The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-30
AMONG THE IRON FURNACES.

GBENDON, "a, JulyrSJ'
The beautiful valley of the Lehigh, with its
mineral wealth. its fertile fields, its lovely river,
and it's romantic scenery, has the eyes of all
Pennsylvania fixed upon it at this moment, for
is not Asa Packer, the money king of this re-
gion, the candidate of the unterrifed for the
Governorship? and are not his millions expected
to carry the beggarly fortunes of the Democracy
through the campaign and, to stimulate the ac
tiyity of the party of principles not men?"
Asa Packer is reported to be worth some
$40, ,000, 900 at the present moment. 1t Will be
curious calculation for him to be made to
figure up his wealth next October and find out
how much there is remaining to him after the
Democratic managers have gone through him,
as they Ger rtainly expect to do. However, poll
tics are not my present theme, and leaving Mr..
Packer to dream of Gubernatorial honors, / will
say something of matters of more permanent
interest.
Did any of the readers of THE TELEGRAPH
ever see q "cast" made at an iron furnace? If
not, it would well repay them to make a trip to
this place to enjoy the sight, independently of
the beautiful scenery they will enjoy on the road.
Day and night year ia and year out the fur
naces are roaring and flaming without inter-
mission. All night long they give magnificent
illumination, flashing into the river that runs
swiftly by, and lighting up the horizon for
miles. Four times in each twenty-four hours
"cast" is made; the boiling, bubbling cauldron
of fire is opened, the refuse is drawn out and
the pure iron melted from the ore is run off
into moulds and made ready for the market.
The spectacle afforded by least" made at mid
night is something worth little enthusiasm for
any one who has an eye for the picturesque.
An opening made in the bottom of the fur
Inv a fbn off
by a side channels; and when all the refuse of
the coal, lime, and iron ore, mingled into hard
vitreous mass, has passed off, out pours the
liquid iron like water, throwing off brilliant
showers of sparks as it runs along the channels
prepared for it in the earthen floor of the mould
ing room, until the whole space is covered with
glowing bars of liquid fire. These go by the
unromantic name of ''pigs," and are the fami-
liar black pig-iron of commerce. The iron
which fills the main channel is named the
''sOw." Not very poetical, it is true for although
the spectacle is magnificent this is a very prac-
tical operation by which the metal is extracted
from the ores and put into a shape for future
use.
The Glendon Iron Company has four furnaces
at this place, and one at South Easton, mile
further down the Lehigh river. The largest and
most recently erected of these furnaces is about
eighty feet in height and ten or twelve feet
thick in its widest part. They are built of COM
mon red brick, and lined with fre-brck The
new furnace is fitted with a magnificent blast
engine built by Merrick d Sons of Philadelphia.
In the oldest furnace the blast engine is run by
water-power. The furnaces are shaped
like crucibes, or rather they are
immense TASKS, and with all the appurtenances
each one of them is a complete and elaborate
ocst ~ To-, tlNo,, 1,,f,,
featuring pig-iron, the ore-which is a mixture
of hematite, or brown ore, found near this place.
and magnetic, or black ore, found in New Jersey
is mixed with limestone and COAL and thrown
in at the top of the furnace. The mass is kept
in a state of ignition by hot blast, and at the
largest furnace every twelve hours, and at the
smaller one every twenty-four hours, "cast'
is made. These furnaces are kept in operation
night and day. and they usa ally burn for about
three years, when it is found necessary to
'draw" them, for the removal of the Stag and
clinkers that choke them up and to make
other repairs.
This district is the centre of an extensive iron
trade. At South Easton is the Stuart Wire Mill
the most extensive establishment of the kind in
the country. 1t sends wire of all kinds to every
part of the United States, and it has just filled
large order from Brigham Young, who processes
to want it for fences, but in all probability it is
intended to cage in his wives. Another large
establishment on the Delaware, about mile
below Easton, is the Warren Foundry, which
is also one of the most extensive works of this
character in the United States. From fifty tC
siXty-ive tons of iron per day are poured at this
foundry. Here was cast the large thirty-si1
inch main for the Philadelphia Water Works
During the past year the Warren Foundry ha'
shipped several thousand tons of water-pipe t
California, for San Francisco and Los Angeles
Besides these, there are a number of bolt works
sheet-iron works, rolling-mills, etc.
Easton is about twelve miles from Bethlehem
on the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and is beau
tfully situated in the midst of the hills. Indeed
the whole trip from Philadelphia to Bethlehem
on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, and fron
Bethlehem to Easton, is one that is well wort
taking merely for the sake of looking at tn
country. The North Pennsylvania Railroa
passes through one of the richest districts i
Pennsylvania. Below Quakertown the lane
scape is softly undulating and beautiful wit
ripening fields of grain, farm-houses bowere
among the trees, and its stretches of woodland
- ''dewy pastures, dewy trees,
Softer than steep-all things in order stored,
A haunt of ancient Peace
Some of yourreaders are doubtless still cogita
ing where to spend q portion of the summe
Fashion demands that the city shall be torsake
by all but the regular can't-get-aways, the chi
dren need a chance to breathe the fresh air al
have a run in the green fields, and there are
thousand-and-one reasons why the dwelerS
the city should go out of town for few weeks
least during the hottest weather 1t is n questl(