The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-08-02
NUMBER So.
TO WORKERS IN STEEL.


The opinion expressed recently by one
Of our best informed iron manufacturer
to the effect that the iron manufacturer
and workers in iron and steel Of the pres
ent day. instead of understanding the ma
ture of iron and steel, really know con-
paratively but little about either, having
only acquired as it were the alphabet Of
the business, is frequently coroborated in
practical way that leaves little room for
debate.
The latest instance brought 10 our
knowledge is embraced in the experience
of a practical steel maker, who has ex-
pended forty years over the forge, and
who, according to his own statement,
worked in the traditional grooves trod BY
his predecessors for many years, unques
tionably accepting the common theories
Of his craft, until accident afforded him an
opportunity to examine into, and decide
some things which led to a conclusion diff
fering wholly from the commonly received
opinions Of his fellow-craftsmen If his
conclusions are correct, (and every intelli-
gent worker in steel can satiAfy himself
upon that point, and at all events Il wDnl5
be well for steel workers to subject the
theory 70 a fair test), very little care will
secure to steel workers an immense saw
ing.
According to our informant, in the Ian
guage of the shop, when a piece Of steel
Is overheated, it flies to pieces under the
hammer, It is cast aside as worthless. the
opinion obtaining that the life is burned
out Of it. This iargon Of the shop is not
unfamiliar to us. We hear it every day
among iron workers. Our old steel work
er informs as that experience has demon
strated to him the incorrectness If this
conclusion, as commonly applied to steel
His statement will be regarded in some
quarters as opposed tO the recognized
principles upon which the steel manufac-
turer bases his operations. In substance
it amounts 10 this That the best or,li-
narily derived from forge cannot, as an
agency, affect the character ~ the steel I:
that steel Is not injured BY overheatIng IN
the forge, and no absolute loss can ensue,
save the low percentage lost In scales, as
in the working of all hard metals
Our old steel workers mode Of reason
ing is 50 simple that we present il as We
received it from him. Beginning with
the manufacture, he argues what all will
acknowledge that no forge can produce a
heat of half the intensity at which the
metal is poured into the TASKS. Where
steel is subjected to intense heat in the
forge, the moment the hammer strikes it
1t parts, not because the principle is in any
manner changed, but simply because it
possesses less cohesive power. If, instead
Of throwing the steel thus easily broken
aside, in the belief that it is ruined, the
worker it steel will permit it to lie ON his
anvil until 1t falls to lower temperature,
he will find that he can do what he pleases
with it. That IL has not been ia any wav
injured by the uverheating. To prove
this, it is only necessary to take up any Of
the pieces Of steel thus cast aside as worth
less, reheat them, and place chem under
the hammer, when II viii be found that
they can be drawn down precisely in the
same manner as before the overheating
process. Any workman employed at the
numerous forges in this city, IN making
steel hammers, can satisfy himself upon
this point in half an hours time. Let him
take up fragment Of the steel which,
when he endeavored t. punch the eye Of
the hammer, flew to pieces, reheat it, and
see if he cannot work it as before. If he
can do this, it follows then that the large
percentage Of waste growing out Of "'over-
heating il, in effect, inexcusable where
the truth is kn ,wn, and in order that it
may be known, our old steel worker EN-
ploys the Telegraph as a means to dissent
nate the information.
Our informant is Mr.. James Patterson,
Of Brooklyn, at present in this city upon
private business, and favorably known as
an inventor. Mr.. Patterson is convinced
that a knowledge Of the facts h. sets forth
will insure an immense saving to his old
craftsmen, basing his calculations upon
the average waste incurred under his own
observation, and at the hands Of workmen
in his own employment at various times.
-Pittsburg Telegraph.