The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1871-01-05

mingled with it. Upon these the lime
stone acts as fux and unites them with
itself, forming SOFT of glass and scoria,
called Stag, closely resembling volcanic
matter. The melted iron having great
er specific gravity, sinks to the bottom Of
the furnace, the Stag floating on Top like
oil upon water" Having delivered This
chemical lecture, for which we are inLebl-
ed to several months application to You-'
mans chemistry and Dana mineralogy,
together with the substantial assistance
of specialized Professor, we felt as if We
had '.just done it, t 4s..r
We had the crowd all eagape at our.
wisdom, and bad it not been for lurk-
ing smile in the corners of the furnace
tenders grimy face, our triumph would
have been complete. I wonder what he
was laughing at Guess he never stud
led chemistry. III
We were lowered from our height by
means of a platform elevator used for
hosting the charcoal and ore to the sum-
NIT of the furnace, and then entered the
moulding room. We saw ditch about
eight inches deep, extending lengthwise
through the room, the floor of which Is
composed of soft sand From this ditch
which is called 1.-THE rum Other bitches
branch off perpendicular, which are
euphoniously and elegshtly termed 'sows.
From these ''sovp. a number OF small
bitches are peatly moulded, each about
four feet IA length, three or four inches
in wiacn, and about the same in depth.
Carrying out the idea previously indicat-
ed. these tender off-shoots are named
pigs" and the whole number branching
from each .'sow'' comprise ''litter.2'saa
Looking atthe furnace, we noticed an
orifce about four feet from the base from
which melted matter, was slowly oozing,
and flowing down slope toward the
door. This we found to be the Stag
which, as we have, before said. floats
upon the surface of the melted iron.
Some of this Stag is very beautiful, re,
sembling glass, and is taken when hot
and paste and drawn into rods and canes,
very pretty to lookggat, but exceedingly
brittle. Some. again, looks like solidiGed
sea foam, snowy white, and so light that
a mass two or three feet square, weighs
but few ounces. + = - -
We shall run off'1'in about fifteen
minutes, said our worthy attendant, and
if you can wait it will give you better
idea of the process, than mere descrip-
ton possibly can. We gladly waited,
and in short time, all was ready. 81
The men took their stations in various
parts of the building; some of them with
shovels to break down the partitions at
the entrances of the various bitches
others with bars to direct the flowing
metal in its proper channels. A few
blows with an iron crow bar at some spot
in the lower part Of the furnace, and the
plug is removed.
A stream of seething and Kissing IL
quid fire comes leaping down the run,
dazzling our eyes with its brilliancy.H At
first we had taken our station quite close
to the moulds, but the intense heat soon
drove US to the doors. One after anoth-
er of the various filters was filed, until a
splendid drove of flame colored pigs lay
before US in all their brilliancy. 1t was
now dusk but the light reflected from the
hot metal, made it bright as if the sun
were shining. As soon as the pigs began
to assume reddish hue, which they did
as they soiidifea, the workmen- threw a
thin layer of sand upon them, and then,
standing upon the heated mass with
heavy iron bars, began breaking the pigs
from their hold upon the maternal body.
We asked Mr. L. the amount of pig iron
before US, ''about eight and half tons
in this run but we sometimes go much
higher" These pigs vary in weight
from IS to 90 pounds according as the
bitches are filed. All that now remains
to be done is to weigh the pigs and carry
them on to the dock for shipment.
A few days after we visited the furnace
of the First National Iron Co., with a
friend who introduced us to the genial
Secretary of the Company, M. r. Hunt.
Esq, who took great pains to show us
the extensive premises and explain the
connection and uses of the various ma.
chimes belonging to the establishment.
The essential features are the same as
those in the West Depere furnace, but the
motive power is steam instead of water.
The boilers are heated by the burning
gases generated In the smelling process.
The furnace is tapped about fifty feet
aboV the ground and a large iron pipe
introduced which conducts the fame
| downward to the ground level and be-
meath the boilers. This pipe is divided
| into two branches as it enters the graf
ings so that either one or both boilers can
be used at pleasure, there being valves to
regulate and shut off the supply of gas
Your townsman. Jonah Richards. Esq,
/ is a large stock holder of this company
and we believe was for time president
of it.
Hoping this description will interest
your readers, we subscribe ourselves
1,EE& EEaz A. S. j. Z
TRUTH.--Truthi is Gods baptism on the
hills. First, it is ike dewdrops, silent