relate, that when building his glass-works the tracks of bears were
frequently seen in the morning in and around his works.
From the best information in our possession, we
think that to Mr. Robert Hewes must be conceded the first attempt to
establish window-glass making in the United States, or in the western world.
The aim of Mr. Hewes was doubtless to supply the most important necessary
article made of glass, and called for by the immediate wants of his people,
viz., window-glass. It ended, however, in disappointment to the projector,
probably from the frequent error of carrying such works into the interior,
to the vicinity of fuel, or from lack of skill on the part of the workmen.
This attempt was followed, about the year 1787,
by Messrs. Whalley, Hunnewell, and
their associates, and by the workmen
Plumback and
Cooper, who erected a large factory in
Essex Street, Boston (where Edinboro' Street
now is), for the purpose of making the Crown Window Glass. This was without
success, until a German, of the name of Lint, arrived in the
year 1803, and from this period there was great success in the manufacture,
for the State of Massachusetts, to encourage the manufacture of window-glass,
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