Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-10-12
THE STOLEN SECRET.

The main distinction between iron and stee,
Is, that one holds carbon the matter of cha r.
coal, whereas the other does not The amoun
OF carbon IS trivial, and Is impaired by heating
bars for long period together, surrounded by
powdered, broken charcoal in box. HavinS
regard, then, to this operation, il seems nat,
ural enough that the outer portion of each bar
should become more ''steeiifed'' (if I NAV he
allowed to coin an expressive word) than the
internal portions. Now, steel of this sort.
though perfectly good for many purposes, is
o"yecuonap'e Tor other. To give an example
II Is 6y no means good for the manufacture of
watch.springs; nevertheless, before the inven.
tion OF cast steel, to which the readers atten-
uon Is shortly to be directed, watch.spriups
had to be made Of it,
There lived in Attercliffs, near Sheffield.
ABOUT the year 1860, a Matchmaker named
huntsman. He was very much dissatisfied
with the quality of steel of which watch nrinos
were made in his day and he set himself The
TASK OF thinking out the cause of inferiority.
Mr Hnutsman correctly inferred that the i'm
perfection OF such watch-springs as came in his
way was referable to the fact of the irrepular
conversion or ''steeliicarion" of tho metal of
their manufacture. "If," thought he, "I can
melt piece OF steel and east it into an ingot,
the composition OF the latter should be regular
snd homogeneous" lie tried, and succeeded
The fame OF Huntsman's steel became widely
spread, but the discoverer took care not TO
designate 1T by the name of cast steel, under
winch 1t Is now familiarly known. That was
his secret
About the year 1770, a large manufactory of
tnis peculiar steel was established ut After
chne The process was wrapt in secresy by
every means which the inventor could com.
mand. None but wOrkmen Of credit and char
acter were engaged, and they were forbidden
10 disclose the secrets Of the mandatory by
stringent form or oath. At last Huntsman's
secret was stolen in the following manner: One
night In mid winter, as the tall chimney of the
Attercliffe steel works belched forth its smoke.
giving promise of a r6aring fire within, trav.
eier to whom the desire of placing himself near
roaring hre might seem re easonable longing
knocked at the outer door of Mr.. Huntsman's
factory 1t was bitter night; the snow fell
fast, the wind howled across the moor; nothing.
then, could seem more natural than that the
tired wayfarer should seek a warm corner.
where he might lay his head. He knocked
and the door was opened. A workman pre-
sented himself, who the wayfarer addressing,
humbly begged admission.
:" No admittance here, except on business. -
The reader may well fancy how this intima-
ton fell upon the tired travellers ear on such
an inclement night. But the workman scan
ming the traveller over, and discovering moth
ing suspicious about him, granted the request,
and let him in.
felgnlng to be completely worn out with
cold and fatigue, the wayfarer sank upon the
foor of the comfortable factory, and soon ap-
Peared to have gone to sleep. To go to sleep,
however, was far from his intention. The
traveller closed his eyes, all but two littIo
chinks. Through these two little chinks he
saw all that he cared to see. He saw workmen
cut bars Of steel into little bits, then placed
them into crucibles, with enormous tongs, pour
their liquid contents into mold. Mr. Hunts.
mans factory had nothing more to disclose.
This was the secret of cast steel
1t would be easy to extend the list of manu-
factured secrets disclosed in the dishonest way
indicated above. The subject, however, is so
unpleasant to dwell upon, that am sure the
reader will rejoice with me that the circum-
stances under which manufactures are now
mostly carried on, neither afford the oppOrtu-
nifty nor the inducement to theft, such as had
described.-Ike London Leisure Hour.