produced upon the same principle. Lord Dungannon, the father of the well-known Lord Cochrane, first used it to light his house. Then we have iron in buildings of every description; and in fact it is used for every purpose for which it can in any way be made available. In a notice of the former edition of this work in 1841, the application of iron is very graphically described : "In every part of the globe where the application of iron to beneficial purposes is understood, its importance cannot but be highly appreciated; but in England it has long been the great sinew of her strength and prosperity. By her superiority in mechanical skill in the use of this metal, her commerce and her arms have made her name famous in almost every part of the habitable world. The universality of the employment of iron is so manifest, especially in this country, that if any period has deserved the title of the Iron Age, to none can it be applied so characteristically as to the present. The seas are traversed by iron ships, the land travelled over by iron carriages upon iron roads; we have iron engines employed for nearly every mechanical purpose. Water is brought along our streets by iron pipes, and all our thoroughfares illumined by means of gas conveyed to us through a similar channel. Many of our houses have iron floors and iron roofs, whilst the windows are closed with iron shutters. In short, from the gigantic steamer that crosses the Atlantic, to the smallest of ornamental shirt-buttons, this metal has become so prevalent, that the island ought to be ticketed, like a laundress's window, with Ironing done here.' But the wealth and comfort arising from this state, makes it equivalent to the much more lauded advantages of the Golden Age."* Ten years after this was achieved the great master-piece of art, the Crystal Palace. † *New Monthly Magazine, Thomas Hood, October, 1841. † Since then, similar buildings have been erected, the principal being the Sydenham Palace, opened in 1854. The entire length is 1,608 feet; the length Mr. Blackwell in his lecture says, "However successful we may regard the Exhibition of 1851 for the great purpose for which it was originally designed-namely, to illustrate the progress made up to the present time in the various departments of the arts and manufactures of the world, and however wonderful may have been the vast collection of objects of wealth and industry which the science and skill of modern civilisation then brought together, it may certainly be asserted that the Exhibition itself displayed in no one of its details any more remarkable instance of modern progress than the vast and stately building which rose, with almost magic rapidity, from the ground, and which was no less admirable for its beauty and simplicity than for its amazing vastness, and its perfect adaptation to the purposes for which it was designed. The very conception of the idea of the Crystal Palace and its successful execution, placed prominently before us the great iron-making resources of the kingdom, and the extraordinary degree of perfection to which some of the branches of our iron manufacture have attained. Whilst the other manufactures of the kingdom were illustrated by a careful selection of the most perfect results, attained in their own separate departments, the most remarkable illustration of the present condition of the iron manufacture was to be found in the building itself, which spread its lofty roof and walls of light over all it held, and guarded with such perfect care and fitness the boundless stores of wealth collected together from so many parts of the world." of centre transept, 408 feet; length of end transepts, 312 feet; the width of nave is 72 feet; the width of centre transept, 120 feet; the width of end transepts, 72 feet; and the projection of the bays is 8 feet. These dimensions, it will be seen, are all multiples, or parts, of 24 feet, the distance from column to column throughout. The height of the first story, including the girder, which is 3 feet, is 22 feet; the height of the second story (including girder), third story, fourth story in centre transept, and fifth story in transept, 20 feet in each case. The ribs of the roof spring at 8 feet above the upper galleries in nave and transepts. The height from the floor to the centre of the roof of the nave, and of end transepts, is 106 feet; and the height from the floor to the centre of the roof of the centre transept, 170 feet. The diameter of the octagon column is 7 inches.-The Builder. It only now remains to speak of the exports of iron,* which have much more than increased in proportion with the make. The export in 1839, which is the last return noticed in the former edition of this work, was 269,088 tons, the make being 1,300,000 tons. In 1852 the export was 1,035,884 tons, the make being 2,700,000 tons. The make is calculated in pigs. The exports are for the far greater proportion in manufactured iron, thus:-In 1839, of the 269,088 tons exported, 54,296 tons were pig and cast-iron; and in 1852, of the 1,035,884 tons, 302,356 tons were pig and cast-iron. To give, therefore, a clearer idea of the extent of exports as compared with make, one-third may be added to the manufactured iron as waste in conversion. This would make the exports in 1839, 340,685 tons, and in 1852, 1,280,393 tons. The increase of exports to most of the continental states is very considerable; this arises in a great measure from the demand for railway iron. But the United States of America are in every respect (except as regards machinery and millwork) our principal and most important customers. The export to the United States in 1839, was 85,172 tons; in 1852, it was 501,158 tons; and of hardware and cutlery in 1852, out of a declared value of 2,691,6977., they took 968,4927. The exports to our own colonies throughout the world at the same period being— Of iron in 1839, 60,417 tons; in 1852, 141,460 tons; and of hardware and cutlery, 554,9947. With respect to the machinery and mill-work, the United States do but little; out of an export in 1851 of a declared value of 1,168,6117., they took but 31,4267., a clear proof of their own proficiency. Of this description of export, Russia is the principal purchaser:— *The author had an intention of entering into the particulars of the shipments of iron from Liverpool, but as this information would principally interest the merchants and other residents, it has been thought better to give the total of shipments from all ports, as of more general use; besides, another and an important consideration influenced this decision:- Mr. Baines, in his "History of Liverpool" (a work already referred to), has treated so fully on all matters relating to the trade of this town, that all those who are particularly interested must be familiar with the subject. |