The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-11 00:00:00

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t was, without any expenditure of la. • ,w 4 : t AFtv,
out into the mould an ingot of soft, toutt steel
id

weighing three tons. This metal, after undergoing
hammering, is now most extensively used for steel
rails at. statione, points, and junctions, where the
wear is great, and in these trying situations it seems
almost indestructible. A great deal has also been
used in making Blakely rifled guns in this coun-
try both for Federals and Confederates. These
are the ordnance which the Americans always
speak of as Parrott guns, and by them they are
more highly prized than those of either Arm-
strong or Whaworth. Yet it is stated that the
Ordnance Select Committee have refused even to
try these guns at Shoehuryness. After these pro-
cesses were over, and the various planing and filing
shops had been duty examined, the visitors were
entertained by Mr. Brown at a most sumptuous
dejeuner. After this repast, when the usual loyal
and patriotic toasts had been given and duly
honoured, the Mayor gave the toast of the even-
ing—" The health of the Lords of the Admiralty."
In replying to this the. Duke of Somerset said :
" In regard to the position of the Admiralty, I and my
colleagues have endeavoured to carry on the business with-
out reference to party feelings. Iu that I am convinced that
all who have watched the operations of the Admiralty will
believe that we have had great difficulties to contend with.
During the last three years, what with aff..irs abroad and
difficulties in almost all parts of the world, falling upon the
navy, and the difficulti s three hme
as been a connected
heavy weight
with the rc-
construction of the navy,
upon the Admiralty. Not that we have not had plenty of
advice. I think there never was a body of men who re-
ceived so much. I have had letters from all parts of the
world, telling me what I ought to do. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) One gentleman writes and says, If you really
want to build proper ships you should copy the scales of
the crocodile, to keep out the shot. (Laughter.) Tho
scales of the crocodile are peculiarly made by nature. Do
you copy them.' Another gentleman writes, Not at all.
If you want to get right, and make a vessel really invul-
nerable, you will copy the hide of a rhinoceros. That is
the only thing nature has made invulnerable.' That, you
will recollect, is a large thick coat, with some hard protu-
berances upon it. Oh,' says another, ' those views are quite
wrong; the real thing is to copy the wing of the beetle, which
is a slippery thing, and so you will cause the shot to glide
off.' (Laughter.) I suppose I have put aside about 20
letters containing various suggestions of that sort. One
writer suggests we should cover the ships with chain ar-
mour ; another that we should have springs all round the
ships, so that when the shot hit it the springs would break
_the force of the blow without injury to the ship. (Laughter.)
How the springs are to be kept from rusting at sea he does
not explain very clearly—inventors never observe little dif-
ficulties of that sort. We have, in fact, no end of these in-
ventions, as they are called, What the Admiralty did was
what I should think any gentleman would do under the cir-
cumstances; we looked to the object of getttng ships pro-
perly made invulnerable, and the question of what material
should bo used then arose. That was a very difficult ques-
tion, and in order that it might be properly solved we
appointed a committee—the Iron Plate Committee—who
have worked most excellently and zealously upon the sub-
ject, and have been of great use to the Admiralty and to
the country, not only by the experiments of Shoeburyness
—for that was only a part—but by awakening the mind of
the country to what was required. They have awakened a
spirit which led many persons to go to see for themselves,
and the result has been, as Mr. Brown has,told you, that
they were enabled to see exactly what was wanted. It is
only when a person has seen a plate fired at that he really
begins to understand what is wanted. (Hear.) Mr. Brown
says he asked the Admiralty if they would be able to make
ships to carry the plates he could make. Now, I will at
once say that we are very incredulous. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) We are se accustomed to receive offers that we
have contracted a habit of receiving- them with great
caution and considerable incredulity. When persons tell
me that they can make so-and-so, and that it is as easy
as possible, I confess I generally think they aro
wrong—particularly if they say it is very easy. Tho
first man I meet with who says he thinks he can do it, and
he will try, induces me to feel differently; but if one says
it is as easy as possible, and that if the Lords of the Admi-
ralty were not fools they would adopt his plan at once, I
suspect he doesn't know much about it. (Hear.) Now, in
coming down here the Admiralty have done no more than
their duty, which they are anxious to do upon all occasions.
