USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Sketches and statistics of Cincinnati in 1851 > Part 21
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W. B. Smith & Co. This is a veteran publishing house, whose operations are principally confined to school books, in which their issues are counted by millions, one million two hundred and fifty thousand copies having been put to press since 1840. They have also published that masterly work, "Drake on the Diseases of the Mississippi Valley," which is sufficient for the fame of its accom- plished author, if he should never write anything else. This is an edition of one thousand two hundred and fifty copies, large octavo, of nearly nine hundred pages.
J. F. Desilver, 122 Main street, publishing bookseller, has issued various law and medical books, the most important of which, are " Hope's Pathological Anatomy," Lawson's edition, with two hun- dred and sixty lithographie illustrations, five hundred copies ; Wor- cester on Cutaneous Diseases, illustrated in similar style. The paper, printing, engraving, coloring and binding will compare advantage- ously with any eastern publications of the same cast-" Harrison's Therapeutics," two vols. All these are of royal octavo size.
He has also put to press the first four vols. of " Hammond's Ohio Reports," and by the 1st November next, will complete the publi- cation of the whole series, in seven volumes. The remaining three are edited by M. E. Curwen, of the Cincinnati bar, and one of the professors in the Cincinnati law college, who is known to the pro- fession as the author of several works on the Ohio statutes and reports. These publications will bring his issues, during the past twelve months, to more than twenty-seven thousand dollars.
Desilver is agent for the publications of the Philadelphia house of Thomas, Cowperthwaite & Co., the publishers of Mitchell's series of School Geographies, etc.
E. Morgan & Co, 111 Main street. This is one of our oldest, as well as most extensive houses in the publishing line. Within the last twelve months, they have issued from the press twenty thou-
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sand, Family Bibles; fifteen thousand, Josephus's Works; five thou- sand each, Pilgrim's Progress and Hervey's Meditations ; ten thou- sand, Life of Tecumseh ; ten thousand, Psalms of David ; ten thou- sand, Talbott's Arithmetic ; ten thousand, Walker's School Diction- ary ; one thousand, Macaulay's History of England, and one hun- dred thousand, Webster's Spelling Books, with various other pub- lications in smaller editions. Total value, fifty-four thousand dollars.
J. A. & U. P. James, book publishers. This is also a long estab- lished publishing house. Within the past year, they have issued Guizot's Gibbon's Rome, two vols, one thousand one hundred and fifty ; Library of American History, five hundred; Universal Pic- torial Library, one thousand ; Library of General Knowledge, three thousand ; Dick's Theology, five hundred ; Erskine's Works, two hundred and fifty, all imperial octavo. The Gem, one thousand ; Burns' Works, five hundred, and of other octavos, two thousand. Among these are Collins' History of Kentucky, Young's History of Mexico, etc. Various duodecimos, to the extent of twenty-two thou- sand copies. Pamphlet editions, octavo and duodecimo, forty-five thousand vols. Primers, and catechisms, twenty thousand. Almanacs for 1851, ninety-six thousand. One thousand five hundred, quarto Family Bibles, stereotyped, and first edition just issued. Seven thousand James' Traveler's Companion, first edition just out. Be- side these, within the last two years, the firm has published fourteen thousand, Hughes' Doniphan's Expedition. Most of the octavos are put into substantial library binding; many of the Poets, etc., in fancy and extra gilt covers.
R. E. Edwards, publisher and bookseller, in the newspaper, ma- gazine and periodical line depot, 115 Main, and 19 West Fourth street. This establishment is embarking largely in publishing here, and has commenced with the Arts' Union Gallery, a monthly quarto, embellished with fine steel engravings. This, as well as others of their publications are issued in parts, which places them within the reach of persons even of limited means, and renders them the freshest portion of current literature. Their sales of serials, from the house of Virtue & Sons, London, and the principal publishing houses in New York, Philadelphia and Boston, whose agents they are, amount, within the last twelve months, to thirty-two thousand dollars.
Roofing, Patent Composition .- James McGeorge, office, corner
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Fourth and Race street, employs, at an average, twelve hands. This covering is made of stiff, thick paper, stretched in courses upon the sheeting, the entire length of the roof and fastened down at the ends. A coat of boiled tar, mingled with fine gravel, is spread over the en- tire surface to a sufficient depth, and becomes perfectly hard and im- penetrable by heat or rain, as soon as it cools and hardens. Thirty- six thousand dollars value of work, is annually executed in this line ; raw material, 30 per cent.
