New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-07-01
y2ESENT STATE OF THE BESSEMER
QUES TON.

II is only some few months since all Europe was
standing tptoe In expectation OF wlnessnga great
al marvellous revolution in the manufacture OF iron
aud steel by new and ingenious process, to which 1t
is only necessary to alude in passing that patented
by MIR Bessemer. 1t was something quite astounding
to those who knew by woat tedious and expensive
ne ans STEEL was produced from iron III the olden time
10 be told that by the new process, steel was the
easier aid cheaper production Of the two. 1t
less wonderful 10 the eyes of those who had Considered
iron as at least in the open air an incombusoe, to
be shown that it in tact highly cOnbustibe ma
terinl. and that if once heated by fire to certain
point il might then by strong air-currents be actually
,'Seif set on fire. and made to burn with fierce In
canOesceDce.
II il Illuminating to think upon what small matters
great ones otter depend There appears TO be no rea
s,ahe Jonbt that Mr.. Bessemer would have realized
all be promised to accomplish but Tor one slight cir
cumstauce, which it is our intention now to explain,
and the difficulty connected with which has, Ut least
for the present, frustrated his expectations.
The subject Of iron founding has been so completely
popuIariztd by the discussions of thi. patent in the
public press that If will only be necessary for Us ~ re-
call attention to the fact that iron contains several
foreign matters in intimate combination, and that up
on their expulsion during the founding process depends
the success of the ironmasters work. These foreign
bodes are chiefly carbon silicon, sulphur aud ptos-
Dboyus The old methods Of roasting, casting, re-
firrg pudding and rolling found to effect the
ohec ct in view sufficiently for all practical purposes
u Mr. Bessemers process all these substances, except
zhosph0r1,s are eaectually expelled. 1t would seem
the present tlIIlt HAS
all the efforts Of Mr.. Bessemer 1t de6es the utmost
he nj of his furnaces and has sufficient affinity tor
oxygen or any other body brought IN contact with IT,
to consent for its sake to let go s tenacious grasp OF
the iron. Now phosphorus III iron L. as II appears,
fatal 10 the useful qualities of the metal 1t renders the
iron brittle and unserviceabe and portion OF 1t
can be detected In the stag Of the furnace 1t would
SEE M that far its expulsion is concerned Mr. Bes-
semer ar as yet altogether failed But II would surely
NOT be III philosophical to conclude that the Question
j. finally set at rest however serious the objection may
be 10 which we hayesnow called attention IL can
hardly be too much to expect that In tue resources Vi
modern science come ingredient may yet be discov-
cred the results OF which, III the instance before u.s.
wi he no less striking than those OF soda bOrax aud
polasb when used hu1es in various Industrial ope-
rations We should not be surprlzed any day 10 near
that some such depugative had been discovered ana
tina, its admxture with the ncandescent iron ID tue
furnace was found to detach the phosphorus and leave
the iron in perfectly pure state. We wish we could
on further than suggest the existence of some such
drug. or metal or mineral, whstever it may be- We
suspect that the man who could go uther thsn this
and spnnv Mr. Bessemer with it's local habitation and
ts name would participate largely in most lucrative
az well as scientifically honorable discovery: -.
We could ourselves easily indicate certain metallic
combinations which, in dealing with phosphorus 10 its
.ncombn.d state, possess the power of neutrazing
lis cnus,c properties but this may be far inoeed from
indicating power in such preparations to deal win
that wonderful substance it is found in nature
u,;ted with the crude oxide Of ron Indeed, we take
for granted fha' men " tiie hgnes. mo-, ~ -;
science are lust now eagerly devoting their attention
TO this interesting problem and, we have said we
look forward rather hopefully than otherwise to the
result :: .l .-,r,rb
exn,esse by many at the partial and. IN truro ZEN
nrary failure in the expectations raised in the puoie
Hind by Mr. Dessemer and his discoveries; but u =
.tiII true that up to the present time the "revolato?
has not Gene off, The new asprants tor dominion ~
ss, o,vcenwbaye rot as yet been able TO wrest
t Ie' scep re rom the hand Of old King Co" His
carbopaceous majesty is still "master OF tue s,.ua.
ton how long be may continue so, we ny no neaa'
venture 10 take on Ourselves even 10 con'eo'e'