In fact, nothing can be more agreeable to us than to leave
the office and come down for a day into the country. Un-
fortunately our business increases on our hands so ra-
pidly that we find when we go back to town that we
have four times as much to do in consequence for
several days afterwards. My absence from the office
for two or:three days would seriously embarrass the public
service ; and therefore you will see how limited is the
time we have at our disposal; but we are very glad to come
here, and I am sure I have profited and been very much in-
terested by what I have to-day seen. (Hear) Nothing is
more interesting to me than seeing these works, and seeing
the men of these works ; to see the intelligence, the good
temper, and the kindly feeling towards the head of the
establishment. (Hear, hear.) It has convinced me that the
men themselves aro well treated ; that they feel they are
well treated ; and they show what great kindness and good
judgment must be posses ed by the head of the establish-
ment. That is the only way in which you can carry on
greet works like that we have seen to-day. (Hear, hoar.) I
cannot, therefore, close the observations I have made with-
out asking you to drink the health of Mr. Brown, coupling
it with ' Prosperity to the new rolling mill„ for that is the
great thing in the proceedings of this day. It is the most
striking thing, and will in the future be one of the most
wonderful pieces of machinery that have ever been made in
this country."

...4d.
S'CAXPED ....sd.

before was almost melted iron was picked up by
some huge crane that came travelling along the
smoky walls, and carried off, glowing through the
gloom, a finished piece of work. At otber places
there were tilt and lever hammers, wearying the
very air with the clattering din of their tremen-
dous strokes. At others great ingots of steel wcre
cast by the Bessemer process, small plates were
rolled and roughly cast aside in great red slabs to
cool, or hurried backwards and forwards in iron
tracks, scorching even the hardened workmen out
of their tracks as they came burning ;past. On
every side there were furnaces and smoke and red-
hot metals, while in out-of-the-way nooks men in
steel caps and wire vizors, and cased below in rough
steel leggings, like jack-boots of iron, fought in
a crowd like so many salamanders round some
rough mass that was dangerons in its fierce heat,
and which sent back aggressive spurts of red-
hot metal in return for every blow- Such fiery
combats as these were going on in all directions;
the "Sheffield carpet" of the factory—iron plates—
was hot and painful to the feet ; the air was arid
with a sulphury warmth that was like the glow of an
overheated stove, When we have said thus much,
and added that there were roaring pipes of steam
mounting into the air side by side with great iron
trumpet-shaped piles of chimneys, out of which jets
of red flame roared and flapped into the smoke
above like gigantic flambeaux ; that lower down
long lines of lathe bands flew noiselessly in all direc-
tions, and that the background was filled in with
glimpses of ponderous fly-wheels whirling their
arms through the smoke and turning-roiling mills
or lapping hammers, or shearing 4oxn with noise-
less might the great lumps of iron that_were brought
in to be cut up—we have said enough keinditiate the
view which met visitors on their first introduc-
tion to this glowing scene of industry. Though
not the first, yet by far the most important -process
which their lordships were shown was the opera-
tion of rolling the great plate—by far the largest
single plate that has ever yet been rolled in the
world. This took place in what are called the New
Mills of the Atlas Works, which were used on
Thursday for the first time, and where great ranges
of furnaces have been erected, with their mouths
opening on the iron tramway which leads direct to
the double rollers through which the plate passes.
