There is manufactured at these works every variety of saws used in the various branches of the mechanic arts, including circular saws from three to sixty inches in diameter; counter, platform, hay, and car scales are also manufactured in the same establishment. The best English steel is used for all cast steel work; but American steel, made at Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, is used in the manufacture of the common mill and cross-cut saws. We are informed that much of the machinery was invented by the proprietors who, possessing a large share of that inventive genius which distinguishes the genuine New Englander, have made improvements calculated to facilitate, and, consequently, diminish the cost of production.

It always affords us gratification to learn that a Yankee is about to establish a new branch of industry in the West; for his instincts rarely ever mislead him in matters of business; and the success which is almost certain to attend his enterprises, ensures the permanent establishment of every branch of manufacture which he introduces. Bringing with him the habits and improvements of his native land and enjoying all the advantages pertaining to a location in the West, he requires but little time to demonstrate what the people of both the East and West seem unwilling to believe: that the manufacturer here can compete successfully with those of the East.

Messrs. Lee, Gage, & Co. have opened a ware room at No. 86 Main street for the sale of their goods; we commend their establishment to the patronage of all who desire to purchase articles in their line of business.

PACIFIC RAILROAD.

We are gratified to learn that the Directors of this great enterprise have agreed on the location of the first section, embracing thirty-nine miles. The following resolutions were adopted by the Board of Directors on the 18th inst:

Resolved, That the route through Chouteau Pond Valley, and the valley of the Des Peres, to the Maramec valley, and up that valley for a distance of about thirty-nine miles from St. Louis, commencing in St. Louis at Fourteenth street, be adopted as the first division of the Pacific Railroad.

Resolved, That not exceeding thirty per cent. upon the capital stock of the company shall be called in any one year, during the construction of the road.

We understand that the work will be put under contract in all this month and that the ground will be broke on the 4th of July. The Intelligencer of the 19th inst. gives the following description of the line adopted by the Directors:

"The road is to begin at Fourteenth street, in the valley of Chouteau's Pond, and will run thence westwardly through the valley, until it reaches the vicinity of the Rock Spring, about three miles from the court house. It will then wind to the south, around the high ground on the left until it strikes the old Manchester road, about 300 yards beyond where the new Manchester road diverges from the old one. It will cross the old road at this point, and will run for some distance south of the new road; it will then cross the new road and run for some distance north of it. A short distance east of Sutton's (which is six miles from the city) it will again cross the new road to the south, and will run thence in a south west direction to Daugherty's Ferry on the Maramec, about 20 miles from the city, and two or three miles south of Manchester.

It will run thence up the valley of the Maramec, on the north side of the river, for a considerable distance. At the terminus of the road on 14th street, we learn a depot is to be established for the present, until it shall be decided at some future time, whether it shall come further into the city and at what point."

MISSISSIPPI AND ATLANTIC RAILROAD.

We learn through the public prints that the Circuit Court of Fayette county, Illinois, has decided on a writ of quo warranto that the Mississippi and Atlantic Railroad Company has a legal corporate existence, possessing power to carry out the objects contemplated by the corporators in their articles of association.

Every intelligent citizen of Missouri is aware of the importance of this great enterprise; and to the citizens of St. Louis we may be permitted to remark that this work is essentially necessary to sustain the relative commercial advantages which our city now enjoys over other points in the Mississippi valley. What steps will our citizens take to promote the prosecution and early completion of this great work? The time for action has arrived.

LOUISVILLE AND NASHVILLE RAILROAD.

The Board of Aldermen of the city of Louisville have passed an ordinance for subscribing $1,000,000 to aid in the prosecution of this great enterprise: $500,000 to be paid by taxation, and the bonds of the city having thirty years to run, to be given for the

balance.

DAGUERREOTYPING.

BY J. H. FITZGIBBON, OF ST. LOUIS, MO.

PROUD indeed must that man be, who, while yet an inhabitant of earth, finds his fame encircling the habitable globe. With what exquisite feelings of pleasure must be the consciousness that the civilized world are now practicing that beautiful art of which he was the happy discoverer, and to know that every time the sun rises the name of DAGUERRE is written

"With a pencil of light"

on countless myriads of tablets in both hemispheres. And, proud may we be who find the enchanter's wand placed within our own grasp, that we too, can command the sun to stand still, and find him obeying our slightest wish, ministering to our fondest loves, and holiest affections, with an alacrity almost beyond the power of comprehension.

