Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1859-03-18
THE .INTELLIGENCER.
The Martinsville Furnaoe..

The Martinsville Furnace:
ITS CONSTRUCTION IoN-oosT-oAPAorrY, AsD GENE.
[ RAJ MERITS &C.. &c.
We yesterday paid a visit to tho new Blast
Furnace in Martinsville, over the river in Bel
mont county, near this city, which has been for
some time past attracting good share of atten-
ton, and awakening considerable interest par
ticularly among our manufacturing men. AS it
is the first one erected in this region, and as it
is likely to inauguratc very Important branch
of business amongst us, we conceived that a
brief notice ofits most disdnguishabie features
would not only be likely to be of interestto our
readers but might serve to call the attention of
strangers, men ofcncrgy and capital, to the sue.
cess attending such enterprises here, and our
almost unequallcd advantages for iasuring such
result 12a
The Furnace is owned by what is styled by
the Incorporating law the Belmont Furnace
Company" which consists of three partners
Messrs. Cyrus and Moses ,Mendenhall, brothers,
and Mr. George IA. Jenkins. Mr.. Moses Men
denhalI is from New Waterford, Columbiana co.
o., and the other two gentlemen from Mount
Pleasant, Jefferson CO.. same State. The Messrs
MendeenhaIl were, We believe, members the
Ohio Legislature some two years ago.
The ground on which the Furnace stands, aud
large scope connected with it, mostly coal and ,
mineral lands, was purchased some years ago,
the cost being $l5,OOO, 1t was bought when
lands in this scctionwere cheap, andis regarded
rs quite bargain at the original cost OF Z
course its value has since been greatly enhanced
Tho Furnace, that is the worlsand buildings,
from beginning to completion has been erected
at cost of about $4,000; though the proprie-
tors assure us that two years ago it would {
have cost near $4,000. They built at time
when labor and materials were cheap, and pay.
ing cash for everything, were thus enabled to
accomplish the result with less outlay than at
any other time or in any other manner. The
property is regarded as worth vastly more than
its cost.
The first blow towards the erection of this
Furnace was Struck on the nth oflast July
1t has now been in operation nearly two weeks.
OF course great deal of experimenting and
trial has been necessary to get it started and
into successful working order; but it is nov
doing fairly, We believe, and satisfactorily. In
the ncighborheod Of one hupdred. and twenty
live or thirty tons Of pigs have been cast. so
far, and the Furnace is now running out fifteen
tons per day, or over five thousand tons per
year. The works, as we have said, arc all new,
and appear TO be very well and substantially
constructed. The distinguishing feature of the
establishment is the immense stack" wherein
by means of the shot blast heat is generated
ten times fiercer than that of Nehuchadnezzar's
fiery furnace. 1t would take, we couldn't help
thinking, AVERY special interposition Of Rrovi-
dence To put three Shadrachs, Meshacs aud
Abednegos, through the 'Auroran fiery furnace
and bring them out without the "smelI Of
fire having passed upon their garments. 1t
is impossible to stand at the top of the stack
and look in through the fuel doors and down
into the white hot abyss without nerv0usly re-
coing, and calling to mind suudry texts in the
Good Book which describe the situation ofthoso
unfortunates whose fate it is to be roasted and
toasted over lakes ofliquid fire.
The ''stackl is built of fire brick chiefly, and
cast iron. 1t is put up in most durable and
substantial manner, the wall at the base being
made very thick, and tapering gradually in Off
sets TO the top. The greater part of it is en-
cased in vast plates of cast iron, aud where not
thus Strengthened, is bound with mighty iron
bands-capaLlo of resisting, apparently, any in.
tcrnal force, short OF powder magazine, that
could be brought to bear. BUTT is necessary
for tito be thus strong. The internal pres
sure must be ,prodisious. The stack, we we're
told, is capable of containipga hundred tons of
rIn,erisl. from bottom to top. 1t is twelve feet
In diameter inside. ItS height to the "tunnel
heads is forty.three feet and to the top fifty
feet These dimensions win give, better than
we can give in any other way, to those &C,
quainted with such things, knowledge of the
c,pacity of the furnace. The castings which
cncase the stack, OF Which there are about one
hundred tons, were in Martinsyille, by
Messrs, Wiley & Company, and are regarded
as very superior. Most Of our readers have
seen blast furnaces, and know, all about them,
but sornss smay not have had opportunities for
doing so; and for suchswe may menlioh1hst the
slack is simply huge chimney, excepting the
firc places and slight differences in constructions
Everything, coal, ore, limestone, Eoesiin at the
top, aud everything, too comes out at the bot
tom in the shape of glowing "flax" or molten
metal, as liquid as water. These materials,