So  far  in  onr  operations  we  have  expended  labor  only. The
material  spoiled  can  all  be  sent  back  and  reworked,  but  we
are  now  to  undertake  an  operation  which,  if  unsuccessful,  wlU
entirely  ruin  it,  except  the  small  proportion  that  might  be
used  as  grit  It  will  c«*tainly  pay  us,  then,  to  see  that  no
brick  already  imperfect  shall  enter  the  kiln. To  this  end  it  is
well  to  punish  severely  any  cleaner  who  passes  through  an  im-
perfect brick. The  brick  are  right  imder  the  cleaner's  eyes,
and  no  defect  can  escape  his  attention  if  he  ke^s  his  eyes
open. After  seeing  that  we  have  perfect  brick  to  enter  the
kiln  it  would  be  the  height  of  foolishness  to  set  them  in  any-
thing but  a  perfect  kiln;  but  here  opinions  differ. Which  is  the
perfect  kiln?  For  enameled  brick  economy  of  fuel  cuts  less
of  a  figure  than  in  some  other  branches. Let  us  suppose  our
brick  have  cost  us  eighteen  dollars  per  thousand,  set  in  the
kihi,  and  we  set  20,000  in  the  kiln. This  kiln  full  of  brick
has  cost,  then,  $360. We  will  assume  we  should  get  90  per
cent,  of  firsts  brick,  and  that  the  kiln  consumes  forty  tons  of
coal  at  $3  per  ton;  that  the  cost  of  burning  and  emptying  kiln
Is  $40. We  would  have  18,000  No. 1  brick  at  a  total  cost  of
$520,  or  $28.88  per  thousand. We  will  take  another  kiln  that


CLAT  GLAZES  AND  BNAMELS. 7S

will  consume  only  twenty  tons  of  oocil,  but,  we  will  say,  due
to  its  po(»r  burning,  we  get  15  per  cent  additional  bad  brick,
or  75  per  cent  in  all  of  No. 1  brick. We  would  have  15,000
No. 1  brick  at  a  total  cost  of  $460,  or  $30.00  per  thousand. We
will  take  another  kiln  and  assume  it  bums  five  tons  of  coal,
but  spoils  an  additional  15  per  cent  in  the  burning. We  would
then  have  12,000  No. 1  brick,  at  a  total  cost  of  $415,  or  $34.58
per  thousand. I  have  taken  extremes  in  the  difference  of
amount  of  fuel  consumed  and  have  been  very  mild  in  the  dif-
ference in  percentage  of  perfect  brick  produced,  and  yet  we
see  the  less  economical  kiln  produces  a  larger  output  and  at
less  cost  per  thousand. 