Star.
London, England, 1829-01-07 00:00:00

FROM Till JOURNAL DU COMMUN.

At a time when the Commit ee on bade have de.
voted so much anxious attention to tie subjrct of the
inuoductiun of Loglisli icon into Fiance, the iollowing
Accurate statement, which has been furnished to us by
correspondent, of the improvement in the iron manu-
f.icture in England since coal ha. been brought into
mote general use, will, no d:rubt, to intetestiug to out
readers:

The extraction of coal from the earth appears to haw*
first commenced in the year 1272 ; but ignor..nce and
prejudice prevented the smelting of-iron by the means
4 f this combustible until the commencement of the 17;h
century. Previous to that period iron had always been
antrlted by charcoal.
YOTo a work of Dudley's (Melallsro Maras), it ap-
pears, that in 1615. is period when all non was smelted
by chascoal, them txtsteJ SOO furnace., the total pus-
duce of which may be valued a-t 75,000 tons of Cast.
mar, suppo.ing 250 tons to be manufactured a-year by
each furnace.

The first patent accorded for smelting iron with coal
was given in 1611 to Sinion Sitotwatt, or Rewart.
This gave him the exclusive tight to this mant.frciurn
in England for thirty years; but at the end of a year,
finding his dims °stk.., he gave up his patent. In
1619 the fantails Dudley ree..eved his patent for thitty
years, which wax afterwards limited to fourteen. His
skill enabled him to pr. duce in a furnace cf high tern-
pet atm e three ions of cast lion aweek, with coal. only.
However, prejudice, thr spook uf patty,andth. jealousy
of the forgemasters, excited a popular sedition against
him, and his establishments were des:toyed. His attach-
ment to-the Royal cause during a cumuli's revr.lutico
prevented him lions obtaining the means ef reCoo•
.truct.ng them and of obtaining a new patent. Mans

the civil troubles which brought on the death of
Charles I. and the Republic, there was no improvement
in the manner of working iron. In 1663 Dudley soli.
'cited a new patent for establishing a high furnace with
coal, and pave out that lie was able to smelt 7 tons of
metal a week, in a furnace 27 feet square, and with a pair
Of bellows which one man could work for an hour .with
out being fatigued. It appears this was never ttied,owing
to the prejudice of the forgemasters, who used-charcoal
to smelt their iron, and its being against the interest of
the timber-merchants. However, the great consumption
of this article, the augmentation of the population, &c.
rendered wood more and more scarce, and the number of
fui naces gradually diminished ;they were no longer even
'efficient for the consumption of England, who received
very considerable importations from Russia, Sweden,
and even from France. A summary of the number of
furnaces existing le England in 1750 proves that there
only remained then SOO furnaces, producing 75,000 tons
-of cast iron, while according to Dudley's 'mule, in
1615, there existed only 59, producing hardly 17,000
tons:. Wood becoming more and more scarce and dear,
necessity compelled ;he forgemasters at last to make
some new Isiah with coals, and between the years 1750
and 1760 some furnaces to burn coal were established.
The adeaetageouvresult awakened the general atten-
tion, and in the SO following years this new method
gained ground so rapidly, that in 1788 the production
of cast lion had become four times more considerable
than in 1750.
The following is an account of the production in the
-Tear 1788: There were but twenty-four furnaces work
mg with charcoal, and producing altogether 15,100
tons; since 1760 fifty tistee furnaces had been erected
winking with coal, and producing 48,200 tons. The
total number of tons of iron produced in England and
Wales in the year 1788 nes 61.900; at the same time
there exited in Scotland eight furnaces working with
coal, producing seven thousand—which, added to the
production in England and Wales, 61.300, makes
68,300 tons for England and Scotland. In 1750, be-
fore the introduction of coals, only seventeen thou and
tons were produced, thus making an augmentation of
fifty thsusand. The period from 1788 to 1790 may be
regarded as a new era for the fabrication of cast iron.
Bolton and Watts 's double pressure steam engine be-
came more generally used every year in high furnace,.
The produce of each furnace became more consider-
able, and the number increased every year.
In the eight following years the fabrication of lion
went on so rapidly, that in 1796 it was double to what
it was in 1788, as will bt seen by the following sum-
mary :—ln 1796 there were in England, Scotland, and
'ales 121 fisrnaces, producing altogether 1`25000 tons;
each tutoa.e producing about 1,000 tons a year. In the
following years the fain icatiiin went on equally rapidly,
since in 10 yens it had again doubled itself. In 1806
there a err in England 227 furnaces, producing '214,000
tons of cast iron. In fact, we see that in 1827 Walei
alone pi minced 256,000 tons, a quantity more consider-
able than all England manufactured in 1806.
The produce for all England will be, in 1828,
600.000 tons.