of the day, while the dew is on. The weed is put in a vat, and water poured on it; here it remains until the coloring matter is extracted; the fluid is then drawn off into another vat, and water, strongly impregnated with lime, is mixed with it; the whole being well and frequently stirred or beat up. When prop erly mixed, and an appearance of graining, it is left to settle. The water being run off, the sediment is taken out and put on frame to drain, and before it becomes hard it is cut into small pieces and placed on boards to dry; when perfectly dried it is broken into small fragments and put into boxes or barrels, when it is ready for market. The weed, after the coloring matter is 'taken from it, is a good manure, for which purpose it is used.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.

FLORENCE AND KEYPORT PLANK ROAD.

At a meeting of the stockholders of this company, at Keyport, on the 9th of November, an extensive report of its condition and prospects was made by the president. We have extracted such particulars from it as may be of interest to the readers of the Merchants' Magazine :-

The Florence and Keyport Company has its origin in the fact that New York is the great commercial emporium of America, and requires facilities for ready access from every section of the country. The free competition of steamboats and railroads to the North and East, has reduced the rate of travel and competition in these directions to the lowest paying price, with a corresponding increase in the amount of travel and intercourse.

Similar facilities to the South have thus far been prohibited by the laws of New Jersey, which has maintained the travel across the State at more than five times the cost on any of the other roads leading to New York.

The exorbitant charge on this most important of all avenues is to the mass of the people a positive prohibition, and totally excludes and shuts out nine-tenths of the business and travel that would flow into New York from that quarter, at a price corresponding with every other channel.

The fare between New York and Albany is now less than one-tenth of what it was before the introduction of railroads, and the intercourse more than ten times what it then was, while the travel between New York and Philadelphia is but little increased, because the price is now higher than it was when railroads were unknown-a fact without a parallel.

A reduction of the fare on this most important of all routes to the same rate as prevails in every other, will be attended with a corresponding increase in the amount of travel and business, contributing to the wealth and prosperity of the metropolis.

The time has come for the opening of this route; the trade and business of New York require it, and the millions of people who are now denied all access to the chief city of the Union, will no longer be restrained.

The only route for all this additional business is by steamboat through the Narrows in as straight a line as practicable, to a point on the Jersey shore, and thence by railroad in such direction as public necessity may demand.

To accommodate this trade will require more than hourly intercourse with New York, and give to the point where these roads terminate, and where this constant intercourse is maintained, a value and importance not exceeded by any location contiguous to New York.

An examination of the map of New Jersey and the Coast Survey will show, what practical inquiry has confirmed, that there is but one point on the Raritan Bay capable of adaptation to the purposes as a harbor for a large class of vessels. This point, contiguous to Keyport, has been purchased by the Florence and Keyport Company, and is now undergoing the improvements necessary to test its availability.

A Dock and Basin are in course of construction, sufficient to accommodate and furnish a safe harbor for the largest class of steamboats; and good roads are being opened, making it accessible to the surrounding country in every direction, as the depot and thoroughfare for all the business and travel from New York to the South.

The property of the Company, embracing nearly 3 miles of the shore, consists of about 1000 acres, part of which has been laid out as a town by the opening and grading of streets, and preparing it for a.demand for improvement, beyond the most sanguine expectations of the Company.

A similar location on the Delaware has been purchased, but has not yet been conveyed to the Company.

Of the capital scock, consisting of 20,000 shares, 10,000 shares have been issued in payment for the property at Keyport. The remainder is applicable to the property on the Delaware, when conveyed. The entire property is divided into 20,000 lots of 25 by 100 feet each. It is subject to no debt, nor has the company power to contract any. Its sole business is to sell and convey lots, at a price fixed by the charter, to wit: one share of stock and $100 in cash for each lot. The stock received in payment for lots will be cancelled. Thus the Company will at all times hold one lot for every share of its outstanding stock, while the whole cash receipt will be applicable to a dividend among the remaining stockholders.

The sale of lots at Keyport, now about to be made, is done in consequence of numerous applications for those lying immediately contiguous to the improvements in progress, at the price fixed by the company. It is believed they will command much above that rate. The excess in value properly belongs to the stockholders in com.on, and not to those who may chance to be the first applicants for the lots.

Of the value of the stock, $100 bas been assigned as its nominal par rate, on the ground that $200 was the minimum cash price for a town lot in any location suitable for improvement, and as being very far below the usual selling price in towns inferior to Keyport, and possessing none of its prospective advantages, which, it is believed, give to each of these lots, and the share of stock which represents it, a value above the low price of $100.

The rate of dividend to accrue to the stockholders, it will readily be perceived is a question entirely of time.

Should the growth of these towns be as rapid as the sudden introduction of an entire new business of the magnitude of that which must eventually occupy this channel appears to indicate, the sales of lots at this price must be large, and the dividends proportionately great, while in the entire absence of debt or of any expenditure, the whole receipt is applicable to that object, and with even a slow growth can never

fail of a semi-annual dividend.

For the half year ending January next, it is estimated that the sales of lots will not fall far short of 400.

Should this calculation be realized, the cash receipts at the rate fixed by the Company, one hundred dollars per lot, will amount to forty thousand dollars, or a dividend of $4 per share on the 9,600 shares which will then be outstanding.