National opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1865-1874, 1873-01-17

IIbt'NNbl "hN
by. Henry Cort, an Englislifn.,l, and
patented by him in 1888 and 1874 III u
new process t"r " shingling, welding,
and manufacturing iron and steel into
bars, plates, and rods Of purer quality
and in larger quantities thau hereto.
fore, by more efIectual application oi
fire machinery" For this invention
Cort has been called the father of the
ivon-trade Of the British nation" and it
il estimated that his inventionhas, dur
ing this century. giving employment to
5000, 900 of persons, and Increased the
wealth of Great Britain by $4,000, 900, :
0OU. ~ his experiments for perfacting
his process, Mr.. Cort spent his fortune.
and though it proved SO valuable, he
died poor, having been involved by the
Government in lawsuit concerning
his patent which beggered him. Six
years before his death, the Govern.
ment, as an acknowledgment Of their
wrong, granted him yearly pension of
sI,WW, and ut his death this miserly
reconiprnsc WAS reduced 10 his widow
to 1926. When iron is simply melted
and run into any mold, its texture is
granular, and it is SO brittle rs to be
much tensile strength. The process of
pudding consisted in stirring the mol
ten iron run out in puddle, and had
the effect Of 80 changing its antonio
arrangement as to render the process
of rolling il more efiicacious. The pro-
cess of boiling in considered mn improve
ment upon this. The boiling furnace is
an oven heated to an intense heat by n
tire nrged with blast. The cass-iron
sides are double, and constant crcula.
tion of water is kept passing through
the chamber thus made, In order to pre-
serve the structure from fusion by the
heat. The inside is lined with fire.
brick covered with metallic ore and Stag
over the bottom and sides, and then,
the oven being charged with the pigs of
iron. the heat is let on. The pigs melt,
and tic oven is filed with molten iron.
The puddler constantly stirs this mass
with a bar let through hole in the
door, until the iron rolls mp. or "fer-
mepts, as it is called. The fermenta-
ton ir caused by the combustion of n
portion of the carbon in the iron, and ns
soon as the excess of this is consumed,
the cinders and Stag sink to the bottom
of the oven, leaving the semi-fuid mass
on the top. Stirring this about, the
puddler forms II into balls of such a |
size as he can conveniently handle,
which are taken out and carried on little
cafs, made to receive them, to " the
squeezer" To carry on this process
requires great skill and judg-
ment in the pnddler. The heat neces-
,arily generated by the operation is 80
Brca. that very few persons have the
physical endurance to stand it, So
great is it that the clothes upon the
person frequently catch fire. Such a
strain upon tn, physical powers natur-
lily leads those subjected to it to
indulge in excesses. The perspiration
which flows from the puddlers in
treams while engaged in their work is
aused by the natural effort of their
'odies to preserve themselves from in
'lry by keeping their normal tempera- I
ure, Such consumption of the fluids +
t the body causes great thirst, and the +
xhaustion of the labor, both bodily and t
rental, leads often to the excessive nse i
I stimulants. In fact, the work is too h
Iborious. Its conditions are srch that
o one should be subjected to them. r
he necessity, however, for judgment. "
sperience, and skill on the part Of tn
perator has up to this time prevented T
lie introduction of machinery to take n
he place of human labor in this pro- "
'ss. The successful substitution in
odern times of machines for perform -,
& various operations which formerly -
emed to require the intelligence and n
,xterity of living being for their ex- g
ution, justifies the expectation that 8,
e study now being given to the organ Va y.
alton of industry will lead to the in " "
ntion of machines which will obviate ~
e necessity for human suffering in the
ocess of pudding. Such consum- C'
alton would be an advantage to all ce
asses concerned. The attempts which to
We tea.l made in this direction have "
t as yet proved entirely successful. oa