The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-03-26
up the traffic. Everybody loOks upon the

| Ahu 6uuQ4u bunluGoo VI ku6 VuW0 beell
to be quite active. The Messrs. Hoyl
and Swartz 6 Sons state that the inquIr,
for Threahers and other agricultural ma
chimes, Is quite active, and they are ex.
pecting large and brisk trade. Their
has been some talk Of an extension beipC
granted q. Wells 3 Bro, but nothing ded
mite has been determined on. At presen
Mr., Spence Is running the eatabliHhmen
on general foundry work and stoves. Hi
own ahops are still extenslvely engaget
upon heavy machinery for the Belmon
furnace. ..
The great glass establishment o
Sweeney, McCluney & Go. 10 being rur
to its full capacity, and yet seems to have
very little use TOR It's immense ware room
The planning mills Of Squire Kerr and
Medill & Co. are both busy, indicating
that there Is good demand for their class
OF work.
Tho old reliable Benwood Furnace il
now turning out AhoV thirty tons oil
metal per day; and this without being
hurried any. /
THR OHIO CITY NAIL MILL "
Ia now rapidly approaching completion.
The engine has been received and Ia being
put in position, as Is also the bed plates ol
tho muck and sheet trains. In the Nail
department Mr.. Mccoy has everything
about ready for operation. A small run
ol the oompany's patent barbed nail has
been made in order to supply the imme-
dia!e wants Of some customers in the
Lake region, with whom the barbed nail
Is favorite.
The Ohio City Nail Works has fifty
machines in place, with room for an sd-
dltional tiIty. Everything about the nail
department seems to be conveniently ar
ranged. The coal for the mill will be de.
llvered into the bins from the bank by q
self'operating railway. Switches from the
mill to the Q. & P. Road have already
been laid, and a tram road will be laid
from the east end of the works to the
river SO that the shipping facilities OF the
mill will be equal to any in this vicinity.
THE STEEL WORKS,
ii wO may Judge by the number OF visitors,
seems at present to be the great attrac-
ton. Intense interest in the success Of
this new enterprise has been manifested
on both sides of the river, and the merits
OF Its products seem now to be beyond a
peradventure. The steel Is manufactured
from the very best qualities Of American
and foreign iron. The iron is cut up
into small pieces and deposited in
the crucibles in charges of seventy
dve or eighty pounds. The cru
cibles, after the medicine" as 1t
is called by Mr.. Smith, is put in, are
Theoretically sealed and placed in the fur
mace and heated 10 a temperature Of three
thousand degrees. They are then lifted
out by immense tongs, AMI when the caps
are removed there is very beautiful dis.
play OF brilliant sparks. As soon as the
surface OF the metal Is skinned It ia
poured In milk white stream into the
moulds. One Is surprised to find that in
stead ol any loss ol weight in this process
there is an absolute gain. Mr.. Smith, the
discoverer OF the process, Is q gentleman
sixty years of ago, and was born and
raised in Belmont county. At twenty
years of age he removed to Jefferson
county and learned the blacksmith trade,
in which he has been engaged as q prsc-
tical worker in iron and steel for forty
years. His first experiments were d.
rected to find flux better adapted to the
welding oi iron and steel than that in gen.
eral usein his business. His experiments in
this way led him step by step to process
BY which he was enabled to take old
wrought iron CRATE bars, which from long
use had become thoroughly impregnated
with sulphur, and entirely desulphurize
them, making them equal to the first
grades OF iron. About the year 1865 be
commenced experiments upon the con-
version Of iron into steel, first using COM
mon cheap grades Of iron In order TO dis.
cover the highest heat that could be OBJ.
tanned without destroying the texture oil
the metal. Having satisfied himself on
this point, and having obtained com.
pound by which be was enabled to extract
all the sulphur and thoroughly carbonizs
the iron, he tried an experiment in
which from common iron he succeed.
ed in producing a quality Of steel
that passed inspection in Philadelphia
and other places, Experiments made In
the Steel factory Of HusNey & Wells, ol
Pittsburgh, resulted in the production o!
an article equal to the best English steel
Preierring to locate himself in the
neighborhood Of Wheeling he declined
overtures from parties elsewhere, and In
January, 1878, set about the organization
Of the Wheeling Steel Works 90. The
organization was completed In March oI
that year, and about the middleo May
the erection Of the present works was
begun. The first run In the works was
made in January Of the preeent year, in
which common scrap iron was used,
which Tor some purposes made q very fair
grade Of steel, Being deslrous Of making
an article specially adapted for the man.
utacture oil "bis" for nail machines
the company concluded to use nothing
but the best qualities OF iron. We
have been at some pains to obtain the
opinions Of those who have tested the
steet, as to its merits, and all whom we
have consulted agree in p,onouncing II
the best they have ever used. On the
whole, our sister town has reason to con.
gratulate herself on the success Of this
new enterprise, as well as on the generally
prosperous condition Of her industries. /