Nearly all our best houses are now covered in this mode, which, taking durability into view, is cheaper than shingling.
Saddlery, Collar and Harness makers .- Of these, are forty shops, which employ two hundred and twenty-two hands, and produce a value of three hundred and forty-six thousand five hundred dollars ; raw material, 50 per cent.
Wilson & Hayden, 17 and 19 West Second street, manufacturers of saddlery and coach hardware, carriage trimmings, saddle-trees, hog skins, are engaged in the handling and finishing of saddle and harness leather, which they make to the value of fifty thousand dollars ; saddle-trees and saddlery hardware, to the value of forty thousand dollars; raw material, 80 per cent. Their annual sales of saddlery, etc., including those of their own manufacture, extend to two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars.
E. N. Slocum, 102 Main street, manufactures the finer qualities of saddles, harness and trunks, carpet bags, ladies' satchels, etc. Employs twenty-five hands ; value of product, thirty thousand dol- lars. As high as fifty saddles have been sold here in one day, and harness for two hundred and fifty horses - all stage or carriage harness-during the last six months. Four hundred and fifty-five trunks, ranging in price from eighteen to twenty dollars each, have made a part of their last year's sales. The saddlery here, is equal to any in New York or Philadelphia, and the trunks, a superior article. There have been sold here, bridles of a quality command- ing fourteen dollars each. Side saddles worth fifty dollars, and sets of harness for two horses, at two hundred and fifty dollars.
Saddle Trees .- One shop, with five hands; manufactures forty- five hundred dollars ; raw material, 50 per cent.
Sail makers. Four shops .- Fifteen hands; a product of nine thousand dollars; raw material, 65 per cent.
Saleratus. Three factories .- Employ six hands. Three hun- dred tons are annually sold in this market of this article, two-thirds
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of which is made here; value of product, fifty thousand dollars ; raw material, 65 per cent.
H. Emerson, Walnut, below Second street, manufactures two hundred thousand pounds yearly. The article made in his factory does not deliquesce on exposure to the atmosphere. This has been tested by filling a box with saleratus and exposing it to the open air for twelve months.
Sand-Paper. Two factories .- Ten hands; value of product, twelve thousand dollars; raw material, 30 per cent.
Sarsaparilla Cough Candy, etc .- I. Baker, College building, is largely manufacturing these articles. Sales of sarsaparilla, seventy- two thousand dollars, and of candy, twenty thousand dollars annu- ally. Ten hands ; raw material, 50 per cent.
Sash, Blind and Door Factories .- Of these, there are twenty-five, all but two of hand operations ; value of product, three hundred and twelve thousand dollars; raw material, 25 per cent; employ two hundred and twenty hands.
One of the largest manufacturing buildings in the United States, is the sash, blind and door factory and floor-board planing machine, on Front street, opposite the gas works, of Hinkle & Guild. This edifice occupies a space of two hundred and fifty feet in depth, by sixty feet breadth upon Front street and the river. The building is six stories in height on the river front, and five stories and base- ment upon the Front street face. The first and second story walls are of stone masonry, two feet thick, and the residue of the building with the partitions of brick, of which as many as eight hundred thou- sand have been employed to construct the edifice. It was built for a planing-mill and a sash, blind and door factory, and is the largest building in Cincinnati, that carries its length and breadth to such a height. The lot which the building occupies, is one hundred and twenty-two and a-half by three hundred and seventy-five feet, and such is the extent of the operations of this firm, as well as of the manufactured article kept on hands in this new and important busi- ness, that they calculate to occupy every available spot upon this vast space.
Persons at a distance, who contemplate building, are supplied by this establishment with their carpenter work, in whole or in part, as they may need, so much cheaper and better prepared for the purpose, as to make it their interest to pay transportation on the finished work to any point in the west and south-west, either by land
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or water carriage. This will be readily understood, when it is con- sidered that everything here, is made out of materials already sea- soned, fitted together with great exactness by machinery, of course at cheaper rates than even the lowest charge for carpenter work by hand can supply it here, and at one-half the price that a carpenter in the country must charge. It would be impossible, in a publica- tion like this, to go into full exemplifications of these facts, but one feature of these operations will suffice as a specimen of the rest. Eight by ten inch window sash are supplied here, at three and a half cents, and ten by twelve at four and a half cents per light. There are very few places, outside of Cincinnati, where a carpenter will make them at less than twice this price-the employer being at the expense of the lumber beside. Every other building article, panel doors, blinds, shutters, door and window frames, weather- boarding, base, shelving for stores, flooring-boards and plank, etc., will exhibit a proportionate saving to the purchaser.
