The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1870-04-07
Hew steel n1anuEacture.

Keeping in view the importance OF Penn
syltania's great staples. coal anu iron, and
the various products of the latter. we have
from time to time, as new Developments
and discoveries have been made, laid them
before the readers of this l1urnal. For sew
eral years pnst. the most active efforts OF
our ''iTon men" have been directed towards
the discovery Of methods for simplifying
aud cheapening the processes for the produc.
tion of malleable iron and the manufacture OF
steel in large quantities, and making them
come directly possible from the crude
ore. The means prop, sed for accomplishing
this great desideratum have been numerous
and various, an, we believe all Of them
have been noticed in this Journal. Most of
them have been of foreign origin. Now.
however, We have new development in
our own State. large deposit Of iron ore
of a very peculiar nature has been recently
opened mp in York county, Pennsylvania.
This ore, We are informed upon good author
iiy has the quality of turning pig iron into
a good uIerchantable steel by simple mixture
and manipulation with the pig iron IN
pudding furnace of the ordinary coustruc-
ton. The proportion of the ore used must
of course vary according 10 the quality Of
the pig iron and the quality of the steel de-
sired but experience thus far seems TO prove
that with eighty per cent. of good iron,
twenty per cent. of the ore in question Will
produce quite 6ne quality of steel. Those
acquainted with the processes for making
steel, even by the most approved modern
methods, will OF course accept the above
statements Of Che curious and valuable infu-
ences OF this newly discovered ore. with re-
serve, as we do ourselves but the facts seem
to be thoroughly voGched for as they come
70 The are informed has
been tested in the presence of experienced
manufactm ers. in the abbott" rolling
mills, in Baltimore the Cambria" iron
works, at JohustowD, Pa. the ''LOchiel'
iron works. near Harrisburg the "Tama-
qua" rolling mills Coleman, Rahm e
Co.'s" works, at Pittsburg the alliance"
rolling mills, at Alliance, Ohio, and at other
places and in all cases it has been shown
to possess the remarkable quality claimed
for it, The steel produced during these tests
was generally used for making steel capped
rails. and one of these bars. made at Pitts
burg. was shown to possess tensile strength
of 1l2, 500 pounds to the square inch of crGRs
section.
All this appears to be as valuable as it is
remarkable and thus ia. unaccountable.
The chemical analysis of the ore shows the
presence of considerable quantities of manga
neSe, Si'icHE ana aIumihum with Inc IRON
The ore is soft and friable Ia the bed. so
much SO thas it can be mined with the spade.
but upon exposure to the atmosphere it snen
hardens. Professor Lesley, who has exam
ned the ore bed, estimates the contents at
II 900 600 roIs. For few months past
the discovery has made quite a stir among
the iron furnaces and rolling mills OF our
State and Maryland. and there is quite
strong desire to know more Of matter that
seems to promise such important results.
We do not yet understand. however, how a
homogeneous quality of steel can tie made
certain bv manipulation in a pudding fur
nace.-Phila Ledger.