Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-05-20
STEALING HIrNTSMAN'S INVENTION.

A little more than 100 years ago the man.
tifacture of steel may he said to have had
beginning in England. About that time
there was living in Sheffield, England, a
man by the name of Huntsman. He was
a watch and clock maker and he had so
much trouble in getting steel that would
answer for springs he determined to make
steel himself. He experimental for long
time in secret and after many failures he hit
upon process that produced superior
quality of steel. The best steel to be OBJ
tained at that time was made by the Hin
docs, and it cost in England about $4,000
ton; but Huntsman's steel could be had
for $500 ton. AS he found ready mar
ket for all the steel he could make, he de-
termined to keep his invention secret, and
no one was allowed to enter his works eX
cept his workmen, and they were sworn to
secrecy. But other iron and steel-makers
were determined to find out how he pro-
duced the quality of steel he made, and
this is how they accomplished it at last:
One dark and bitter cold wintry night
wretched d-looking beggar knocked at the
door of Huntsman's works and asked shell
ter from the storm that was raging without.
The workmen pitying the supposed beggar,
gave him permission to come in and find
warmth and shelter near one of the fur
naces. In little while the drowsy beggar
fell asleep, or at least seemed to do so, but
beneath his torn and shabby hat, his half
shut eyes watched with eager intent every
movement made by the men about the fur
naces, and as the changing of the melting
pots, heating the furnaces, and at last pour
ing the steel into ingots which took several
hours to accomplish, it is hardly necessary
to add that the forgotten beggar slept long
and as it seemed, soundly, in the corner
where he lay. 1t turned out afterward that
the apparently sleeping beggar was we'll
todo iron-maker living near by, and the
fact that he soon began the erection of large
steel works similar to Huntsman's was good
evidence that he was poor sleeper but a
good watcher.
GLYCERINE-The consumption Of glycer-
inc for medicinal purposes, arts and man.
ufactures has greatly increased the past few
years. 1t is the by-product of the manu-
facture of candles. Tallow or other animal
or vegetable fats are saponitied, with the
addition of water, under heat and high
steam pressure, in closed tanks. The neu-
trail fats separate into fatty acids and glyc-
crime, which latter remains dissolved in
the water. The solution of glycerine thus
formed is concentrated and sold to refners.
Some of the latter, in order to cheaper the
process of refining, bleach their half refined
product by means of vegetable or animal
charcoal. This absorbs the color and also
some of the acids still in the glycerine,
rendering it for short time inodorous and
almost colorless but the seeds of decompo-
sition are not removed, and in time the
acids still contained in the glycerine oxy-
dize and the glycerine becomes 'off-color"
1t should properly be distilled until the last
trace of impurities is removed, when the
glycerine becomes chemically pure, inodor-
Gus and colorless.
When the concentrated gycerine is ap-
piled undiluted to a chapped or liberated
surface it produces burning sensation,
which to some people is unbearable. The
reason is glycerne has strong affinity for
moisture; it takes it from the skin, and
thus gives rise to the burning sensation.
Ifa small quantity of water is added to the
glycerine before it is applied this unpleas-
ant effect will be observed but little, if at
all.-T0ledo Blaze.