The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-10-15
Our Industrial ExhlbltlOn.
fH1 lion MANUFACTURES IN THB AUTRIAN
DEPARTMENT..

LION MANvfACTURB0 AUTRlAN
DEPARTMENT.
To appreciate properly tho intrinsic value Of iron,
it would be necessary to picture to ourselves our
present state OF society suddenly deprived Of Its aid
BY doing this, we may form some idea of the inpor
TAFT part which it plays, iu the most minute do
tails OF our social economy there being scarcely an
operation in the daily routine Of our habits into
which it does not enter IN an agent or auxiliary.
From the moment that we rise in the morning until
we lie du~n az night, we are under perpetual obi.
cations to this useful me.al-the very bed ON which
we have lain, the mattress, the blankets the sheets,
and tie quilt having ALL in greater or less degree
80 acknowledge the agency of iron ia iss production.
Without iron the stove that heats our sleeping room
must have been substituted by a, smokey hearth;
The marble chimney piece which couccals its harsh
outlines must have remained unquarred in its bed
and the keen razor with which we have just accom-
plishei the troublesome process of shaving, must
hsye slumbered in its native ORE We descendsto
breakfast, and we find that to the aid of iron we
owe the deicacies spread before us without its
agency we should have known nothing of poached
eggs, curIed fowl, fried oysters, succulent beef
s'eak. To convey them to their destina ion,
we are again compelled to resort to the
aid Of iron. unless perchance we happen to belong
to that favored class Of mortals who are guratively
described entering the world with silver spoon
in their mouths Weare reminded that it is time to
start of for our place of business, by an ingenious
and complex little machine, whose motive power is
supplied by iron. We enter car or carriage, and
the luxurious roll of the vehicle awakes q pleasant
sense Of the benefits derived from the steel springs
aud iron track. But for the adoption Of iron to 80
purposes Of locomoton, we should be compelled W
trust our unwiedy bulk to the bare-backed mercies
Of horse, or to some other equally uncomfortable
mode Of progression. As We are whirled along be.
tween those magnificent blocks of brickwork and
stone which resemble palaces more than stores, tue
reflection naturally to us, that but for the aid
Of iron their wealthy occupants might now be car
rying on brisk trade in peltry under the shelter Of
wIpwam or shanty. When, on entering our Office,
we find the HERALD on our desk rich in the plethora
of its news or droery, involuntary bless stars
that we live in an age where the perfection Of the
iron printing press enables thus additionally to ex-
anime the last quotations, or to while away the dull
ness Of the counting house during the heat Of the dog
DAYS. Should the superintendent caloric OF the az
mosphere produce an enervating effect upon our
system, we are again obliged to have recourse
to that invaluable medicine, iron - the only
metal friendly to the human rameto restore health
and tone to onr eaeebed organs 1t short, it would
occupy more space than we can appropriate to the
subject were We to enumerate svery purpose and
use TO which iron is made subservient. Without it,
metals Of q greater nominal value must have been
undiscovered mineral fuel, which forms such an i'm
portaDt element in the economy of manufactures,
would have been still undisturbed-the fruits and
It'll r,or
produced in the abundance which now besses the
labor Of the husbadman-the giant steam could not
have lent US the woodworking aid of his iron
sinews, and in short, the world must have continued
wilderness.
TIE hardness, tenacity, and malleability Of iron
combine to render it the most useful and consequent
y the most ntrnsicay valuable, Of all the metals
It's tenacity is for instance tested when used In the
form Of rods for pension bridge, in the many
uses in which wire is applied; its malleability is
proved by its capabity Of being rolled into sheets as
thin as the finest paper; and its hardness is demon
strated BY the fact that it is used means Of reduc-
ing other metals to the forms which they required
to assume. It would be impossible for Us, in the limits
Of the present article, to describe the different pro-
cesses by which these various results are obtained,
or to enter into critical examination Of the de-
rent kinds Of iron produced The history Of iron has
vet to be written and he that can bring to the task
the qualities necessary to its successful treatment
will add an important and interesting contribution
to our literature.
To show how cheaply iron is obtained, and how
the mechanical skill and labor expended upon It
totally overshadow the original price, number OF
the British Quarterly Rsuie,s Of lS47 gives the fol.
lowing curious and instructive calculation -
Bar iron worth 81 sterling, is worth when
worked into horse shoes ................... f2 10