Hinkle & Guild have been several years engaged in this business, at the corner of Smith and Fourth streets, upon a lot supposed by them sufficiently large for their purposes, but the growing convic- tion in the south and south-west, that they can build to better ad- vantage by buying carpenter work in Cincinnati ready prepared for use, has compelled a removal to a more spacious site, as the only adequate means to do justice to this enlarging business.
Sausages. Twenty-two shops .- One hundred and sixty-six hands ; value of product, one hundred and sixty-two thousand dollars; raw material, 40 per cent.
Sawed Lumber, Laths, etc. Fifteen mills .- Two hundred and six hands ; manufacture a value of four hundred and eleven thousand dollars; raw material, 30 per cent.
Saws. Two factories .- Employ six hands; value of product, six thousand seven hundred dollars ; raw material, 30 per cent.
Turner & Sons, First Premium Saw Manufactory, on Seventh, north side, between Western Row and John street, manufacture saws of every description, warranted, and made of the best material. Circular, mill, and cross-cut saws gummed and hammered, hand, back, or butchers' saws, buckled or bent, restored as good as if new - also, retoothed, set and filed in a workman-like manner. Sheet-steel for sale; also, cut and straightened, and all kinds of , carpenters' and other mechanics' tools tempered ; all at the shortest notice.
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Screw Plates. Two factories .- Ten hands ; value of product, eleven thousand five hundred dollars ; raw material, 40 per cent.
Sheetings, Cotton Yarn, Candle- Wick, etc. Five factories .- Em- ploy four hundred and ten hands; manufacture to the value of six hundred and thirty-six thousand dollars ; raw material, 50 per cent.
Shirts, etc .- Fifteen shops, which employ two hundred and fifty hands, all females ; value of product, one hundred and fifty-seven thousand dollars; raw material, 50 per cent.
J. Richardson, shirt and stock factory, 119 Main street. This is of recent establishment, and manufactures the articles alluded to and supplies everything usually kept in a gentleman's furnishing store. Two hundred shirts are made here weekly, and stocks in proportion. A large manufacture for wholesale purposes, will shortly make a part of the business here. The articles made are of a fine class exclusively. Shirts, undershirts and drawers are also made here, of lambs' wool, merino and shakers' flannel, Canton flannel, buckskin and silk fabrics.
Silver and Goldsmiths and Silver Platers. Five establishments .- Fifty hands ; value of product, ninety thousand dollars; raw mate- rial, 75 per cent.
J. R. Haynes, 40 West Fourth street, manufactures to order all kinds of jewelry and silver ware. Value of product, during the past year, five thousand dollars. He is also a dealer, wholesale and re- tail, in watches, jewelry, silver ware, pocket cutlery and fancy goods.
Palmer & Owen, 135 Main street, keep three hands engaged in the manufacture of silver ware, on a product yearly, of twelve thou- sand dollars. Watches, silver ware, jewelry, etc., also sold here.
Soap and Tallow, and Star Candles .- There are thirty-eight of these factories, some making soap principally, some making tallow candles and soap, and others star candles, either alone or in addition to what they produce in soap and tallow candles, or in the last article merely. These employ seven hundred and ten hands ; value of product, one million four hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars ; raw material, 75 per cent.
Spectacle maker .- John Owen, Third, between Main and Walnut streets, employs four hands, on a product of nine thousand dollars ; raw material, 75 per cent.
Spokes. Two factories .- Employ thirty-six hands, and manu- facture to the value of seventy thousand five hundred dollars; raw material, 20 per cent.
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Curtis & Byrn, spoke and felloe factory, intersection of Park street and the Whitewater canal, manufacture spokes, felloes, hubs, etc. They work up weekly, four thousand feet of ash and hickory, and employ nine hands.
