The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1882-11-06
Gkle :QtttellfQjetleer.
''nicr, Nos. Is ana - Fourteenth street
srEGt. NAivSiS' wiIsE,.iNu.
A Man who Has liad Some Experience
LIN ,1heir Manuihcture Eiscw hcre-IIis
.6kIygesiisAsAs 10 The Character Of Steel

l. NHggest'oASAH 10 Tue CbHFAe&er 0f Steel
Ito bs Uss,l. q hf''0It ~ ,tpE lylSl
Bi!ton ln,elliscnccr. lFnlu E'elelh,'t y
! WIiEATLAsp, "a, November l.-1u
your issues Of the 3Oth md 3lst ult., sen,
me bya friend, read with interest "thc
Important Events ut Hand" Tho manu-.
iacture Of steel ior.sleel nailsand ccntering
ofseverl railways in Wheeling arc both
calculated to waken up interest In the
public mind. The prosperity Of any place
depends primarily OIL the facilities for
shipping 10 and from the place and sec.
ondly on the natural resources Of such n
place. Wheeling is already possessed Of
both to- considerable extent, and also ap.
pears to bp backed up by an enleyprislng
spirit which may ever and anon bc heard
crying ont excelsior" ~ 98lH0 -
For some time Wheeling has been tho
capital Of Tho world Tor the manufacture Of
cut nails, ind for that reason We naturally
look to It Tor the lead In every improve.
mcnt pertaining to cut nails, or ut my rate
never expect 10 SEQ 1t lagglng behind.
AS the manufacture OF steel and steel
nails are subjects in which have had
some experience, may perhaps be a!lowed
to rciatc PORTION OF that experience with.
out obtrusion, or any assumption TINT
Wheeling manufacturers need any assist.
ance or encouragement from mo In such Il
derartnre, but principally 10 establish my
CHIN rs ono Of the first, II not tho first. 10
manufacture steel nails on commercial
scale. Referring, then, 10 my note book,
lind this memorandum: january Goth,
1877. Had some nails cut ut the Three
Mile House nail factory from Desscnler
steel Sheet These were shlngle Idly. nails
and cut from No. lG wg. | may here OK
plain TINT Three Mile House Is a suburb
Of the city Of Halifax, Nova Scotia Arch.
bald Faulkner was the pailcr who cut the
nails Tor me. In March Of the same year a
gentleman named Joseph Muitheud and
myself bought the Dartmouth nail factory
and commenced running the same ID
April Our first importation OF steel for
steel mills WAS in June Of the same year.
We at once cut it up and put the nails on
market. They were the pretticst nails ever
seen in Halifax. TIE clean cut edges and
the beautiful polished face, TO say nothing
OF their toughncss md strength, soon made
them famous among the muster builders
and carpenters, but they were too high
priced, especially for common purposes,
when iron nails were only 50 70 per key,
and il II null would drive it was considered
good enough by contractors. The steel
nail was, therefore, pretty enough to look
~ m l,,,k
high priced to suppiant the common iron
nail. The l0iy. we're cut from No l2wg.,
tie 6dy. from l4wg, the Gly. from l5wg.
and the Ally. from lGwg.
81 Isl " %as ty.-II E Is yI +
g. nas...-..-l0dy-i lb 81 nails....,. lUtly -i IT,
The Gdy, dy. and 10 dy. went Off slowly,
the i dy. rather better. | coon found that
| could only use steel for finishing nails,
brads, fine box nails, shoe nails, etc. The
demand for this class OF goods was, how:
ever, too small to make any show in
spa'se!y-Popnlated province like Nova SEQ
tin, the inhabitants OF which only cqualeG
in numbers the population Of the city OF
Boston. My partner withdrew from the
concern after the first year The was also
member OF firm OF steam and gas fitting
engineers, and the terms OF his partnership
there preeluded his partnership clsewherej.
|, therefore, was left to myself. Nails went
down to $40, and rendered it impossible
for INC to rnu, except 1T Il loss, having to
pay $40 per net ton for nail plate. So !
just shut down OH iron nails until prices
stiltned. During this lime and in fact all
the time was in Halifax, or rather Dart.
mouth, endeavored TO show the Halifax
capitalists and merchants the advantages OF
II steel works and rolling mill there, but the
rec iradtand importing element is too strong
ut that point for much success in that dircc-
tors. | hoped and held on however until
the carly part OF 1881, when gave up steel
nails and all hope Of steel and Il rolling
mill in Halifax and canlc to the States,
glad TO find trades and manufactures better
protected. II / had had only moderate
demand for steel nails ect., ! could have done
pretty well in Nova Scotia / had to i'm.
port my steel from England at from S64 to
SIS per gross ton inJiverpooi. My 10 dy.
| soldal s. Is; my4 dyatSG, and my Y.icnh
brads at Is cents per pound. These last
were cut from is. W. &. and numbered
30os 10 the pound. The steel was not made
Tor this purpose, but was the ordinary rail
steel, and would vary from about 30 to 50
in carbon or .wot,ld have wider rancc
than even this, for it is moro than probable
that steel either too high or too low would
be rolled into orders Of little or no conse.
quencc aud where the quality was indef.
mite. Ii my orders had been OF sufficient
Importance for special elbows" or "runs,"
might have had steel much better suited
to my purpose. AS it was, l got some steel
not much better tlmnIiron, and some that
would nearly. jump tho machine
out oia'the factory, it was so
hard. II had several breakages from
this cause. The grinding and hardening
Of the knives had also to be modified to
suit the new material and the yariableness
OF this gave us any amount OF trouble. Now
il tho " heeling manufacturers make their
own steel, or more properly "ingot iron"
they will escape many OF the troubles had
Furthermore il they adopt the opcn.hearth
furnaces to make their "ingot iron" they
will find it more satisfactory and reliable
than the Bessetncr, especially for the soft
product they require; besides it will give
each manufacturer the opportunity Of max.
ing his own material and satisfying himself
Just al he is now doing. In conclusion
may Just add that the idea Of steel nails did
not eulunate from myself, but, sinsularly
enough, from Wheeling. A. G. Mckee was
ut that time cashier i'll the Peoples Bank
Of Wheeling, and in letter sometime
about Christmas, 1876, suggested steel nails,
took up the idea and pu, it into execution
rs soon as | could afterwards. must not
-, tl.,1 s1E,s- A., L.,
+. Faulkner, with the carrying out OF all
the practical details and for tile interest
and pride, he took in the really good work
he turned out. Yours truly,
7.4 49,. Gar III. tVW W, WApLISGToH.
4 Had state Of Affairs Down at BclIairc.
Independent OF Saturday.
Bellaire is probably no worse to-day
than for years past, but from the number
r 49,, .o,n, .,n,,tr,. IN a. -