Description of Hemingray's works in Covington

Covington Manufactures.

Persons accustomed to the noise and bustle in the streets of this city, and to the roar and hum of' machinery on nearly every square from Mount Adams to Milcreek, may deem Covington a very quiet place, more like a suburban town, as it has been too generally regarded, than a city making stages toward a large population and somewhat extensive manufacturing interest. Passing through the central, the more frequented and compactly built portion, one not acquainted would hardly think of finding within its limits any of those manufactories, which give character as well as bring prosperity to any city in which they are permanently located, much less think of finding such establishments projected on a grand scale employing a large amount of capital, calling into requisition some hundreds of artisans and laborers, and vieing in efficiency with those of any city in the west. Covington has such establishments. True, they are few in number but in view of the fact that heretofore such enterprises have been mostly confined to the eastern and northern cities, few as they are they are highly creditable to the city, and they may be a nucleus around which a great number of' similar establishments will clustered, and that, too, at no very distant period, if our country should adopt a policy which instead of' tending to crush factories at home, would cherish and protect them to a reasonable degree.

And cheerfully would we record such an increase, for the greater the number and variety of manufactories erected and sustained in the hill-environed valleys containing Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport, the greater will be the tendency of trade and wealth hitherward, more capitalists will come here, a wider field will be opened for artisans and laborers, and an interest will grow up which none of the ordinary vicissitudes of times and seasons can disturb, much less, destroy. As our city and those beyond the Ohio have a reciprocal interest to extend and mature, we think that our readers will be interested in the following facts which show the position Covington has attained in regard to manufactories.

The "United States Chronometer Steam Engine Works," is owned by Messrs. Cowles, Sickles & Co., formerly styled the "Covington Locomotive Works," and more generally known by this title. The buildings, six in number, constructed of stone in a substantial manner, are as follows: -- A main factory, two hundred feet long, forty-five feet wide, and four stories high; an erection shop, ninety feet square and two stories high; a boiler factory, two hundred feet long, eighty wide, and two stories high; a blacksmith shop, two hundred feet long, fifty-five wide; a steam forge room, one hundred feet by forty-five; and a foundry ninety feet square. In this huge establishment there are employed at this time about one hundred and twenty-five men, which number will soon be increased. Besides manufacturing the "Chronometer steam engines," they build locomotives and turn out almost every description of machinery and apparatus usually made at machine shops and foundries.

"The Licking Iron Works," of Messrs. Philips & Jordan, are situated on the bank of the Licking river, one mile above its mouth. They employ at this time two hundred and two men who make from $1 to $12 per day. The establishment is large, their being about an acre and a quarter under roof. Within this there are four double and one single boiling furnaces, two heating furnaces and one slab furnace, a large engine which propels two sheet iron mills, one bur iron and one small iron mill, besides other machinery for cutting the iron, making rivets, etc. They work one hundred and fifty tons of raw material every week and make daily over 11,000 square feet of sheet iron, beside the large amount of other varieties, and continually employ five four horse teams in hauling these articles to the store. These works are run steadily the year round, save chance times when metal cannot be procured. Get their iron chiefly from Tennessee, use some from the mines of Ohio.

Covington Iron Foundry, Geo. W. Ball & Co., is on Fourth street, between Main and Johnson. The foundry is one hundred and eighty feet by one hundred, besides which there is a warehouse and mounting shop. Employ, at this time, about sixty workmen, who make from $5 to $20 per week each. Are employing more men now than heretofore. Cast stoves and hollow ware principally. There is more demand for this than any other kind of casting this spring .

Gray & Hemingray's "Flint Glass Manufactory," is situated on the banks of the Ohio, a short distance from the Walnut street Ferry landing. They employ about twenty-five men and thirty-five boys; the men make from $10 to $30 per month. The main building if fifty feet square. The furnace contains nine "pots" for melting the glass, each capable of holding 1,800 pounds of glass. Of these pots, they work eighteen weekly. Make flint glass ware, ground and pressed, green glass, and nearly every article of glass. Claim to make a greater variety and better article than is made at Pittsburgh, and to make more out of the same sized furnace, and to this last fact do they attribute their successful competition.

Besides the manufactories already named, Covington has sawmills, planing-machines, and other factories, which employ quite a number of workmen, and considerable capital, and support many families. -- Commecial