C. G. Shane & Co., Great Western Spoke Manufactory, sale- room, Second street, between Walnut and Vine, turn all sizes and patterns of white oak and hickory spokes out of the best sea- soned timber, of which they are making over three thousand six hundred per day. They also turn and keep on hand axe, pick, hammer and hatchet handles.
Their spokes are used in every carriage shop in Cincinnati, and all along the river from Pittsburgh down; and on our canal and rail- road routes, which is sufficient to show the estimation in which they are held by our carriage and wagon-makers. The price is such that_ they will bear transportation to any part of the country, and one trial is all that is necessary to insure their permanent use.
This establishment employs twenty hands, and runs ten lathes.
Stained Glass .- Painting in glass, which is another name for stained glass, is one of the long-lost, but finally recovered arts of antiquity. It is carried, in modern times, however, to a degree of perfection unknown to the ancients. Glass of this description is employed extensively in churches and in the finest class of private dwellings, where it serves admirably to distribute a mellowed light, more grateful to the eye, than that which passes in its full strength through perfectly transparent glass.
Stained glass is prepared by coating one side of the plate with phosphate of lime in a flux of pulverized glass, in cases where it is designed to render the plate semi-opaque or obscure. This gives it the appearance of being ground on one face. Where the various brilliant colors are sought, oxydes of almost all the metals, such as iron, zinc, tin, antimony, cobalt, manganese, lead, silver and gold, are the agents resorted to, silver being the base of the yellow, as gold is of the purple, and cobalt of the blue. The coating, in a liquid state, being brushed over the surface of the plate, and lime sifted over it to prevent the adhesion of the glass, the plates are lodged in a furnace where they are submitted to a degree of heat which blends the coloring matter with the outside of the glass, which is then suffered gradually to cool to its final and permanent tem perature.
The white color is imparted by grinding figures upon glass made
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transparent, and colored on one side in the first instance, the grind- ing barely penetrating through the colored side.
J. C. Miller, Third street, east of Sycamore, employs five hands, and manufactures to the value of fifteen thousand dollars; raw ma- terial, 50 per cent. Miller is preparing illuminated windows for St. John's and the First and Seventh Presbyterian churches of this city, which will illustrate this article. This is the only establishment of . this kind in the west.
Stair Building. Three shops .- Eighteen hands ; value of labor product, twenty-four thousand dollars.
Starch .- Five factories, which employ forty-two hands, and make a value of ninety-eight thousand dollars; raw material, aver- age, 60 per cent.
Starch has heretofore been made principally from wheat, and a portion of it is still made here from that grain. Of late, Indian corn has been resorted to in the manufacture of starch, and with great success, although the discovery is comparatively recent. Yet it is found to contain almost as great a proportion as wheat. The per centage of starch, in the best varieties of corn, is about sixty per cent .; nitrogenous substances, 15 per cent., with a considerable por- tion of sugar, and 10 per cent. of oil and gum. All practical men are well aware of the great superiority of corn over every other kind of grain for fattening purposes.
The amount of starch, in sweet corn, is very small, not over 18 or 20 per cent .; but the per centage of sugar is very great. The nitrogenous matter about 20, gum 14, and oil 11 per cent. If it could be made to yield as much per acre as the more hardy kind, it would be the most profitable, because the most nourishing of all the varieties.
Everding & Erkenbrecher, on the Miami canal, manufacture three thousand pounds starch, weekly. For this purpose, they con- sume one hundred and twenty-five bushels wheat in the same space of time. Their starch bears a high reputation in this market.
Steamboat Building and Repairing .- Seven establishments, which employ five hundred and fifty four hands; value of product, four hundred and eighty-eight thousand dollars; raw material, 30 per cent.
Stencil Cutters. Three shops .- Eight hands ; value of labor pro- duct, five thousand dollars.
Stercotypers .- Three establishments, which employ sixty hands,
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and produce to the value of forty-six thousand dollars; raw mate- rial, 33 per cent.
Stereotyping is the transfer to solid pages of type, by the interven- tion of a cast of plaster of Paris, of the contents of pages of mov- able type set for that purpose. The stereotype page is a thin plate, which is fitted to blocks so as to bring it up to the ordinary type height for printing. The object of stereotyping is to permit small issues at a time, of publications, so that if they should not prove saleable, a large surplus may not be left on hand, or if repeated editions should be needed, that the original type setting will suffice for the repeated issues. In this way, an opportunity is afforded of using up paper and paying for binding, no faster than the demand for the volume. Stereotyping, it will be thus seen, is costlier in the first instance, but cheaper in the entire course of business. All standard works, and most others, are now stereotyped.
