The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-20 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND STEEL.

Ever since the settlement of New Zealand by
Europeans their attention has been daily called to
the peculiarities of a kind of metallic sand along
the shores of New Plymouth, in Taranaki. This
sand has the appearance of fine steel filings, and if
a magnet be dropped upon it, and taken up again,
the instrument will be found thickly coated with
the iron granules. The place where the sand
abounds is along:the base of Mount Edmont,
an extinct volcano, and the deposit extends several
miles along the coast to the depth of many feet, and
having a corresponding breadth. The geological
supposition is that this granulated metal has been
thrown out of the volcano along the base of which
it rests on the sea, and there pulverised. It has
been looked upon for a long time as a geological
curiosity, but, although 90 many years have passed
since its discovery, it is only recently that any
attempt has been made to turn it to a practical
account ; in fact, the quantity is so large that people
out there looked upon it as utterly valueless. It
formed a standing complaint in the letters of all
emigrants that when the sea breeze was a little up
they were obliged to wear veils to prevent being
blinded by the fine sand which stretched for miles
along the shore. Captain Morshead, a gentleman
in the West of England, was so much impressed
with its value that he went to New Zealand to
verify the reports made to him in this country, and
was fortunate enough to find them all correct. He

smelted the ore first in a crucible, and subsequently
in a furnace; the results were so satisfactory that
he immediately obtained the necessary grant of the
sand from the Government, and returned to Eng-
land with several tons for more conclusive experi-
ments. It has been carefully analysed in this
country by several well-known metallurgists, and
has been pronounced to be the purest ore at pre-
sent known ; it contains 88.45 of peroxyde of iron,
11.43 of oxide of titanium, with silicia, and only 12
of waste in 100 parts. Taking the sand as it lies
on the beach and smelting it, the produce is 61 per
cent. of iron of the very finest quality ; and, again,
if this sand be subjected to what is called the
cementration process, the result is a tough, first-
class steel, which, in its properties, seems to sur•
pass any other description of that metal at present
known. The investigations of metallurgical
science have found that if titanium is mixed
with iron the character of the steel is materially

improved ; but titanium being a scarce ore, such a
mixture is too expensive for ordinary purposes.
Here, however, nature has stepped in, and made
free gift of both metals on the largest scale. To give
some idea of the fineness of this beautiful sand, it
will be enough to say that itpasses readily through
a gauze sieve of 4,900 holes or interstices to the
square inch. As sows as it was turned into steel by
Mr. Musket, of Coleford, Messrs. Moseley, the emi-
nent cutlers and toolmakers, of New-street,Covent-
garden, were requested to see what could be done
with the Taranaki steel. They have tested it in
every possible way, and have tried its temper to the
utmost, and they say the manner in which t tal
has passed through their trials goes far beyondanything that they ever worked in steel before. It
has been formed into razors, scissors, saws, pen-
knives, table cutlery, surgical instruments. &c., and
the closeness of the grain, the fineness of polish, and
keenness of edge place it in the very foremost rank
—almost in the position of a new metal. Some silk
cutting tools have been made, and so admirably
have they turned out that one particular firm will
in future haves others. In the surgical instru-
ments the edghave been examined by the micro-
the sup e-
scope, and have stood the test in keeping
rierity. A number of gentlemen interested in such
matters have called at Messrs. Moseley's, and have
taken various articles of this steel away for the
purpose of trying it, It is stated to possess peculiar
advantages for gun-barrels and boring-cutters for
ordnance purposes. As far as is at present known
of this extraordinary metal, it bids fair to claim all
the finer classes of cutlery and edge:tool instru-
ments to itself, so well has everything made from it
turned out. Messrs. Moseley, in whose hands the
sole manufacture of cutlery and edge-tools is
vested for this country, have placed a ease,
filled with the metal in all its stages, in the Poly-
technic Institution. There is the 'fine metallic
sand, some beautiful specimens of the cutlery
made from it, and the intermediate phases of
the iron and steel. An official experiment is ex-
pected to be made at some of the Government estab-
lishments shortly, and it is also intended to forge
some chain cables, anchors, &c., in order to fully set
forth the great superlitrity of the Taranaki iron.—
The ilustralian