One may guess at the solidity required for mills of
this kind when it is stated that some of the rolls
used at this mill on Thursday have a first founda-
tion of no less than 60 tons of solid iron, resting on
masonry carried far below the earth. The rolls
themselves are 32in. in diameter and Bft. wide, and
are turned by an engine of 400 horse power, putting
in motion a fly wheel large enough apparently to
make a world rotate, if only well balanced on its
axis. A powerful screw, applying its force through
compound levers, allows the distance between the
rollers to be adjusted to the fraction of an inch, so
that the plate which on its first rolling is forced
through an interval of, for instance, 12in. apart, is
on its next wound through one of 10, next through
one of 8, and so on till the required thickness has
been carefully and equally attained by tremendous
compression through every part of the metal, There
were a great many visitors to see the rolling of this
formidable mass, which was fortunate, as one would
certainly be frightened to witness the terrible pro-
cess alone. After some delay and quick glimpses
made by the most hardened workmen, who,
rushing up to the door of the' furnace, got a
half-blinded glance into its white interior, it was
decided that the mass was ready, for, strange as it
may seem, an armour-plate requires more than mere
heating, and has to be cooked and watched in its
cooking with as much care as if it was an omelette,
and the plate that is drawn before it is " done to a
turn," generally remains a permanent ornament of
the unlucky manufacturer's workshop, which no
one will have at any price. When at last this
eventful moment had arrived on Thursday the door
of the furnace was slowly raised and a colossal
pair of pincers, with very long handles fastened to
a chain drawn by machinery, was swung in. For
an instant some men rushed forward, and, shield-
ing their faces from the deadly heat that shot from
the furnace, adjusted the bite of these forceps on
the plate, and then ran back as the chain began to
tauten, and the great inmate of the blazing den
was slowly dragged forth on to the long iron trucks
in front of the door, and there lay in its huge
length and thickness a mass of living fire, which
none could approach, or scarcely even look at, so
fierce was its glow and terrific heat. The chains
that should have pulled it forthwith to the rollers
were too slack, and then arose shouts, and cries,
and commands, as the men did battle with this
mass of fire, coming so near it in their attempts
to gather up the slackened chains that one
literally almost expected to see them fall scorched
and shrivelled on the ground. In its great glare
they fought and struggled with the chains till at
last all was adjusted, and the great pile of angry
fire began to move slowly downwards towards the
mills, the men following it with hoarse shouts and
directions, now hid in steam, as buckets of water
were dashed over the mass, and the next moment
standing in an atmosphere of white light, to which
the light of the day around was mere dusk. The
rollers did not bite directly the mass came to them,
and when they did the engine was almost brought
to a standstill by the tremendous strain upon it ; but
at last the soft plate yielded and the rollers seemed
to swallow it as they wound it slowly in, squeezing
out jets of melted iron like squirts of fire that shot
about dangerously as the pile was compressed from
19 inches to 17 inches thick by the irresistible force
of the rollers. Ce West que le premier pas qui coute ,
and the victory was certain when the mass had
once passed through the mill, and both visitors and
workmen gave a tremendous cheer at the success.
From this time it was kept rolling backwards and
forwards, the workmen sweeping from its face the
scales of oxide that gathered fast upon it with long-
handled besoms that, though soaked in water,
caught fire and blazed up as fast as they were
used. With every time it was passed
through the rollers were screwed closer
and closer together as we have already mentioned,
till at the end of about a quarter of an hour after
leaving the furnace an almost melted mass it was
passed through for the last time and came out oppo-
site the furnace door it had so lately left, no loner
shooting forth spiteful sparks, but shorn of half its
proPl9ftrong,
r form--a
heat, subdued, and moulded to it;
el9ft. long,
finished armour-plate, weighing 20
thick through-
nearly 4ft. wide, and exactlvel
oast signal
bskyeil4l
f v.lribettriumphbroad
haoaayad
out from end to end. This is tat
achieved.
that any rolling
t branch of
mills have y„ then roll •
Other smaller plates we
ft. wide and
gainedquickness
n andth e
oc
ne
ner
platet a i
an
nt
iyd,tmost
provedoiin7mgrt
important
bolongrytt ha4iae4
manufacture.
thick;lisoooni r have.owlblereodadi
sarnt
.da
long,4r d y alluded to, 41ft.
• one
in.st
fht ck
processiri thicknesshl a
The e6byi
methodani3s ot
roaf the tough soft and
on. thick;
wide,A wlietshs ear
long
Gin. on one edgeß and 3in. on the other,
of converting cast iron by the Bessemer
nation of the qualities between
Bessemer
softem er
sntieeetla
al
tough,nadcom h combi-
nation
iron, was next shown. It is needless now
to enter on a description of the very beautiful and
very terrible process, to witness which the metal goes
through in the converter as it is stimulated to
a white heat by the passage of the air blown
by force. pumps upwards through the mass. No
fireworks can surpass the brilliancy of the display
this process affords as it approaches its completion,
and the stream of violet flame and clouds of burn-
ing sparks pour from the mouth of the converter as
from a gigantic squib. Nor is it necessary here
to enter into a detail of the now well-known pro-
cess, which was a subject of such controversy a few
years since, but which is now being so generally and
advantageously adopted throughout England and
the continent. Suffice it to say that in 20 trites
from the time of putting in the charge of cast iron,