Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/27

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
11
RIGHT

CLAXTON 11 CLAY CLAXTON, PHILANDER PRIEST- LY, an American educator; born in Bed- ford CO., Tenn., Sept. 28, 1862. He grad- uated from the University of Tennes- see in 1882 and pursued special studies at Johns Hopkins University, 1884-1885 ; became professor of pedagogy at North Carolina State Normal and Industrial College in 1896; and was appointed United States Commissioner of Educa- tion in 1911. He has written largely on educational subjects. CLAY, the name of various earths, which consist of hydrated silicate of alu- minum, with small proportions of the silicates of iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. All the varieties are characterized by being firmly co- herent, weighty, compact, and hard when dry, but plastic when moist, smooth to touch, not readily diffusable in water, but when mixed not readily subsiding in it. Their tenacity and ductility when moist and their hardness when dry has made them from the earliest times the ma- terials of bricks, tiles, pottery, etc. Of the chief varieties porcelain Clay, kaolin, or China Clay, a white Clay with occa- sional gray and yellow tones, is the purest. Potter's Clay and pipe Clay, which are similar but less pure, are generally of a yellowish or grayish color, from the pres- ence of iron. Fire Clay is a very refrac- tory variety, always found lying imme- diately below the coal; it is used for making fire bricks, crucibles, etc. Loam is the same substance mixed with sand, oxide of iron, and various other for- eign ingredients. The boles, which are of a red or yellow color from the pres- ence of oxide of iron, are distinguished by their conchoidal fracture. The ochres are similar to the boles, containing only more oxide of iron. Other varieties are fuller's-earth, Tripoli, and boulder Clay, the last a hard Clay of a dark-brown color, with rounded masses of rock of all sizes embedded in it, the result of glacial ac- tion. The distinctive property of Clays as ingredients of the soil is their power of absorbing ammonia and other gases and vapors generated on fertile and manured lands; indeed no soil will long remain fertile unless it has a fair pro- portion of Clay in its composition. The best wheats both in America and Europe are grown on calcareous Clays, as also the finest fruits and flowers of the rosa- ceous kind. The following shows the value of the Clay industry in the United States for the calendar year 1919 (est.) : Common brick $58,220,000 Vitrified brick or block 11,210,000 Face brick 15,240,000 Fancy or ornamental brick. . 40,000 Enameled brick $640,000 Drain tile 10,420,000 Sewer pipe 16,170,000 Architectural terra cotta 4,840,000 Fireproofing and hollow building tile 16,620,000 Tile (not drain) 7,250,000 Stove lining 730,000 Fire brick 36,170.000 Miscellaneous 7,100,000 Total brick and tile $184,650,000 Total pottery 76,140,000 Grand total $260,790,000 The total imports of Clay products in 1919 were valued at $7,366,535, of which $7,230,061 were pottery products, and $136,474 brick, tile, etc. In the same year the total exports were valued at $6,582,284, CLAY, CASSIUS MARCELLUS, an American statesman; born in Madison CO., Ky., Oct, 19, 1810. He was grad- uated at Yale College in 1832, and three years later was elected to the Legisla- ture of Kentucky. He opposed the an- nexation of Texas, supported Henry Clay, and served in the Mexican War. He was an opponent of slavery and sup- ported Lincoln for the Presidency. From 1862 to 1869 he was Minister to Russia. In 1886 he published his speeches, edited by Horace Greeley. In 1896 he was prominent as a "gold" Democrat, He died July 22, 1903. CLAY, HENRY, an American states- man; born in "The Slashes" district, Hanover co., Va., April 12, 1777. Becom- ing a student of law, in his 21st year, he was admitted to the bar, and began pracT tice at Lexington, Ky. His success was signal and immediate. About 1804 he en- tered politics, and in 1806 became United States Senator for a single year, to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Adair; and in 1811 was elected to, and chosen speaker of, the House of Representatives, remain- ing in that post till 1814, when he was sent abroad as one of the commissioners to negotiate the treaty of peace with England at Ghent. On his return he was again sent to Congress, and re-elected to his old position as speaker. In 1824 he was a candidate for the Presidency against J. Q. Adams, General Jackson, and W. H. Crawford, and no choice being effected in the Electoral College, when the matter came up to the House of Representatives, Clay and his friends voted for Mr. Adams, thereby securing his election. During the entire period of the Adams administration, 1825-1829. Clay was Secretary of State. In 1831, he returned to the United States Senate,