New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-11-11
SWEDISH IRON.

brated "Swede's IRON recently made a tour among
some of the most noted mills and mines of the king
dom The results Of his observations are set forth
in the following letter. which we commend to the
charcoal pg-iron-masters of this country particular
Is ia the hemlock and tamarac districts of the North
Swede's iron is manufactured wholly from
charcoal Its high reputation is due Jointly to the tue
used I'm the smelling OF the and making the blooms
and 10 the quality and purity Of the the br anu
plato iron Of Sweden especially esteemed for 'o,
strength and elasticity. Notable Instances are -,
where steamships made Of Swede's iron nave i a,r
rocks without breaking. The plates ana riDs - con.
bent. For gun and pistol barrels Tor "ioue .,' mar
non and for steel tins famous iron commands 'o '
kets OF the world At several WORKS "hion ,. tch
strength Of various pieces OF IRON was :. nt,,ord
- ex,niIi,v was shown by bending II back"uiu
and forward mt least 20 times III 'i'o' "" ~
Of 30 degrees without breaking IT, . ..- -
Th ,o,. production Of pigiron in Sweden In 1907 was
os ,99 TINS which about One-sixth oi 'he ouo' III
h Tinted States and 100 Of the product III TREAT bin
,or, Of the value and the consumption of this iron
m ne NJ interest OF the product Of 1867 the value OF
the pigrou s5OcoO and that OF the bars sSSoooo
The vaIue OF both exported $6,6oOO00 OF this ex
rot only onesxth went TO tho United States ana nearly
fyc-sixhs Great Britain, which requires IL III inc
sheffield steel manufacture and in other WORK deiha'u
ing the highest strength and elasticity. The English can
not make and do not have any such iron While the
Americans produce q great deal fully equal 10 H.
IL was in the famous old province Of Nermeland that
went into debatable ground and battlefield Tor CEN
turtles between the swedes and Norwegians. IL abounds
in large and beautiful lakes and streams 1.-THE writer
seems 10 describe country like the iron district OF the
Adirondack and Of Northern Michigan and NORTHEAST
ern Mnnesota-Edl large proportion of the surface
consists of low ranges Of forestcoyered mountains
Agriculture in vermeand does not produce cereals
enough for home consumption though Its agriculture Is
above that of other provinces. Very many OF the
peasants and cultivate good farms, and the homes
of the poorer generally look and tidy and not
unfrcquenty adorned with shade trees Rye oats,
hay and potatoes the principal crops With the best
culture the ground lies falOw one year out OF eight
During that year il is cultivated and manurcd and In
Autumn sowed with rye and the crop taken from 1t the
following year. Then is used for grass three or four
years then sowed with oats. Charcoal dust is used
henedciay enrich the soil for potatoes and other
crops Tue old fashioned farming implements are In USE
The worm" fence is also most common The soil Is
generally light loan. Women perform much of the agri-
cultural labor. a field Of ten will sometimes
twenty persons gathering crops, the most OF them
women TIE grain is dried In much detail on poles or
racks and finally stored in barns before thrashng The
seats the principal irOniworks most generally COM
prise estates Of some hundreds OF Of cultivated
land where also beside other stock TO be seen from
twenty to thirty head Of nice cows.
peculiar in taste for parks, trees.
and flowers Up at Resberg in latitude Go, something
above Stockholm, and in about the same latitude as the
Great Slave Lake and the south shore Of Alaska In
ripe; yet they not produced 10 much extent That
locality is 800 feet higher than Stockholm, and the climate
more severe; accordingly the white oak which, In the
parks around Stockholm thrives in England 10
seven diameter, and aains great age and sen-
dor Is not native here; yOung oak, however, which
planted had grown to the hight OF ten feet and
looked we'll Further down, Nova, oaks that had been
planted were some ten inches in diameter About the
the large estates, the grounds are hand
somey laid out into parks and gardens sometimes having
running water a fountain and variety OF beautiful
flowers shrubbery and fruits. The walks are Of loan
instead Of gravel Occasionally there in front OF the
house vista for a mile, and always some handsome
of shade trees Among the latter the white
rch grows to great size, and performs Its part with
,race the soft maple and horsechestnut are common
these large the houses Of wood generally
two stories HIGH but with wings extended ancient and
iately In appearance and extremely spacious Th'
places indeed charming.
To be secure in a supply OF charcoal the iron manu-
acturers find it necessary to incur the outlay Of holding
large areas forest land Large capitals are employee
10 carry on the business. Charcoal being OF To-
great bulk TO transport far with economy, the iron or
is generally taken TO the coal meets it half way ac
cordngy and rolling mills are often distant
from the mines The charcoal is made of pine or spruce
and keep up the growth Of the forests is now the
practice among large proprieors to the ground
clearing with theseed of the fir tree Formerly the
peasants took from cleared piece after clearing and
burning IL crop OF rye then left the tract 10 he
OF 40 years the trees again grow to sum
Gent size for coal From this practice OF cutting and
growing forest the hill and mountain sides have
checkered appearance. the young trees have bright
green and adjoningsquare of larger growth darker
color.
ROASTING THE ORE.
Having reached the place Of manufacture the ore il
broken into pieces five inches thick and roasted
IN large kiln for &c The fuel ts gas, saved from
the The roasting purfes it, and reduces
ITS weight per 1t is then broken into smaller
pieces by machinery and is readyOr the blast furnace
The proportions of the" CHARGE in the blast furnace
weighed ard are a. follows ore, 12 cwt. limestone,
IScwt charcoal Sc bushels The length Of the blast
is here called campaign" In 20 hours after the
charge has put the metal is out at the foot Of
the furnace moulds about foot square by three
inches deep, as pig-rOn.
The forge IN the mill is abOufOur feet square, masc TO
hold melted iron The pigron put in with certain
proportion Of Stag and melted with charcoal. Oh each
side warm air called the blast is forced into the forge
by machinery The oxygen discovered by swede)
thus introduced greatly promotes combustion. The
wOrkmen every few minutes shovel in more charcoal
(which Las been previously washed) and almost con
-tsutly stir and try the bubbling mass This process
having continued about hour, the product is lump
that would fill half bushel This is quickly
taken the pOnderOus mumbling hammer, under which
tits held and turned till repeated blows have crushed
the Stag and worked the iron into short
round blooms. A small boy tends the machinery which
makes the hammer go slow or fast-nOt man as in
America. The bloom is then ready for further manufac
ture into bar rod iron by OF the welding furnace
and roller or hammer.
For ordinary skilled labor the average wages paid
their workmen by the Udderholm Company is fifty
four cents (goldl per day, which includes everything
This Is about the average pay per day ia all the Swedish
Iron Works The wOrkmen derive some advantage in
procuring few articles OF subsistence OF good quality