Only in the 14th and 15th centuries did brick again begin to come into its rightful heritage of public recognition. England and Italy in the 16th century produced beautiful specimens of brickwork. The ecclesiastical and palatial architecture of Italy was specially noteworthy because of its colored decorative brickwork and its moldings and ornamentation in terra-cotta and brick. The great fire of London in 1666 taught the Londoners the value of a fire-re sisting material, even as it had done the Romans in Nero's time. All Europe has been educated in a similar manner. We apparently have our lesson to learn yet, for our fire loss is eight times greater than that of Europe.
Holland, lacking stone, has used brick fur buildings and for paving its streets, from the first years of its history. The Dutch first introduced brick buildings into America. In 1633, Covernor Van Twitter erected on :\ lanhattan Island his private residence, the most elaborate at that time on the continent. The brick were brought from Amsterdam with but little breakage in transit. Some of the old Dutch houses in New York, built of the strong brick from Amsterdam, are still to be seen.
The first brick made in this country were produced at New Haven, Conn., in 1650. Brick was a favored material in Pennsylvania in 1685. Until the rupture between the colonies and the mother country, most of the brick used were imported from England. Brick were carried as ballast to round out light cargoes, and a crude home product was therefore not in demand.
In 1840, Nathaniel Adarfis .invented the first power-brick machine used in this country. Since that time, the brick industry the 'world over has grown mightily, and the product has justified the confidence placed in it.
From the time the first rain fell on earth, the first men learned the plasticity of clay, as their feet molded the rich clay into foot-shape. When they pushed up the Mud into a kind of hearth to raise their fires from the stormsoaked soil, the action of the fire on the clay beneath it was noted, and the binned lumps of clay were need in their initial attempts at home-building. Regularity of form was next seen desirable, and secured. The brick shape evolved. Brick became a synonym for things durable and substantial. Even to-day, the teaching of ages is incorporated in the compliment we pay a man when we say "He is a brick."