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Bishop Gutta Percha Company
| Name | Bishop Gutta Percha Company |
| Ortssitz | New York City |
| Straße | East 25th Street 208-12 |
| Art des Unternehmens | Gummifabrik |
| Quellenangaben | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 198] |
| Zeit |
Ereignis |
| 1848 |
Samuel C. Bishop beginnt bei Mr. Armstrong zu arbeiten. |
| 1853 |
Bishop folgt Armstrong |
| Produkt |
ab |
Bem. |
bis |
Bem. |
Kommentar |
| Gummi |
1868 |
[Bishop: Hist. of Amer. manuf. I (1868)] |
1868 |
[Bishop: Hist. of Amer. manuf. I (1868)] |
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| ZEIT | 1868 |
| THEMA | Firmenbeschreibung |
| TEXT | Is the only establishment in the United States for manufacturing pure Gutta Percha Goods, especially Submarine Telegraph Cables, and Telegraph and Electric Wires coated and insulated with Gutta Percha. The Factory is a very fine one, and supplied with a great variety of novel machinery. The work is chiefly done by machinery, nevertheless from seventy to eighty persons are required and employed. Gutta Percha, of which large quantities are consumed in this manufactory, is the gum or sap of the Gutta Tree, which grows in forests in and around the Indian Archipelago, Borneo, Ceylon, etc. It was first discovered by Dr. Montgomery, in 1822, during his residence at Singapore, in the East Indies; and the first introduction of it into England was made by him in 1842, since which time it has become a permanent article of commerce, being now imported into England and the United States to the extent of several thousand tons annually. The first importation of it into the United States was made by William S. Wetmore, now deceased, in the year 1847. Mr. Wetmore was then engaged in the trade with the East Indies, and brought, direct from Singapore, twenty-five thousand pounds of Gutta Percha for Mr. Samuel T. Armstrong, who had just returned from London bringing with him the four original patents granted in 1845, in England, for the working and using of Gutta Percha in all possible forms then known. Two of these patents were registered in the Patent Office of this country, and constitute the basis on which Mr. Armstrong, and his successor, Samuel C. Bishop, operated for many years without interference. The commercial uses of Gutta Peroha are already important, and increasing with the progress of invention. As an insulator of telegraphic wire, or cables, to be used underwater, it has proved to be the best article that has yet been discovered for the purpose. In the year 1846, Dr. Werner Semens made the first experiment to isolate the conducting wire by means of an envelope of gutta percha, and in the subsequent year the Prussian Government ordered thirteen hundred and eighty American miles of this wire to be laid down under the streets of Berlin. Subsequently, many submarine and subterranean lines were made from Gutta Percha Insulated Wire, and it has been used from that time to the present with entire success. The first Submarine Telegraph Cable ever made in the world, insulated with Gutta Percha, was made by Samuel T. Armstrong and Lorenzo Higgins, in the City of New York, in May, 1848, and laid across the North River for the Magnetic Telegraph Company. Gutta Percha possesses the rare quality of resisting the action of almost every kind of acid, and as a substitute for lead, and other metals liable to corrosion or poison, it is recommended as an invaluable article for Pure Water Pipe. It is used also for Surgical Splints, being easily moulded and shaped to the limb; and by hatters, as a useful material to insert between the outside and the lining, making a glue that causes the two parts to adhere, and at the same time renders the hat or cap impervious to perspiration, and water-proof. The Artificial Flower makers use Gutta Percha for making the leaves, winding the stems, and putting the flowers together; and the Bishop Gutta Percha Company mould it into Bottles, Pitchers, Photograph Dishes, etc. Samuel C. Bishop, the General Agent of the Company, is one of the pioneers in this manufacture in the United States. In 1848 he entered the employ of Mr. Armstrong, who has been mentioned as the first person in this country who applied and used Gutta Percha in coating telegraph wire, and in 1853 succeeded him in the business which he had established. He has maintained an uninterrupted connection with the manufacture from that time to the present. Mr. Bishop is also a pioneer in introducing the "eight hour system" in the city of New York; and as a testimonial of their regard, his employees presented him, on New Year's Day, 1866, a handsome silver pitcher, inscribed, "For being the Inaugurator of the. Eight Hour System of Labor in the United States." In his address on that occasion he remarked : "And now, my friends, one word about the Bight Hour System, of which you have been pleased to call me "the originator." In this city we were the first to put it to practical test in our factory, and I believe (except to talk of it) we were "the originators" in fact; and we have not had any reason to regret its adoption; and we shall continue it, whether Congress makes it a law or nut. As a matter of right and justice to the working man, there can be no doubt about it; and as a matter of policy for the employer, it is equally clear. "Why should you be compelled to work ten to twelve hours a day, when the greater part of the community labor only about six hours ? The drones and consumers in the city of New York amount to many thousands - men who do not earn a penny from their birth to their death - men who are exclusively consumers, and who live for their own selfish gratification only, and are of no use to any one. Another class are those who labor with their brains and money, and who do much good in the community. But they do not work over six hours a day generally. There is still another class who occupy various situations, as bankers, brokers, clerks, etc., in the community, who work about five hours a day only. "Why, then, should the only real producers in the country - the strictly laboring men - the bone and sinew- of the nation - the men to whom the country is indebted for its life as a nation, and to whom it will be indebted for the maintenance of its financial integrity, and for the means to pay off the large national debt, incurred for war purposes - why should they be obliged to devote twenty-five per cent, more of their time to labor than any other class in the community - why, except that labor has not had its fair share of representation and influence in the community with capital, and has had to submit to any rules the employer might establish ? This should not be so. Capital and labor should go hand-in-hand, as they are essential to each other." |
| QUELLE | [Bishop: History of American manufacturers 3 (1868) 198] |
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