Onward as has been the march of this wonderful art,—if we may give such a term to the skilful management of science,―since its first discovery by the great Frenchman and more especially since its introduction to this progressive country, until we may now say it is perfect,* where each operator tries to surpass his brother in producing the finest effect on the polished surface of the silver plate, yet there are many, it is to be regretted,-who seem to care but little what kind of a picture they produce, so long as they gratify their mercenary desire to accumulate the almighty dollar. That such professors of the art exist at all is more owing to the fault of the community in which they live, than any other cause. Most persons like to have cheap pictures (not likenesses) and when it is too late, they find to their cost, they have paid too dear for them, for one half of those so taken have to be taken over again by more competent and skilful operators. Few persons in the present day are aware how their resemblances are transferred to the surface of the metallic plate. And few, very few, of the travelling operators are sufficiently educated in the science of their art to explain the why and the wherefore of the appearance of the picture, or even the nature or effect of the chemical agents they employ. The cause of all this ignorance on such subjects arises from the fact that many young men suddenly captivated with a love for the Fine Arts, take it into their heads that they are destined to make a figure, or figures in the world, consequently their genius must no longer be hidden under a bushel, but expand its

Mr. L. L. Hill of the State of New York, has announced to the world that he has discovered a method of taking pictures in natural colors, with all the perfection of nature herself.

wings in a higher intellectual atmospheric region. Or, what is still more likely, they are lured into this pursuit by a prospect of an easy and rapid accumulation of money. Instantly they repair to some cheap Daguerrean establishment or perhaps apply to an itinerant professor, and for ten, twenty, or thirty dollars are regularly manufactured in the short space of from three to six days, into full-bred professors of the photographic art. Is it then to be wondered at that we find so many awful, ghost-like looking shadows poured out upon the world by a host of ignorant pretenders? Not at all!

If a person wishes to become acquainted with the Daguerrean art, instead of going to a mere tyro, he ought to place himself under the tuition of an operator of established reputation, one who is permanently located in some city and well known to his neighbors as a man of skill and experience in his profession. Such a man must be well paid for the knowledge he imparts, and the pupil ought to spend at least three months with him, if he is desirous to become familiar with the whole process of Daguerreotyping in all its present perfection.

Some of the pictures now to be found in the galleries of the large cities, are such beautiful gems of art that our wonder is excited by the production of so much excellence, and we ask ourselves how is it possible to find fault with things so true to nature. And it is to be hoped that when the Hillotype is brought into full operation there will be still less cause to complain.*

Although the writer has had many years of practical experience in Daguerreotyping, he finds every day something new presenting itself before him, and if it is not in one branch of the business, it is in another that we have a chance of learning, and improving the knowledge already acquired. Yet it is as simple as it is beautiful.

Nature, copying nature by nature's hand, is so wonderful in its simplicity, that through that very simplicity it becomes difficult of comprehension to some operators, for they will so veil and mystify it to those who know nothing of the operations of science, as to make them believe that they produce pictures by the powers of parafarageraramus, as McAllister does his tricks of legerdemain.

As this interesting art is not generally known in the great West, it may not be uninteresting to the readers of the Western Journal to hear a few remarks upon the subject and of the materials through whose agency the Daguerreotypes are produced.

As it is an operation, the success or failure of which, in a great measure, depends upon the atmospheric changes, and the nature and qualities of the chemical agents employed, many difficulties

Mr. Hill informs the writer by letter on the subject of his inventions, that he expects to be ready in about two months to announce to those interested, the whole process. He says. the process is more easy, more certain, and the picture so taken, less liable to fade than the Daguerreotypes, the time shorter, and that all articles now in use, except the mercury bath and a few new chemicals, will still be retained.

obtrude themselves which render this art one of great interest to those who really take pleasure in its pursuit. Yet there are some who have been in the business for years, who profess to have attained perfection in its theory and practice, and to whom, as they fondly believe, no further instruction can be imparted,-most signally fail for want of a right understanding of the business in which, perhaps, they have already made money.

The simple process of taking the Daguerreotypes may be explained in the following manner:

In the first place it is of the utmost importance to have the plates, designed for the reception of the impressions, as clean as possible, for herein lies the great secret of success,—and nineteen out of twenty of the operators of the present day don't half clean their plates. I have known operators to spend an hour in cleaning one plate and in the end it would be less fit for use then when they began, and again, in five minutes others will prepare their plates in the most perfect manner. The mind as well as the hand must be busy in the operation. The buffing is also a very important part and should be attended to with the utmost care. Great care should be taken to protect the buffs as also the rouge or polish from the effects of dampness or moisture. Galvanizing very materially helps in the process of plate cleaning and adds considerably to the sensitive qualities of the metallic surface and renders it more capable of receiving a good, effective impression. Indeed it is absolutely necessary to have the best of tripoli, rotten stone, or any other substance which is used, in order to insure a perfectly clean plate.

In the second, it is very essential to the attainment of good pictures that all things used in the operation should be of the best quality, otherwise you can have no dependence on your manipulations. A bad camera will produce a dull and shapeless, indistinct shadow of a shade which might conscientiously be worshiped for the want of resemblance to anything human or divine. Voightlander and Sons of Vienna have attained the greatest celebrity in the daguerrean world for the perfection of their instruments, and well do they deserve their fame, for, their lenses are the finest at present known. C. C. Harrison of New York also manufactures some excellent cameras, his and Voightlander's are used by myself, and I must candidly confess that I find no difference between the pictures taken from one or the other.

Roach and Lewis of New York make some really good instruments, but I would advise no operator to purchase cameras that are unaccompanied by the maker's name, as ten chances to one they are worthless.

Third. The best materials should at all times be made use of, for there is a satisfaction in knowing that when you have produced a fine picture, it is not spoiled by a blemish in the plate. The Scoville manufacturing company of New York, without the shadow