The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1884-11-06
Inventionlin Steel Making

4 OCt, IL SIN .t+4 ti4i
The ten iron firms at present intereste
in the manufacture of steel by the ne,
henderson process are making exper
ments daily. and, so far as the steel itse]
is concerned. they regard it as PRACTICAL
: successful. The great question now to b
! solved is can tllesteel can be produced chea
enoughby this process to take the place o
OF charcoal blooms. The ten firms in
terested in the enterprise are The Il. Is
e. Brooke Iron Company. Birdsboro tn
Heading lron Works, Reading; Marshal
Brothers & Company, Philadelphia
!; Hughes 4. Patterson. Philadelphia A
Pardee Jr., Philadelphia Charles I.
Bailey y Company. Harrisburg r. f
BlakeLship. Old Dominion Iron Works
Richmond, Va; w. E. G. Coke, Montoul
Iron and Steel Company and G.. Franck
Ign. New Y ofk.
The above parties, realizing that sthe
iron world do move. !" formed syndicate
with paid-in capital for the purpose Of
experiment With the open hearth steel as
produced by the Henderson process. Steel
ingots are manufactured here and sent out
to the various firms who are interested and
who own large iron mills,where the ingots
are rolled into plate. In this way the vari-
GUS interested mill owners can see the
practical operation Of rolling the steel
and testing their rolls with it. Thus far
the reports received indicate that the steel
is exceedingly dense, requiring heavy rolls.
| At Birdsboro a set Of rolls was broken. but
it is asserted that heavier rolls can readily
handle the tough steel product that Hen
derson turns out.
The Henderson process is to produce
what the inventor calls open hearth steel.
He uses good Bessemer iron. steel and
groupings, and converts it on an open
hearth with the blast descending from the
top, without using converter, as in the
Bessemer process. Henderson aflirms
that his process is in no way an Infringe
ment on the Bessemer patent.
WHO THE, INVENTOR Is.
Mr. Henderson is about go years of age.
He was not iborH in England, like Besse-
inner, AS, is coynnonly supposedsAbg. his
friends, but is d .Jerseyman. He is more
theoretical than practical, and generally
aims at certainresults without much regard
to cost. 1t is for this reason that the syn
dictate of iron men has set apart large
sum for the purpose of ascertaining
whether the Henderson steel can be pro-
duced cheap enough to enable mill owners
to bring it into general use and to take the
place of charcoal iron. If it can, the DAYS
Of the charcoal furnace and puddled
wrought iron are numbered, and the iron
trade will take a long step forward. This
great departure will surely come some
time. but it still remains to be seen
whether that period is at hand now.
SPECIMENS OF THE PRODUCT.
Interested parties in the Henderson steel
show prices Of rolled metal which have
been bent on short turns with remarkable
neatness, and without break or blemish.
It's strength is greater than that of
wrought iron. Nails cut from Henderson
rolled steel are of very fine quality, can be
readily bent obliquely and show well de-
inedledges.. AT Reading the fine mill of
the Messrs. McIlvan has rolled the steel
for the Addison hoist bucket with marked
success.
= The intention is at first to furnish the
steel ingots to the various mills from this
point. If it can be demonstrated that the
steel can be made from iron from native
Pennsylvania ores found in the varions
regions occupied by the interested par
ties, then it is supposed that steelplants
will be located in the various mills. The
commoni irons, however, cannot be used
to be converted into steel. Gold short, red
short. and other irons containing phos-
phorouS or sulphur are unsuited for the
purpose. The Cornwall ironsaare, ayaila-
bic dsI fNf sidf Is YEim'oa sise
saAslaa fns s.ig IT'S UsEs.ts99I saa3
is This steel will also be rolled into plate
for the manufacture of boilers. Steel
boilers are turned out in various localities,
and several boiler makers, who have tested
the Henderson steel plates, are pleased
with them. 2 1t is necessary to drill the
holes instead of punching them. "A too
sudden withdrawalof heate water or draw
ing Of fires is likely to crack a steel boiler
plate. However. ordinary care will avert 4
this. and it is probable that the steel
boiler will be the boiler of the future.
RniIo,. N, q BORG nrofor tho HaO6nrcon stool