This business is rapidly increasing here in extent and importance. C. A. Morgan & Co., Hammond street, between Third and Fourth streets, are extensively employed in this line; they have recently stereotyped, The Footprints of the Creator, The Course of Creation, Service Afloat and Ashore, and the present volume, any of which is a sufficiently favorable sample of their skill and taste. In all the facilities for executing work promptly and accurately, this estab- lishment will compare favorably, with similar establishments in the east.
Stocking Weavers. Four shops .- Twenty-one hands; value of product, thirteen thousand dollars; raw material, 40 per cent.
Stone Cutters. Twenty-two yards .- Employ two hundred and forty-nine hands; value of product, two hundred and twenty-two thousand dollars : raw material, 40 per cent.
The freestone used most extensively in Cincinnati, is that of the Buena Vista quarry, which is preferred for price and quality.
An article like building stone, which constitutes so important a material to the physical improvement of Cincinnati, must always be of interest to the community, which has consumed it to the value of millions of dollars. Various quarries have been opened for the supply of this market, the stone of which has failed to inspire con- fidence in that compactness of grain which protects it from the action of frost. Other descriptions-Dayton limestone, for exam- ple-cost too high in the transportation, sawing and dressing, to render them suitable for general building purposes.
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The Buena Vista stone, is substantially the article which has been for a long series of years employed in our best buildings. It has all the requisite qualities of close grain, hardening under exposure to the atmosphere, fineness of surface, and comparative cheapness, which should give it a preference for our best buildings. Stone masons here, agree in stating it to be superior to all other stone for building use.
Stone Masons. Thirty-six builders .- Employ four hundred and twenty-eight hands; value of labor product, three hundred and eight thousand dollars.
Straw Hats and Bonnets. Five factories .- Fifty hands ; value of product, sixty thousand dollars ; raw material, 60 per cent.
J. Webb, Jr., straw bonnet and hat factory and fashionable mil- linery establishment, 168 Fifth street, employs fifteen hands, and manufactures to the value of fifteen thousand dollars. Bleaching and pressing bonnets, also, attended to here.
Stucco workers. Two shops .- Fourteen hands ; value of labor product, twelve thousand dollars.
J. F. Taylor, manufacturer of stucco and ornamental plaster work, office, corner Race and Baker streets. Designs and models all kinds of fluted work, and every description of ornaments in the stucco line. Employs from twelve to fifteen hands, and executes work yearly, to the value of twelve thousand dollars. "
Tailors .- In this statement is not included the manufacturers of ready-made clothing, made here for sales to foreign markets, or for retail sales at home, the details of which, will be found in its proper department. Of those who make to measurement, we have ninety- eight merchant tailors, who employ eight hundred and sixteen hands, exclusive of women, who sew at their own dwellings. These produce to the value of eight hundred and thirty-two thousand dollars. Among our most fashionable tailors are :
S. P. Thomas, south-east corner of Walnut street. He employs fifteen hands, and makes up garments, and sells other articles in his line, to the value of fifty thousand dollars.
Mr. Thomas bears a high reputation in his line, among our city fashionables. Every variety of materials for articles of gentlemen's dresses, is constantly kept here.
W. W. Northrop, 42 west Fourth street. This is a recently fitted up tailor establishment in fashionable style, by Mr. Northrop, formerly associated in business with Platt Evans, on Main street.
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Employs, as an average, thirty hands, and fits and finishes in the best style, every article of gentlemen's dress. The manufacturing department is in charge of Mons. Vandokum, recently from Paris. A full and well selected supply of materials for garments, and an assortment, in the furnishing line, to gratify every taste, always to be found upon his stands and counters.
E. M.Elevy, merchant tailor, 1 Broadway, makes custom work principally, of the finest quality. Employs sixty hands; value of yearly product, forty thousand dollars.
M. C. Jennings, is one of our best known artists in this line, who has been engaged in the business for many years on Main, north of Third street, and has recently opened on Fourth street, opposite the First Presbyterian church. He keeps the usual assortment of fancy and staple goods for customers, and fits in the most approved and fashionable style, every article that constitutes gentlemen's dresses.
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