48G

ENGLISH CUTLERY AND EDGE TOOLS.

[Class XXI.

of general and ordinary use, 'which were formerly in greatpart derived from importation. From the Zollverein ,States, accordingly, we find a mixed collection of thatcharacter, consisting mainly of common cutlery andsimple tools, together with some few objects of theplainer kind for certain foreign markets. From Austria ,where the mines and manufactures are in the immediateneighbourhood of a large agricultural and pastoral popu-lation, it is to be observed that the collection consistslargely of scythes, sickles, and the simpler implements ofhusbandry. In Switzerland the traditional manufactureof flue watch-work renders delicate files a matter ofprimary necessity, and there is therefore a predominanceof these among the better articles in this department.The Belgian collection is distinguished by “spiral cut-ters ” of superior quality, required in the finishing of thewoollen fabrics for which that country has long beenfamous. In France we of course find a very miscel-laneous collection; but it displays in a marked mannerproductions indicating, on the one hand, the highest scaleof social civilization and of manufacturing skill in certainspheres and localities, and, on the other, the simplestwants of a primitive provincial population; while in theUnited States and Canada , where the occupation of thepopulation is an incessant Avar upon the forest, the manu-facture of axes and woodmen’s implements assumes animportance which has raised them to the highest perfec-tion, and renders this class the most perfect part of thetransatlantic exhibition. But it appears advisable to addsome more precise notices of the peculiar contents of eachnational collection; and for this purpose it will be mostconvenient to take the two great divisions in the orderadopted in the Official Catalogue.

First, then, with respect to the United Kingdom , wefind that articles in the Class of Cutlery and Edge-toolshave been sent from a great variety of places. In England,from London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Warrington, Stour-bridge, and a few other toAv ns of less note; from Glasgow and Edinburgh, but chiefly from the former, in Scotland ;and from Cork, Clonmel, and Limerick, in Ireland .Among these scats of the manufacture there is none, asmight naturally be expected, which for extent, variety,and excellence of collection, can compare with Sheffield ,—its most ancient home . We here find every article,from the most exquisite razor down to the plainest pocket-knife, and from the finest saw or file to the most ordinarychisel, displayed, with various degrees of merit it is true,but with a large proportion of the highest. From thiscollection, the Jury have thought themselves justified inawarding for one remarkable object a Council Medal.Messrs. Spear and Jackson (123, Class XXII., p. 606)have exhibited, among an assortment of edge-tools ofgreat excellence, a cast-steel circular saw, of the largesize of 5 feet diameter, and of sucli signal beauty andperfection that it stands far aboA*e comparison with anyother in the Building. The mere excellence of its qualityand workmanship, however, would not, the Jury areaware, have enabled them to distinguish it by a CouncilMedal, if they had not been able to satisfy themselvesthat its merit is the result of a new and peculiar processof manufacture. But they entertain no doubt, from theinformation they have received, that mechanical ingenuityof a noA'el and special character has been employed bythese manufacturers for the production of such articles,without which they could not be carried to equal perfec-tion; and they therefore consider them justly entitled tothe highest mark of distinction.

There are tAvo other contributions to which the Jurywould have felt themselves called upon to award asimilar honour, if they had been at liberty to regardsingular excellence of workmanship and quality as ofitself a sufficient title. Messrs. Turton and Sons, ofSheffield (190, p. 614), and Messrs. Stubbs, of Warrington,(39, p. 392), each display a complete assortment of files ofvarious sizes,—the former, for ordinary manufacturingpurposes, the latter, for the finer operations of the watch-maker,—which, the one for large dimensions, and theother for minute delicacy, combined with the utmoststrength and efficiency of material, far surpass any otherobjects of the same class. They would have deserved

the highest assignable reward in respect of these points ofmerit. Prize Medals, however, have been awarded toThem, in common with a number of associates not un-worthy of their company. It will be found that the listof these contains a series of names of which many are ofhigh note in the estimation of the public, and whose con-tributions—some extensive, and comprising in a highdegree almost every variety of excellence, others limited,but of marked merit throughout—display the choicestproductions in the most finished cutlery, and the finestmechanical tools.

The attention of the Jury was particularly called to onenovelty exhibited by Messrs. Blake and" Parkin, ofSheffield , (193, p. 614-15'', consisting of the union of twoqualities of cast steel, hard and soft, in the same article ;having carefully examined these specimens, which weremanufactured Avith much skill, they have no reason todoubt that the process is peculiar to the Exhibitors; butthey cannot satisfy themselves that it involves any clearadvantage over the combinations of cast and bar steel, andof cast steel and iron, the methods of cementing whichhave been long knoAvn and practised.

The contribution from London is of course on a morelimited scale than that from Sheffield ; hut it consists ofthat superior order of cutlery for which the Metropolislias a long-established reputation, and contains articles ofhigh merit in this Class. Among the Exhibitors fromLondon , Mr. Durham, of Oxford Street, (46, p. 593),would have been considered by his colleagues deservingof a Prize Medal, if his consent to act as a Juror had notdisqualified him from accepting it.

'l'lie finer descriptions of cutlery are nearly confined, inEngland, to the Sheffield and London departments; butthere are a few articles contributed by individual manu-facturers from other places, whose names will be found inthe Award List; and there are some also furnished fromIrelaud and Scotland , which, though not equal to the bestfrom the chief seats of the manufacture, are still of con-siderable excellence.

Manufacturing tools are supplied largely from Bir-mingham, and sparingly from Scotland ; scythes and filesfrom Stourbridge and Warrington ; which latter placefurnishes the beautiful collection of watch-files by Messrs.Stubbs, already mentioned.

On the whole it appears that the British manufactureof cutlery remains still, as heretofore, mainly seated atSheffield , though it has been established also to a limitedextent in some other quarters. The same gradual changeof circumstances which has operated to transfer, in agreat degree, the silk and some other trades from London to the provinces, has had the effect of withdrawiug muchof this branch of industry from the capital; though aportion, chiefly directed to the production of the higherorder of articles, still retains its footing there, and sus-tains its reputation. On the other hand, the manufactureof the coarser goods, such as tools and mechanical imple-ments, is uow extensively shared by several localitieswhich afford the requisite facilities for its successfulprosecution, and where the various other forms of industrywhich surround it create a continued demand for itsproductions.

Extending our survey beyond the limits of the UnitedKingdom , from its provinces to its dependencies, it willbe found that these present aspects so very different,that certain distinctions are indispensable, with refer-ence to a proper estimate of their position as exhibitors.

It is not to be expected that in infant communities,such as most of the Colonies, properly so called, a manu-facture of this kind could have attained any considerablegrowth or perfection; though the greater progress anddevelopment of some few have enabled them to meettheir peculiar local exigencies with considerable success.We find in this category a small contribution from theCape of Good Hope , by the Missionary Station atGnathendal, consisting of various forms of knivesadapted to the uses of that country; and from NovaScotia another, of cutlery made of Nova Scotia steel,though manufactured in Sheffield : both are creditable tothese colonies. While from Canada (West) there is alarger assortment, consisting entirely of axes and tools,