Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1862-08-09
Modern sron-taa1sin2-Ncw He,
nicutS iu Warfare.

The present results ofimprovcd iron max
ing, with reference to what ought tO he the
principal business of this people until the
rebellion is crushed out. are of the highest
Importance. The great want is stronger
material for armol plates, artillery and heavy
ordnance, and cheaper war material in gen
cral the Chici cost being in iron and steel
50 that more Of it can hc afforded. There i,
in the Exhibition at London cast-stccl
locomotiyc-tirc, which unlike the thirty or
forty thousand locomotive tires running in
America, was never piga OF cast iron, nor
puj,liC-ball, nor an ingot oI wrought-iron nor
a bar. I'm quarter Of an hour from the time
it had tricklcd from the iron ore, it was n
cast steel hoop without a weld, and only
needed rolling in a tire mill to be ready to
run. \ large number Of tires made 10y thi;
BcssGmCr process, are running in Europe
The ordinary tire requires from five to eight
heats, and sets of munpulatiOus This re.
quircl two; which explains the wonderful
ChcapnCss of the process. An niorgcd in
got Of this steel, If inches in diameter, il
broken, to show ~ perfect a fracture and "a
perfect solidty rs ordinary hammered steel
and several 2i-ppundcr guns, and 5O-horsc
crank shaft cast from it, and the G,llOth
"drcct steel ingot, (lS inches squmc,) made
/ Ivy Bvsscmcr, arc exhibited; which shows
the scale upon which it has been worked
Its quality is illustrated by variety of spc.
cimcns, for instance. a railway rail, 40 feet
long. is twisted cold into a spiral, and a ban
five inches square is folded together like
poc<ct-rule. all without fracture This metal
is not only shown, hut has been used for
several years in the form Of saws, Chi~cls,
boiler r-platcs, cannon, shalting. &c. and its
! success is complete, 1t is made in England,
Sweden and Germany, and is about to be
made even in India. But there was never
pound of it made III America, or used by onr
Dcpartmcntsorcontcm plated in the immense
Government iron works lately discussed by
Congress, as far rs we are aware.
And there ia Krupp, the prussian, who
fOrgcs tcn-inch stool Columbads. solid and
whose guns are used all over Europe. And
there Howell, the Engliahman, whose cast
steel torgings are ~ homogeneous rs copper
and resist II tensile strain Of 100000 pounds,
while that ol the best iron is 10000. Plates
of this steel are found to offer above twice
! the resistance OF iron plates to shot. But We
! need not go abroad. An equally good
metal is similarly made in Pittsburgh, while
| the scmi-stccl Of the Albany iron-wolks has
averaged still higher tensile strength, and
| the Trenton iron works steel exhibits the
fine qualities of the improved manufacture.
! And if the Franklinitc ore is tonnd in SUSSEX
| County, New Jersey, prove to be what it il
! represented, the best ilun orc OF Tie world,
| the material for the production of the most
! perfect steel in the world will be III our pos
| session.
OurGoycrmcnt certainly inauguratcd and
! Is completing the revolution in naval war
| fare which has set all the world ugapc, hut
| is it keeping pace with the agc in this wider
and grandor revolution in the production ot