The Penn's Grove record., 1884-05-10
o Tin il Made.

We enter the English shops, and, the
proprietor being absent, are placed un'
der the care Of the ''burly master of the
rolls.n He shows US first the rever
beratory furnaces, as near as the scorch-
ing heat will permit us to approach,
where the already almost pure lron is
puddled-that is, melted and stirred
under a current of intensely heated air,
| which burns ITS carbon away-uDtil its
fusing point rises even above the fierce
heat of the white hot charcoal, through
which the blast is roaring like a tor
nado, and the bubbling liquid becomes
a pasty mass of metal. 1t is then lifted
out on a long iron bar, and swung to
an anvil, where it is beaten by a huge
trip hammer moved by water power,
and kneaded and banged until all i'm
purities are crushed out of 1t, and, in
the form of a thick, rough bar it is
ready for the rollers. On its way, the
rough iron is reheated to incandescence,
then thrust against the rollers. 1t is
through in a moment ! and in the form
of a long, fiat bar, which is then divided
into lengths by a pair of great shears,
which cut through an inch of cold iron
very easily. Then it is carried TO Sec
ond set of furnaces, also heated with
charcoal, when it is again raised to a
high temperature, and passed between
a series of rollers, more finely, until it
becomes a thin, ragged edged sheet.
The cylinders are here in sets of three,
placed one above the other, 50 that the
sheets are rolled away below and re-
turned above.
As each falls clashing to the ground,
it is quickly doubled up lengthwise by
the workmen, with long pincers.
viciously pinched at the folds, and re-
turned to the furnace, then rolled
again, until it energies at last in a per-
fectly homogeneous sheet, two feet
wide, and not much thicker than the
paper this is printed on. The great
sheets are now cut into squares and
trimmed, and then sent to the picking
tub, to be cleansed from the black oxide
which covers them. This tub is d large
cistern lined with lead and filled with
dilute sulphuric acid, over which an
immense copper cage is suspended.
After the cage is packed with the
plates, it is dipped down into the acid
liquid, makes a few revolutions, then
rises, and, with a half-turn of the beam
which carries it, is brought over an
other vat through which a stream of
water is passing. The dip and spin are
here repeated until all the aci is wash
ed away, and the plates are taken out
perfectly clean. but with rough, abrad-
ed surfaces. To get rid of this defect,
they are passed, for the last time, and
without relocating, between a pair of
hig' ly polished rollers, and emerge per-
fectly smooth, and resembling in color
Damascus steel.
They are now ready for timing ; and
on our way 10 the next department, we
pass a stack of dusty bars of that metal.
The tin is first melted and ''polled"-
that is, stirred up with a stick of green
wood, which sends a current of steam
through it, and sweeps some impurities
to the surface ; it is then transferred
to square iron cisterns, where it is kept
melted, with a layer of palm-oil on the
surface to prevent oxidation. Beneath
the black, seething pool, the iron plates
are plunged ; and when they are taken
out, they seem to have been transmit
ed, as in the dream of the Chinese
chemist, from iron to silver, SO brilliant
is the coating. They are now rubbed
with sawdust, to get rid Of the oil
then taken away to be packed. But
they are first subjected to a curious test.
1t is important that plates of the same
thickness, and equally coated through
out, should be sorted together. But it
would be difficult to gauge them SO a
man with a good ear is seated in a COM
paratively quiet part of the works, and,
taking each sheet by the corner, gives
it a dexterous shake, eliciting a thIub-
bling sound-if we may coin a word
which differs, of course, Il pitch with
the slight change in thickness /; and
thus he sorts them. at the end of the
works is a saw-mill, where the oak
boxes are made, in which the tin Is
packed /; and whence it travels all over
the world IS "Best charcoal tin" 1t
is acceptable among almost all nations
from Russia, where 1t is used for
roofing houses and covering the bizarre
domes of the emerald green topped
churches, to the upper waters of the
Amazon, where it giitters more bright
ly still as the nose-plate of the festive
savage dancing, im~pecunious bat hap
Ply, amidst the living emeralds OF his
forest home.