OCR Text |
Show Wbitu Lead. ! Mr. D. Ravekt-s, of Whittier, Fuller Ful-ler fc Cj., proprie'. ;rs ot the Pioneer White Lead Works, Sin Franc:sc-. U in tho city, on business for his firm. It is not generally kcown that this important industry, the manufacture of lead paint3, ia extensively ami successfully suc-cessfully carried on in San Frauciaco, yet i: ia a fact, the above firm hiving largo worts in operation. The reason the article has not beore lound its way into this market, wa the high freight rate charged by the Ceutr .l Pacific which also, a few years ego, turned 3!t Lake merchant f:om Sn FranciBCO to eastern cities for mauy . articles formerly purchased in the western metropolis. The lead Ubed here (of which there are vast quantifies) quanti-fies) comes almost exclusively from the east, the Omaha works having recently become the chief source of supply. We are glad there is a prospect pros-pect of changing this, for the reasons, first, that tho lead from the west ehorter distance it has to be transported; trans-ported; and second, the San Francisco works are Bupplied almost exclusively with Utah lead. The Garmania works, south of this city, furnish fur-nish Whittier, Fuller fe Co. 2,000 tons of lead a year ; thus it will be seea that those here who uso the Sun Francisco lead are purchasing the products ol their own territory a considerable inducement to people wiio aie such warm advocates of the propriety of patronizing home manufactures. manu-factures. It haa frequently been suggested that white lead should be produced in this city, where tbe raw material is to be found in such abundance; but we are assured that the lead can be Bhipped east or west, corroded, mixed for paint and returned (tbe heavy freights being twice paid), eheaperthan it can poesibly be made here. A vast amount of capital is needed in the manufacture, tlae corroding cor-roding process alone requiring four months' time,which would necessarily lock up a good deal of money in slock. The San Francisco Bulletin reoently published a full description of tho Pioneer works, from whioh account ac-count we extract : "Whittier, Fuller & Co. eive employ- j ment at tho lead works and in the store to ninety or 100 men. The main factory is 45 feet frcnt, five stories high, and 275 feet in depth, extending from Fremont to Beule streets, and covering two water lota. Tbero are four more water lots in the enclosure, on which are situated the acid works and corroding sheds. The mirror factory, an extensive establishment establish-ment in itself, is in the main building. Tho mirror works were established about eight years ego, but the lead factory has only bem in operation for two years, About 125 tonG ot pig lead are u$cd every month. Mr. Whittier estimates that 150 tons of white losd is moDlhly produced. The oil accounts for the increase of the weight. The earthen pots uaad ara man-l utactured in San Francisco. The acid is manufactured here, and also tho linseed oil. Everything is of home production, except tbe- white lead keg?. The difficulty diffi-culty in this respect is in getting the right ! kind of timber. j Notwithstanding the money required re-quired in tho manufacture of lead, we hope to aee works established here and believe it will yet be done, when Utah can supply tbe great local demand de-mand within herself and sand to ber surrounding neighbors. The San Francisco lead is Baid to be as good an article as any found in the market; we are therefore pleased to learn that Mr. Rave k 09 is meeting with fair success in its introduction. intro-duction. Several of our merchants and painters have given him orders, and others will follow as noon as present stocks are disposed of, should the lead prove aa satisfactory as it promises. |