Sunbury American and Shamokin journal. [volume] (Sunbury, Northumberland Co., Pa.) 1840-1848, 1840-10-10
by Masser s. Eisely.
FpuM THE U. 9. GAZETTE,
Malleable IRON from Anthracite.


Malleable Iron from Anthracite.
The vast natursi resources which P'nnsy ylvania
possesses in her in xhaustble mines of iron and Of
coal, render any discoveries which may tend to in.
creao the production Of the one, aud the ccnsump-
zion of the other, of importance MT only to persons
directly int rested in those articles, but to her ct1
zens generally. The public mind has, therefore,
been much occupied with the success Which has reI
Gently attended The attempts made to employ an
Il racie coal in the manufac,ute Of pig metal yo'
as nearly seven Tennis of The iron consumed IN this
country is used in ,orought state, it has still re-
mained shtj, ct of interesting inquiry, whether
ibi, fuel could lie employed on large scale, and
with economy ia the processes necessary to con-
vert cast into mai2eabie iron.
U.tIl lately, the experiments which have been
made with this object have been attended with but
partial and impetfcc, success. During the last
month hoye,er, the New Jersey Iron Company
have succeeded in overcoming all difficulties and
impeiimens, and are now daily manufacturing
every variety of finished wrought iron, made from
the ore ereiusiueiy with anthracite coa'.
| establishment a; Boonton, New Jersey, and hav-
ing been politely furnished b, II. Brcvoort, Esq,
Il Mr.. Mccsrty, under whose supe'ntendence and
direction the furnaces were constructed, with every
facility to inspect their works and to ascertain the
consumption of materials, it may not be unint rest
ing to many of your readers to lean the results OF
their operations.
The alterations which have been made in the
construction OF the pudding and beating furnaces
are slight. BY means of change in the balSa'ory
of the furnaces contraction of the CRATE, and the
introduction of a strong Hast directly underneath
it, pig iron is pudjlcd and piles of the largest size
brought to welding heat with the greatest facility,
with anthracite eoaL No stronger proof of The
| complete success Of the new process need lie ad
duced, than the fact that the workmen, who are al.
wavs strongly prejudiced in favor of their old meth
| DDS, prefer working with anthracite, and tho in
creased cleanliness consequent upon the absence Of
the clouds Of coal smoke and dust, sould be alone
q sufficient recommendation for its use. But the
fuel possesses o,,o' cd ai'au."sos' 1. ~
casions less and to The furnaces, the cost
Of keeping ,hem in repair being thus much dimin.
shed.
The waste of the iron in the process OF convers
sion is also much less than by the old method.
With bi,uminous coal, % IA cwt. Of pig iron was
necessary Ia produce a ton Of puddlcd hars. With
anthracite, 81 IA cwt. has been found to be the
larg st quantity required. In The subsequent pro-
Of rchesting and rolling the waste was fo'.
rnerly ten or twelve per cent 1t now does no, ex.
ceed five per cent. The snoun Of anthracite re-
qued TO puddle ton (224o cwt.) ofpig iron, has
been foun, to be l5 or ls cwt and to reheat, roll
and finish, for small sizes, Q or 8 cwt; for large
merchant ron axles, etc, or 10 cwt The qu,l.
i,y of the iron thus produced is quite as good as
that manufactured with bumnous coal There
remains therefore, no longer any doubt, that anth.
rac,e coal can be employ ed with entire success il
the manufacture Of ir,n in all its branches. and il
every variety.
To those who unacqua n,ed with the details
of iron making, it may appear to be a matter of liz
tie moment, whether species Of fuel or ano,he
I've employed in its production; yet this smI lie sub
situation promises 10 exert mighty influence upoi
the trade ard commerce of Pennsylvania. Any on
at all conversant with the expense Of rolling mill
will perceive from the data ab1ve given, that If w
assume the cost OF making pie iron with anthracite
in the vaiIies of the Schuy kill and Lehigh, ans
our other coal districts. 10 be high So
per ton, Ga rate which the daily experience OF III
furnaces now in blast proves to bo a6ooe me
mark) railroad bars and merchant iron can be role
from II and delivered in Philadelphia a, sxpens
not exceeding Sd5 to $50 per ton, aud other descrF
tions of iron in the proportion. Now the pric
of these articles of ordinary qualities, in Livepoo
h averaged 60 los. for the last five years. So th'
in the very infancy OF the trade here we succeed
making iron US low as it can he SOLD IN LIyERPoo
withou, akng freIsnt. nsu anct, dutles, etc., mi
the calculation at all. And upon finer description
of iron, The discrepancy would be sill greater in e
vo, OF this Country. Besides, we must remembe
thai IN any process, perfection is not attained
once and II would be unreasonable 10 suppos, tn
- eIpererce will not suggest such further improv
mens as will materially reduce III, expenses Of Il
- manufacture.
a, The limits Of newspaper forbid a more detail,
II calculation; but it is evident, that the Of
Is. thIaciie coal will enable Pennsy lvanians TO man
D. isclure iron proflsbly, at reduction Of at e'
~ twenty-five per cent upon the present market 'a'
he of railroad and bar iron. and Of from forty TO fl
" per cent. upon the finer descriptions Of rods, ban
''' hoops etc, which are now Inoecied by higt
% tariff
The effect Of such reduction must neoessar
.s he 10 cnnoeniIate the manuiaciuIe Of naaIy all