Worcester daily spy., 1851-05-01
Worcester in its shirt-sIeeves.
n,I1r,1AIIrARLEIRON FOUNDRY.

THE HEMALLEABLE-IRON FOUNDRY.
Ifhe who makes two blades of grass grow where
only one grew before, may be considered public
beneEctor (and it cannot be denied that he isl then
is he also public beueactor who sets in motion the
springs of a new enterprize by which the labor ofa
single pair of hands is made equivalent to the toll Of
many, by the old systems Of the past
What railroads are to stage.coaches, what steam
boats are to sailing vessels, what Daniels or
Woodworth's planning machine is to the fore-plane
and the man who pushes it, the maleable iron oun-
dry is to the work of the blacksmith.
Manufactures of this sort are of comparatively re-
cent date in this country, but the art has already
been brought to high degree of perfection, and for
all kinds Iron work requiring irregular forms, cast
ings of maleabe iron fast taking precedence of
the products the anvil and the sledge.
1t is something less than year since Messrs. Nc
Farane & Biscoe, two enterprising citizens of Lei
cester, conceived the project of establishing a mall
leable iron foundry in Worcester, rightly conceving
that more eligible location for such business could
not well be found than in city already so famous
Tor It's manufactures. They were very fortunate in
the selection of site for the location of their works
which was the building known as the sold Brewery
near the Western Railroad depot, building orig-
nally erected for the manufacture Of intoxicating
drinks, but more recently divided into Irish and ne
gro tenements of the poorest description.
Last spring the work of publication was COM
menced- The old partition walls were taken down.
furnaces were erected and beautiful little engine
OF about SIX horse power, was set at work. The
hrst blast was poured about the first week in Sep
tenber last, and since that time the works have pro-
ceeded uninterruptedly up to the present time.
The process of malleable iron-founding is in MANY
respects different from that of ordinary casting the
purposes to which the production is applied requir-
Ing greater degree Of strength and tenacy in the
materials, and closer attention TO all The details
Insteuu Vi prucIuS IrIe coal anu pr,
nace together, as in orddsry iron casting, and draw
ing of the iron while in state of fusion, every day
the pig iron thro Hn into what is called an eair fur
nace, by ITSELF and subjected to an intense heat Co
nine days and nights. While undergoing this pro-
cess, all impurities in the metal are skinned off
from time to tlme they rise to the surface, unit
the whole mass has become so pure and its particles
so adhesive, that when cold, it has the fneness O
grain and toughness of iron when tempered at III,
efge and anvil.
Messrs. McFarlane and Biscoe have two furnaces
each of which will contain about thirty-six or thirty
seven hundred weight of metal. One of these
poured every four days. and in the intermediate tim
the workmen, twenty in number, are employed il
preparing or emptying the moulds.
1t is surprising to see the variety of uses 10 whcI
malleable iron castings are already applied. Com
bining as they do, strength and cheapness, there il
scarcely any department of mechanical industr,
where iron is used, in which they cannot be advan
tageously employed, greatly economizing both ex
pense and time. Among the articles upon which
Messrs- M. & B. are now engaged, are guards 70
gun locks, caps for wheel hubs garden rakes, breech
ing and trace hooks, harness buckles, wrenches, aw
holders, and such parts Of cotton and woollen ma
chinery as have usually required the use of wrough
iron. The price Of malleable iron castings yarie
from seventeen to twenty-five cents pound, accor
ding TO the size and shape of the patterns required
and at these prices, the enterprising firm who's,
works we have noticed above, receive as MANY or
ders as the capacity Of their works will permit then
to perform. There is only one other establishment
of this kind in the State, which is at Easton: ano
that as well as the in Worcester is meeting will
the most encouraging success.