Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1884-08-21
The ACE OF STEEL,
Why if is Bound TO Drive Iron
Out.
Less Costly to Work and Better to USE
A Sad Blow to Workmen---
Why They Lose
Their Places,

Just at this peculiar juncture, when the
local iron world is holding its breath and
waiting for the next step, the following
article. from the S,cubcnvillc Gazette, Is OF
particular interest:
1t is generally conceded in this region
where the best nails in the world are pro
duc,d. that the time is not far distant when
the iron nail will be supplanted by the steel
nail, which will throw hundreds of men out
# employment.
Anlrhing on the subject of the new in.
ycurion that will upset the equilibrium OF
the nail business and at the same time re
duce the employing capacity Of the mills Is
of great interest. and We make no apology
for going into the matter at some length.
Information that has been gathered by
the press shows that the reason why steel
nails can be made with less labor than iron
nails is because the steeel itself is made by
the Besscmer process, which turns out i'm
mcuse quantities by very simple machinery,
while in the case of iron used for nails the
process is by hand, very labOrious and slow.
A Besscmcr converter can make from 40
to go tons Of steel per day simply by the
help of few men to attend machinery. 1t
ism enlarged foundry process. where metal
is melted and operated upon chemically.
This metal is poured out into ingols, and
these ingots are heated and rolled into steel
nailplatc and cut the same as the iron nail
plate.
But the case is different with the plates
for iron nails. First the pig-iron is put in
the pudding furnace, "A hali-tou at 4 time,
and worked IaboriouSly by two men. a pud'
der and helper. for an hour and half
Five heats constitute ordinarily Il day
work and the product is in the neiThbOr-
hood OF a ton or ton and quarter OF
iron, which is heated and rolled into nail
plate and cut TO convenient lengths to Dc
handled by the nail cutters. Twenty pmt-
piers and helpers might turn out twrlv" 10
fifteen tons OF iron plate IN day, but the
same force at BcsScmcr plant might turn
ont ten 10 twenty times that quantity Otslc"i
4 Rc,SCmer blow can be made in thlr
" to forty five minutes and produce from
i've to fifteen tons, according TO the caPa"I.
ty Of the converter simply by the labor Of
unskillcd men TO fill the converter with the
necessary material and the labor Of skilled
man to turn a little wheel to r"gulIte the
blast hy which the impurities in the mate.
rial are oNidizcd and eliminated. One
Bgss"mcr plant makes 700 tons III o"v H!}
With two Ccnrrr,ers dong their b"s.. and
Ills with III" work Z! Il small ,u%d Of Labor
rs 1t would require the labor Of irow
900 to .2OO skilled iron workers TO make
the same quantity of puddIri iron. and ihnn
t wuv,t be vastly inferior 10 til" b,SSnm'r
steel.
TIE actual labor Of cutting the mil Plate
~ into nails is the same with cithcc iron
pate or steel plato. The saving in labor is
in the preliminary procc,s Inscribed.
There are ct present twp ReSsruvr giants
making steel nail plate Uuc is al Br!lajrc,
and consists of two toGrton conycrters. Its
first blow was made April y. \ few men
here do what 200 did before The second
Bessemer plant is at dorchester, Mass,
and also consists Of two fourton convcrtcr6
The first blow of this establishment was
made on the ID Of June
4 third plant is in process Of erection,
md will probably not be in operation until
some time next year; il will have two four
ton cOnverters Here is present and pros.
pcctive capacity of six cOnycrterS Of four
ions capacity each, casting i'll less than an
hour. Hand labor in the rolling mills is
being slowly driven to the wall. Steel is
supplanting iron gently, but the revolution
has obtained II strong iootho,d, and n".hjng
can arrest it. Steel rails can he made
cheaper than iron rails aud are much mora
,eryiccabe. The same will be true Of other
forms of iron. rs progress is made.
The complaint made rs 10 steel nails Is
that they are smoother than iron nails. and
therefore have less grip on the surrounding
material but their use has not been extern
sive enough to say what they are worth
compared to iron nails. They will prOba-
llv last longer, and being made with less
labor and out of cheaper material they rau
crowd iron nails ont, Just as steel rails have
crowded iron rails out.
The process of pudding iron !, costly De
cause done by hand The spongy iron is
manipulated for the purpose Of having the
foreign substances removed lv oxygen; but
in the Bcssemer process air is simply forced
through the molten metal, and its oxygen
uniteS with the foreign substances and
leaves the residue con, crtcd into steel. Ia
the hand rroccSs-i. e, pudtling--it is i'm
possible to get Il strong or hot enough blast
a drive out the foreign Substances which
nrIaug in Grade iron. !. e, carbon. rhn..
.hornus. sulphur etc. but 10y .he aid Of
powerful blast, in the Bassemer process
..Y"rythirg wanted ont is sent OGt a. one
operation bv chemical and mcchlEical a.