Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/557

MANUFACTURES.] FRANCE 521 em- dery. ig. i mg. woven at Lyons, by 120,000 looms, belonging to 400 firms, with nearly 800,000 workers, who every year produce silk goods to a value of about 4GO millions of francs. The manufacture of lace gives employment to 240,000 women at Alene.on, Bailleul (Valenciennes), Lille, Chan- tilly, Caen and Bayuux, Mirecourt, Le Puy, and Paris ; and there are ,150, 000 embroiderers spread over Paris, Lyons, Nancy, Epinal, Tours, Mirecourt, Lune ville, Plombieres, St Mihiel, St Die", Alen^on, Tarare, Caen, Le Puy, Lille, Cambrai, St Quentin, &c. The two industries contribute to the public wealth about 90 millions of francs every year. Cotton hosiery has its central point in the department of the Aube, wool in Picardy, and silk at Nimes, Lyons, and Paris; the last also manufactures nearly the whole produce of France in linen hosiery. The annual value of this branch of industry may be stated approximately at 200 millions of francs. The number of shoemakers is above 83,000, and they employ about 120,000 workmen and assistants. Shoes of cloth (chaussons) are made by 819 firms, employing 5200 workmen and assistants ; and wooden shoes, an important branch of the business, are made chiefly in the departments of Cantal, Ornc, Sarthe, Vosges, Vaucluse, and Puy-de Dome, and in Brittany, by 34,700 makers, assisted by 77,500 workmen. It has been calculated that this article has a value of about 530 millions of francs. Paris, Gre noble, Lune ville, Vendome, Blois, Be"ziers, Annonay, and Niort are the chief seats of the manufacture of gloves, which represents a sum of about 70 millions of francs. Hats and caps are made every year to the value of 50 millions, by G200 houses, employing about 24,000 workmen. Millinery, chiefly made in Paris, gives work to about 4000 persons, most of whom are women. It may be valued at 25 millions of francs. Tailors and outfitters of all kinds number about 74,000, and give work to 82,000 workmen, seamstresses, and shop-assistants. Beet sugar is extensively made in the north of France. The manufacture of this sugar in a raw state was thus distributed for the year 1876 : Kilogrammes. Cwt. Aisne 92,721,965 1,827,034 Nord 111,114,778 2,189,454 Oise 41,367,892 815,131 Pas-de-Calais 60,102,110 1,184,278 Somme 67,747,541 1,334,927 Other Departments 75,817,002 1,493,931 These quantities are produced by about 510 manufac tories. Ninety establishments are especially engaged in refining the first produce extracted from beetroot, or from the sugar cane; about 180,000 tons of raw sugar are received annually from the colonies, French and foreign, by these refining establishments, which employ 3400 workers. The yearly value of the manufacture amounts to 140 millions of francs. Wine, treacle, and the juice of the beetroot are the substances from which the largest quantity of the alcohol produced in France is extracted. About 3500 firms are engaged in distillation ; the produce for the year 1875-76 was divided thus : Hectolitres. Gallons. Alcohol distilled from wine 415,967 9,155,295 ., corn and potatoes 97,467 2,145,217 beetroot 315,024 6,933,572 treacle 681,734 15,004,739 ,, other substances. . 48,017 1,056,838 1,558,209 34,295,661 To this 429,648 hectolitres (9,456,409 gallons) are to be added, distilled by small proprietors who do not manufac ture much more than for their own consumption, and are known by the name of boiiilleurs de cru. Normandy and Brittany are the chief centres for the production of cider, la 1876 about 7,035,609 hectolitres (154,845,539 gallons) were manufactured. There are about 3200 brewers, who send out not less than 7,400,000 hectolitres of beer (162,871,543 gallons), worth about 200 millions of francs ; but, as hops are but little cultivated in France, 3 mil lions of francs are spent yearly in importing them. The largest manufactories of vinegar are in the departments of Loiret and Loire-lnferieure ; it is made almost exclusively from wine, but malt and some other substances are now beginning to be used. The total value is about 3 millions of francs. The dressing and tanning of hides and .skins has greatly Tanning, increased of late years ; it now represents a sum of 400 millions of francs, or about a million of francs more than in 1852. The principal soap manufactories are at Marseilles, its pro- Soap, cluction being 800,000 quintals (1,576,354 cwt.); Nantes and Paris hold the second rank. It has been calculated that France produces annually 2 millions of quintals (3,940,886 cwt.) of soap. Candles are chiefly made at Paris, Candles. This branch of manufacture has a total value of 300 millions of francs, whilst the production of soap amounts to 450 millions. French perfumery is appreciated through Ter- the world, and gives a yearly return of more than 50 fumery. millions of francs. The departments of Vienne, Seine, Sarthe, and Puy- Pottery de-Dome are the centres of the fabrication of earthenware antl glass, and bricks ; in Haute-Vienne, Var, and Giroude the special manufacture is china. In 1847 official statistics valued at 85,964,000 francs the total produce of that industry ; but this value has certainly more than doubled since. A great manufactory kept up by the state at Sevres forms a school in which artistic workmen are trained, so that the art is maintained in a high degree of perfection. Crystal wares are made in eight works, esta blished in the departments of the Meurthe-et-Moselle, Seine, and Orne, among which special mention must bo made of Baccarat, which is to this branch of industry what Sevres is to the ceramic. Looking-glasses are a very im portant article of manufacture in France, that country possessing no fewer than 6 out of the 15 or 16 establish ments in Europe. The principal manufactory is at St Gobain (Aisne), and the value of the produce of the whole h above 14 millions of francs. Glass of a more common kind is made in about 250 establishments, and is valued at 80 millions of francs. The departments of Nord, Haute- Saone, Hante-Loire, Allier, Seine-Infe rieure, Seine, Avey- ron, and Loire are famed for common window and plate glass ; bottles are chiefly manufactured in the department of Nord, and in the basins of the Loire and Rhone : the most ancient works established for this manufacture are at Quiquengrogne (Aisne), and date as far back as 1291. The most important paper-mills are situated in Charente, Paper. Pas-de-Calais, Seine-et-Oise, Is6re, Vosges, Seine-Infc rieure, Seine, Eure, and Seine-et-Marne. Paris is celebrated for its paper-hangings and stained papers. In 1856 Moreau de Jonnes valued the produce of this manufacture at 55 millions of francs. Notwithstanding the special taxes now levied on it, this amount has undoubtedly increased by a large sum. In the period between the 1st November 1811 and the Books 31st December 1872 603,849 works have been published alul in France, subdivided thus : pnntal Books and pamphlets in all languages 463,617 Engravings, maps, and plans 85,787 Musical publications 54, 445 In 1872 the number of publications of all kinds was 15,744, 3614 of which were musical works, and 1571 en gravings, maps, or plans. Proprietors of political news- IX. 66