Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1883-08-06
GAS IN THE MILLS.
How II Worked Under a Boil
Ing Furnace
At BrilIiant-Expedition and Economy
the Principal Features-Deserip-
Of the Test.

The recent test Of natural gas at Brilliant,
for boiling furnace purposes, seems to have
been evidently satisfactory. A Wheel
ing mill man said to REGISTER reporter
some time since: "Mr. Spaulding seems to
think there is no end TO natural gas" and
this test seems to verify his words. The
experiment. is frought with interest to our
Wheeling mills and the details are worthy
OF space. The test was made at the Bril-.
liant mill, on Friday morning in the pres
ence of large number of interested men,
whose presence, says q Stubenville ex-
change, handicapped captious criticism.
for they all concede the test was fair and
the result, as indicated above, far more
favorable than could have been expected
by even those who are considered enthus-
lasts in the advocacy Of natural gas for
fuel.
In preparing the furnace for boiling it
was necessary to make bottom" which
consists Of throwing in scrap wrought iron,
and melting it sufficiently TO run together,
q part of it making the bottom" which
was accomplished in u minutes, being in
itself proof positive Of the excessive heat
produced by the gas, as 80 minutes is the
ordinary time consumed in this work. The
gas was then turned of, and the scrap
ball." or the part which was not melted,
was taken out, while the bottom" was
allowed to be set or harden.
The scrap ball" was then again
put in the furnace allowed TO
melt again, adding TO the bottom" and
this was again repeated, the time for each
addition being about the same as for the
first. Then pulverized iron ore, mixed
with salt TO assist in fiuxing, and the water
for adhesive purposes. was put into the
furnace and the gas was turned on to the
extent of 1-5 of a q inch pipe. After a
lapse of about Is minutes, pig metal sutti.
cient for one charge was put into the fur
mace and the boiling began and was finish
ed in one hour and eleven and three-quar-
ter minutes, at the end OF which
time the iron was taken from the furnace
in balls that is in the condition Of
wrought iron. This iron, however, was not
ready for squeezing as it was desired to re-
work it, and probably ten minutes longer
would have been required 10 put it in
shape for the SqueeZers; still the time even
then would be much shorter than is re-
Quired for the same work in coal furnace.
fhe ayerageltime on the old plan being one
and three quarter hours, it being cOnsid-
cred specially quick ii me at an hour and
half when a furnace is in particularly good
condition, while a new furnace invariably
It'lulTSS lhO
The economy of the gas fuel was appar-
ent in several particulars; there was no la
borious feeding of coal and 40 stirring or
cleaning of CRATE bars. Neither is there
any high cost for fuel conveyed at great
labor to the furnace, while the time savei
by the speed in boiling is another element
that must necessarily contribute largeIytI-
ward making gas fuel infinitely cheaper
than coal in the boiling of iron, as 1t has
been proved to cheaper expense in other
lines Of manufacture.
All who were present expressed them
selves thoroughly satisfied with the test
and were earnest III their encOpiums OF
the gas plan for boiling. There was not
single doubt of its utility expressed.
The patentee of the furnace thus tested
for the first time is James NJ. Matthews,
the brickayer who built the Mingo fur
naces and has done all such work at Bril-
liant. 1t would seem from what we are
told of the success Of his experiment, that
Mr. Matthews has struck good lead. We
congratulate him upon the development Of
this morning and trust his inventive powers
may receive the reward they so evidently
deserve, and we also congratulate the
Spaulding Iron Company upon their bril-
liant outlook, and it will not be a matter of
surprise to hear of stock in the concern
selling away above par.