The Red Cloud chief., 1877-03-22
Th. Metals In uldsn Timc.N

II has sometimes b~en Questioned
whether The k.sy plans bal any kno~i
cis~ Of steel I, e.ms unreasonable
to deny them this knowl~is~ Iron
Was known a: the ~~ATlirsI time 81 which
are have Any g-coui Il il often m~n-
toned Ia the Die AMI in Homer. u 10
shown ia the carly IaintIngs on the
walls or Ia. tomt.s AZ Thet~a. where
butchers Ai- represented as sharpening
their knives on pieces of metal colorsa
blue. which ~er- mos, probably ps~css
II s;r.i. Iron has bc~n found in auan-
ti,y In the ruln~i palso-s Of Assyris
and in "a. inscriptions 81 that country
letters arc sp.krn 81 as having t~cn
male Of iron. which - also mrttion~i
IN connection with Other metals a. Ia
lead To the superstition that II ss re
gaIdei ~ a base and common metal.
Moreover In the .;i-a; PYRAMID. q pi~cc
of iron was found IN a place where IL
must have lain for 500 years. tn"
tendency of iron Ia oSiiisr must render
It's preservation for any long period rare
and exceptional. The quality of iron
which - now made hy the races 20
Africa and India IL tha, which Is known
~ wrought iIun In anci.n, tlmrs. Dr.
Percy says. In. iron which was msi~
Was always wrought iron. 10 1. very
nearly pure iron. and a very small add
ton Of carbon would convert II into
.teel. Dr. Perry Saws the extraction OF
y-pd mail-able irun directly from tho
ore requires a degree of skill very far
inferior Ia that which is implied In tho
manufacture - bronze" And there In
no great secret Ia making steel: The ma
tivrs OF India now make excellent steel
in the most primitive way. which they
have practic~i from time i~mmemorial.
The supply OF iron In India as early ~
he fourth and hfth centuries seems Ia
have been unlimited. Tie iron pillar
II Delhi In a remarkable work for such
an early period. II u "A single piece Of
wrought iron Gf,y feet IN length. and q,
weighs not less than seventeen tons.
How the Indians o'grd this large mass
II iron and other heavy pieces which
their distrust 81 ia. arch led thsm Tn
use In the construction Of roofs. We do
not know. In the temples of DrissA
iron VA used In large masses ~ beams
or giriers In roo: work In the thirteenth
century. The art of extracting metals
from the ore Wa prsctised at a very
Early date In Great Britain. The ~xis-
tence long ago 10 tin mines In Corn
wall. which are so often spoken 20 by
classical writers. Ia weilsnown by ali.
That iron WAS also extracted from tlI,
ore by the ancient i,riions IL most prob
able. and u was largely used for many
purposes by them before the Roman
conquest. Til. Romans worked ou
ron extensively la the Wesld ~ Kent.
~ We assume from the large hears ~
slab containing Roman coin which still
remain there. The Romans always
awaited themselves Of the mineral
wealth of the countries which ihry
conquered. and their mining operations
were often carried out ON the largest
scale. al In spain for instance. where n
many ss forty thousand miners wsr-
regularly employed in the mines a, Ser
Carthage. Coal which Was used for or
binary PURPOSES IN England ~ early a.
the ninth century. does not appear To
have been largely used for iron sm.lt-
ing until the eighteenth century. though
a patent Wa granted for smelling iron
with coal in ia. year 1911. The use Of
charcoal for that PURPOSE was not given
up until the beginning 81 this CENTURY.
since which period an enormous In
cress In the mining and metAllurgleAl
have taken place: the guam
tity Of coai raised In the United King
dom In 1873 having amounted 10 one
hundred AMI twenty-ssven million Ions
and the quantity Of pig-iron TO upwards
VI six and a half million TINS.