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A HISTORY OF CORNWALL Moreover there is good authority for the state- ment that silver has been found in small quanti- ties in nearly every mining district in the county. Quite recently, at Perranuthnoe, not far from Great Wheal Neptune (a lode running east and west whence silver to the value of 500 is said to have been obtained some fifty years ago), a new lode called the Sedgman, bearing about 10 W. of N., has been discovered. The silver mineral, which occurs here in the gossan, con- sists almost entirely of cerargyrite (silver chloride, otherwise known as horn silver), but a few speci- mens of argentite (sulphide of silver) have also been found. An inspection of the assay-returns of this lode shows that the yield of silver has been extremely uncertain and fluctuating in amount, the ore, along the course of the lode, having afforded in some parts as much as 1 1 ,000 ounces per ton, while in others it has produced less than an ounce per ton. The Sedgman lode has been found to extend for at least 800 yards ; and, at the present time, there is every indica- tion that the mine will prove sufficiently rich in silver not only to pay expenses but also to yield a fair return on past outlay. 1 The manufacture of textile fabrics has never been considerable at any time in Cornwall. In the reign of Edward III Cornish wool was re- garded as so 'gross and weak ' that the collectors were constrained to obtain an ordinance from the king and council whereby a composition of one hundred shillings in money was effected for every sack of wool required by the king. 2 An Act of Queen Elizabeth 3 allowed the manufac- ture of 'woolen clothes called plaine white straightes and pinned white straightes." These are described as a ' base and course kind of clothes usually made for the use of poore people beyonde the seas and most commonly shipped into Brit- taine (Brittany) to serve the use of the poorer sort there.' More recently the woollen manu- facture was carried on at Launceston, Menheniot, Callington, Ponsanooth and Truro, but it is now decayed. To meet the growing demands of the mining industry, which had hitherto been dependent upon London for its supply of blasting material, in or about the year 1813 the manufacture of gunpowder was commenced at Kennall Vale by Messrs. Benjamin Sampson, John Ferris Devon- shire, and Edward Allen, who entered into a deed of partnership, dated 30 December, 1812, for a term of twenty-one years, with the object of carrying on a gunpowder business, in the name of The Kennall Gunpowder Mills Company, on land at Kennall which had recently been acquired by them for that purpose. Messrs. Devonshire and Allen retired prior to the determination of 1 From information supplied by the proprietor, Mr. G. D. McGrigor, including a report by Mr. F. H. Butler, M.A., A.R.S.M. ' Cal. of Close 17 Edw. Ill, p. 13. 3 27 Eliz. cap. 1 8. the lease, leaving Mr. Sampson sole proprietor, who in 1827 also acquired the gunpowder works and business which had been carried on since 1822 by Mr. John Nicholls at Cosawes about a mile from Kennall. Mr. Richard Lanyon became manager of the works in 1828 with a tenth share in the business. In 1840 Mr. Samp- son died and was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. Benjamin Sampson. On the death of Mr. Richard Lanyon in 1863 his eldest son Mr. William Henry Lanyon became manager. In the following year Mr. Benjamin Sampson (the nephew) died, and Mr. William Shilson succeeded to his interest in the business. Upon the retire- ment of Mr. William Henry Lanyon in 1868, Mr. Shilson became sole owner of the works, which he carried on under the name of The Kennall Gunpowder Company until his death in 1875. After his death his sons, Messrs. Charles Shilson and Daniel Henry Shilson, as his execu- tors, carried on the business until the year 1898, when a limited company, under the name of Curtis's & Harvey, Limited, was formed for the purpose of effecting the amalgamation of the various gunpowder businesses in the United Kingdom, and the Kennall works were then turned over to the new company, by whom they are still owned ; but little, if any, business is now being done there. Other powder factories were built in various parts of the county at St. Allen by Mr. Humphrey Willyams ; at Nance- kuke, which was for some years held on lease by Mr. Thomas Davey, and at Herodsfoot. The two former have long since been abandoned, while the latter, after having been for many years carried on by Mr. J. C. Isaac and other members of his family under the name of The East Cornwall Powder Company, was taken over by Curtis's & Harvey on the occasion of the formation of that company. The kind of powder used in the mines prior to the invention of the higher explosives was the common large-grained powder. At Kennall there was also manufactured compressed powder, cylindrical in shape, with a small hole in the centre through which the safety-fuse could be passed ; but this was not used to any great extent in Cornwall. In the autumn of the year 1879 at the re- quest of many practical mine agents, engineers, and others interested in mining a committee on mining explosives was appointed jointly by the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, the Miners' Association of Cornwall and Devon, and the Mining Institute of Cornwall, to inquire into the nature, economy, efficiency and safety of the various explosives in use or proposed for use in the mines of Cornwall and Devon. This com- mittee conducted two series of experiments at Seveock Quarry, near Chacewater, and also ob- tained answers to numerous questions bearing upon the subject from the leading mine managers in Cornwall. The committee reported in the