The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1859-06-03
A Great Invention An Iron Making.

n Great Invention In Iron MAKING
The st. Louis Ners gives the following
account OF an important invention in iron
making:
We have just had the pleasure of seeing
tested one of the most important improve
ments ever introduced in the manufacture Of
iron. II is IA new furnace patented by Mr..
James Criswell, and we saw il in full blast
mt the Allen Iron Works, situated at the
corner of. Carondelet and Allen avenues
This patent, We are informed, could take
the common ore, and with one operation
not lasting half so long, and not half the
expense Of the old fashioned blast furnace,
could turn out q pure, substantial, and SUI
perior:artiele Of wrought Iron, which would
sell in market at about one-half the cost of
iron by other methods, would stand u
twenty-five per cent. harder test than
others, and bring premium per pound for
railroad axles aud any such general pur-
poses, where superior qualities a.e indispen-
sable.
The first thing that attracted our atten-
ton was collection of hammers, or crush
ers, worked by machinery, pounding the
ore, in an iron trough, to the consistency of
common sand, which was wheeled away to
another part of the yard, and mixed in
regular proportions with carbon, (ground
stone coal, which was taken up to height
of some twenty feet, by elevators, and there
shoveled aside to be used when needed
Ascending with Mr.. Criswell to this room,
we saw level with the floor, some forty
square brick tubes descending to the furnace
and fires below, which were filled al the
moment of our visit with the mixture, as
aforesaid, of iron ore and carbon. This We
saw was de-oxidizing process, and by dis
tributing the compounded elements, We
found that the flames of the ballng furnace
below communicated with and by burning
the mixtures to a red heat produced de-oxi-
diZation. In the centre of each of these
brick PES was placed an iron rod, commu-
nicating with an iron slide opening into a
large iron bin Immediately over the balling
furnace, which when de-oxodizing had con-
tinued for thirty odd hours, would allow
the ore to escape in the bin, and thence into
the balling furnace. Here, being brought
to white heat, for period of some fifty
minutes, the ore is worked into balls of
about one hundred weight, and being seized
by large pair of tongs sliding easily on
a beam, placed for the purpose, each lump
or ball is placed into and passed through a
large circular crusher, relieved thus of all
dross, and passed again through series OF
revolving rollers, until the ore comes out of
the process, diminished in heat and lays
upon the ground in wrought iron bars some
twelve feet long, five inches wide, and one
inch thick. Thus, in few words, is the
operation of making pure wrought iron
from the common ore. In some instances,
however to show by experiment how easily
the newly made iron may be made Instantly
marketable, the red hot iron is cut into con-
venient sizes, and instantly Cut into horse
shoes, or nails of every size. Nails thus
made from this iron, bring, we are told, a
superior price, and the iron in bars has been
bought up us fast rs made for railroad axles
We found upon the ground several gentle
men from different parts of the country
! 81 Lon. Eg. NeWs.