CHAPTER XI. THE NEW JERSEY BRICKMAKING INDUSTRY. CONTENTS. History. Methods of manufacture. Preparation. Tempering. Molding. Drying. Shrinkage measurements. Tests of New Jersey bricks. Explanation of tests. Transverse test. Explanation of table. Table of brick tests. Comments on brick tests. Directory of brick manufacturers. HISTORY. The brick industry in New Jersey dates back to a very early period, and I am indebted to Mr. Geo. E. Fell, of Trenton, for much of the following information regarding the early periods of its development. At the time of the Revolution, when Trenton was but a small village, the few brick buildings then erected were constructed chiefly of brick brought from England, and until a few years ago two such stood on Warren street, about 100 feet north of W. Hanover street. About the time of the Revolution, however, a few bricks were made on the north bank of Assanpink creek, between Broad street and Montgomery street, although it is very doubtful whether these were the first bricks made in the State. Between 1780 and 1800, brick were also made between White Horse Tavern and Hamilton Square, and still a little later at Maiden Head, now Lawrenceville. About 1826 a man named Embly came to Trenton from Connecticut and began making brick in the square bounded by Princeton and Brunswick avenues and Sandford and Bond streets. Again in 1831 Joseph Himer and Peter Grim, of Philadelphia, established a yard on the Hedden farm, now owned by the S. K. Wilson estate, about halfway between the two city reservoirs, the brick used in the original part of the present State Prison being made by them. This yard was abandoned by Grim in 1839, and another started on the present site of the Fell & Roberts yard, while a yard was established in 1845 by James Taylor on the site abandoned by Grim. Between this year and 1856 a number of yards were started around Trenton and served as the nucleus of a thriving brick industry, which has continued up to the present. The pressed-brick business of Trenton commenced about 1865, and increased steadily up to about 1894, since which time it has declined. The explanation of this decline is to be found chiefly in the fact that the demand for red pressed brick has greatly decreased in late years, owing to the introduction of buff, mottled, speckled and other types of fancy front brick. Since the clay found at Trenton burns red, it cannot be utilized for these newer styles. Brick were first made in Middlesex county in 1851, at Roundabout (now Sayreville), by James Wood, and in the fall of that year Peter Fisher and James Sayre purchased a small property of 23 acres and commenced the manufacture of common brick, but gradually branched out into the manufacture of other grades. In 1887 this copartnership merged into a corporation known as the Sayre & Fisher Company, which is now by far the largest individual brick-making firm in the State. The inexhaustible supplies of brick clay in this region early led to the establishment of other yards, and at the present time there are 11 large brickyards at South River and Sayreville. In the Hackensack region, brick have also been made for many years, but although the New York market is only 7 miles distant in a straight line, yet the water route via Newark bay is 31 miles long. As the Hackensack river is obstructed by numerous low drawbridges, shipping has to be done almost entirely by barges and steam-tugs, and as the cost of towage is high, the otherwise cheap facilities for shipping are minimized and the nearness to the New York market is more apparent than real. Some of the smaller yards scattered over the State have likewise been in operation for a long time, as is indicated in the table below, which shows the date of establishment of a number of yards. 1816, T. O. Daniel, Lambertville. 1840, G. C. Pedrick, Flemington. 1866, D. F. Haines, Yorktown. 1869, J. A. Hobart, Millville. 1887, Kilborn & Gibson, Rosenhayn. 1890, B. H. Reed & Bro., Hightstown. 1890, Eastern Hydraulic Press Brick Company, Winslow Junction. 1900, Somers Brick Company, Bakersville. METHODS OF MANUFACTURE EMPLOYED IN NEW JERSEY. The methods of brick manufacture employed in New Jersey do not differ materially from those of other States. The different stages in the process, as followed out in New Jersey, can perhaps be best discussed individually, and this is done below, the discussion including yards making common and front brick, but not enameled wares. Statistics were collected at 69 yards. Preparation.-Crushers are not commonly used, but since some of the clays are tough, rolls, disintegrators, or dry-pans are employed at several yards. Out of 69 yards from which statistics of manufacture were collected, only 12 used machines for breaking up the raw clay, their number being distributed as follows: Tempering. In the machinery used for tempering, it was noticed that the use of the ring pit predominates, because it is commonly associated with the soft-mud method of manufacture, but at some yards the clay does not go through any tempering process whatever. The statistics are as follows: At those where no tempering machinery is employed, the clay is sufficiently moist as mined to be fed into a stiff-mud machine. This is chiefly true of the Clay Marl belt along the Delaware river in Burlington and Camden counties. Molding.-Reports of the molding methods in use were obtained from the same number of yards, as below: This indicates the prevalence of the soft-mud method throughout the State. The percentage of these would be still larger if all the yards were included, since there are several others in the northern and northwestern part of the State making soft-mud brick. The use of the stiff-mud process is confined chiefly to yards along the Delaware river and the neighboring region, many of which employ the Clay Marls I and II wholly or in part for brickmaking. Drying. Here again the method employed is closely related to the molding processes, but the system of drying by tunnels is 1 Several yards use two or more methods in molding brick. |