Page 118 - Industries_of_San_Antonio

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SAN ANTONIO-HER TRADE,
NEWTON & WELLER—Dealers in Crockery, Lamps and Glassware,
Woodenware, House Furnishing Goods, Etc.; No. 16 Main Plaza,
(East Side.)
In the enumeration of the many different branches of business engag-
ing-the industrious attention of man, there are some which, from their
convenience in supplying actual necessities, should hold higher rank in
commercial importance. Luxuries, specialties, and goods of art and vertu,
cater for our aesthetic tastes. They
are good in their way, but their pat-
ronage is, from their character and
cost, confined to the wealthy and
ashionable. But articles of necessity,
of every day use by all classes, are
staples. Their patronage comes from
every grade, for they are indispensa
bles.. In this latter enumeration are
included all goods classed under the generic title, "house furnishing," and
the most important in this class are china, crockery and glass. Their use
in domestic economy dates away back in the dim past. The ancient Egyp-
tians attributed the keramic art to the gods, showing that its date preceded
their records. Frequent allusions are made to it in the Old Testament,
and relics found in the ruins of different Eastern countries, show that the
manufacture was practiced among nations widely separated from each
other by religious manners and laws. Glazed ware was in use among the
Egyptians 2000 years before Christ. The tints used at this early period
retain their lustre to the present time, and are unsurpassed by the produc-
tions of modern art. Little is known of the early pottery manufacture in
China. The Chinese ascribe its invention to one of their emperors, 2700
B. C. Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, was struck with the extent
of the porcelain manufacture in China. Upon the American continent,
the manufacture and use of pottery is traced back to remote periods. The
productions of the "Mound Builders" of the West are, particularly inter-
esting. The Dutch and English imported Chinese porcelain into Europe,
and many attempts were made to ascertain the secret of its translucency.
Bottcher, an apothecary of Berlin, first discovered the nature of the mate-
rial, and produced in 1709 a genuine white porcelain. Frederic Augustus,
elector of Saxony, established a manufactory at Meissen, of which
Bottcher was made director. Such was the origin of the famous Dresden China
manufactory. The French Jesuit, Dentrecolles, sent an account of Chinese
manufacturing to France in 1712. Reaumoir learned the secret from this,
and the Sevres works were established in 1711. In 1760, Josiah Wedgwood
produced specimens of the famous Wedgwood ware. Porcelain was made
in New Jersey in 1816. Thus the use of China comes down to us, and its
habitual use dates from the time when the "memory of man runneth not
to the contrary." All cities of metropolitan ambition and enterprise have