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

x) gather up the slackened chains that one
_ .

literally almost expected to see them fall scorched
and shriveled 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 n'est 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 longer
shooting forth spiteful sparks, but shorn of half its
heat, subdued, and moulded to its proper formi:
finished armour-plate, weighing 20 tons,lf t. long,
nearly 4ft. wide, and exactly 12in. thick th
out from end to end. This is the most signal triumph
achievd'
that any rolling mills have yet
then erolled • site a
Other smaller plates were roved the skill already
ft. long by 4ft. broad
' ty that p
quickness and certainty
gained in this new 7asstii7'mportant branch of
. dby 4ft. wide and
manufacture. One Plate
long •
°e®
have already alluded to, 41ft.
to in. thick , .
and skin. thick;
.on
broad and 41-in
long by 3ft.l"x:oil d ISf long,2 . thick.
plate was also. e
A lesser
t. sft. wide, with a
thickness of Gin. on one edge and 3in. on the other,
The
method of converting east iron by the Bessemer
process into the tough soft Bessemer metal, a combi-
nation of the qualities between
soft steel and tough
wrought 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 minutes
from the time of putting in the charge of cast iron,

t was, without any expenditure of lab
out into the mould an ingot of soft,
weighing three tons. This metal, after u.
b4mmering, is now most extensiYely used , eked
rails at stations, 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 cowl-.
try both for Federals and Confederates. These
are the ordnance which t',e Americans always
speak of as Parrott guns, and by them they aro
more highly prized than those of either Arm-
strong or Whitworth. Yet it is stated that the
Ordnance Select Committee have refused even to
try these guns at Shoebury nese. After these pro-
cesses were over, and the various planing and filing
shops had been duly 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-
-1 ing—" The health of the Lords of the Admiralty."
1 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 en the business with-
out reference to party feelings. In that lam convinced that
all who have watched the operations of the Admirally will
believe that we have had great difficulties to contend with.
During the last three years, what with affairs abroad and
difficulties in almost all parts of the world, falling upon the
ehreomheascobneneneetaedhwe '
ai tvhy the i
gr
he -t
atth
we-
construction acntdiotnhoef dtihtfiecunlativ.ys,
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, 'lf 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 Slot 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 vary 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 be 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 Shoeburynesit
—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 haktold you, that
1 they were enabled to wee 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 are
wrong—particularly if they say it is very easy. The
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 wo 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 are 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, hear.) 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,"