The following is a description of a brief visit by a representative of the Journal of Decorative Art to the new factory of the Patent Letter and Enamel Company, Ltd., situate in the East End of London.

The company have recently secured a large freehold plot in the center of the East End of London, and have built for themselves a most commodious and spacious factory, some hundreds of feet in length, all on one floor, and commanded from one end by the manager's office, from whence can be seen at a glance the entire premises.

The works are divided into two large compartments, and are lighted from the roof, ample provision being made for ventilation, and attention being given to those sanitary conditions which are, or should be, imperative on all well managed establishments.

We first explore the stockroom. Here are stored the numerous dies, of all sizes and shapes, which the company possess, varying in size from half an inch to twelve or sixteen inches. Here, too, is kept the large store of thin sheet copper out of which the letters are stamped. Our readers are familiar with the form or principle upon which these letters are made. It is simply a convex surface, the reverse side being concave, and being fixed on to the glass or other material with a white lead preparation. When these letters were first made, the practice was to cut or stamp them out in flat copper, and then to round or mould them by a second operation. Recent improvements in the machinery, however, have dispensed with this dual process, and the stamping and moulding is done in the one swift, sharp operation.

The process of making an enameled letter has four stages - stamping, enameling, firing, and filing. There are other and subsequent processes for elaborating, but those named are of the essence of the transaction.

Stamping

The stamping is done by means of presses, and is a very rapid and complete operation.

The operator takes a piece of the sheet copper, places it on the press, the lever descends, there is a sharp crunching, bursting sound, and in a time shorter than it has taken to describe, the letter is made, sharp and perfect in every way.

Enameling

The letters are now taken charge of by a girl, who lays them out on a wire tray, the hollow side up, and paints them over with a thin mordant. While they are in this position, and before the mordant dries, they are taken on the gridiron-like tray to a kind of large box, which is full of the powdered enamel, and, holding the tray in her left hand, the girl takes a fine sieve full of the powder and dusts it over the letter, all superfluous powder falling through the open wirework and into the bin again, so that there is absolutely no waste.

DUSTING THE LETTERS BEFORE FIRING.

Firing

The letters are now taken and placed carefully on thin iron disks or plates on the bench, where they remain until they are fired. It will be remembered that we said at the outset that the factory was divided into two large compartments, and it is into the second of these that we now go.

Here are ranged the series of furnaces which convert the copper and superincumbent enamel into one common body - fuse the one into the other. An unwary step soon warns us that we are too near the furnace, unless we want to run the risk of a premature cremation, and in the interests of the readers of this journal we step back to a respectful and proper distance, and watch the operations from afar.

There seems to be something innately picturesque about all furnaces and those who work about them. Whether it is the Rembrandt effects produced by the strong light and shade, or whether it is that the necessary use of the long iron instruments, such as all furnace workers employ, compels a certain dignity and grace of poise and action, we know not; but certain it is that the grace is there in a marked degree, and as we watched the men take their long-handled iron tongs and place in or lift out the plates of hot metal, we could not fail to be impressed with the charm of the physical action they displayed.

The disk containing the enameled letters is taken at the end of a long iron handle and carefully placed in a dome-shaped muffle. These muffles are all heated from the outside; that is, the fire is all round the chamber, but not in it, the fumes of the sulphur being destructive of the enamel if they are allowed to come into contact with it. So intense is the heat, however, that a muffle lasts only about nine days, and at the end of that time has to be renewed.

FIRING THE LETTERS.

After the enamel is fused on to the copper, the disk is taken out and placed on a side slab, where it is allowed to cool.

This process is repeated on the front side of the letter, when all that remains to complete it is

The Filing

FILING THE LETTERS AFTER ENAMELING.

This is done by girls, who, with very fine files, rub off the edges and any protuberances which may be there. Every letter is subject to this operation, and all are turned out smooth and well finished.

Sometimes the letters are colored or further defined by the addition of a line, but the essentials are as we have already described.

MIXING THE ENAMEL.

Brushing Out

There are, however, one or two other operations of interest which we may notice. The company do not confine their exertions to the making of letters, various collateral developments having taken place which fill an important part in this scheme of work.

Of these, small tablets, containing advertisements or notices, such as we see in railway carriages, "Push after raising window," or "Close this door after you," or some legend pertaining to Brown's Soap or Robinson's Washing Powder. These are done by different processes, the transfer process, as used in the potteries, being employed, but the one most largely used is that of "brushing out," which is done by plates.

Let us suppose that the tablet shows white letters on a dark ground, the modus operandi is as follows:

The tablet has been enameled, as already described, and is white. The operator now takes a dark enamel and spreads it evenly over the entire surface of the tablet. He, or she, now takes a stencil plate, of tinfoil, out of which the ground is cut, leaving the letter in the center.

This is carefully placed over the tablet and held tight with the left hand, while with the right hand he holds a fine brush, which he uses with a quick, sharp movement over the surface. This action readily removes the unfired color from the hard, glassy surface underneath, and leaves a white letter. This is fired, and is then complete.

Sometimes two and, it may be, three plates are necessary to complete the brushing out, as ties must be left, as in the case of ordinary stencils, and these have to be brushed out with additional plates. Two or three colors may be introduced by this process, but each separate color means separate firing. If the letters are dark on a light ground, the process is exactly the same, the stencil only being modified. In addition to the letters and tablets thus described, the company also undertake the production of large enameled signs, and to cope with the rapid expansion of this department of their work they are erecting special furnaces, to enable them to deal with any demand likely to be made upon them. The call for things permanent and washable in the way of advertising is on the increase, and the enameled plates made by the company is one of the most successful ways of meeting the demand.

"THE SMITH A MIGHTY MAN IS HE."