Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-01-06
- -
IN a FIERY FURNACE.
How Crude Pig Iron Is Refined ant
Ehnneh In Rolling Mills.

|
furnaces of peculiar construC
ton. These furnaces, whic
are low and fiat, are charged with som
hundreds of pounds of broken pig iron
which is fused by the intense heat an
II becomes semi-1uid. Then comes til
hard work of pudding. which is simpl
kneading the half-molton iron. Be
fore tho furnace tho puddler stands
and, thrusting heavy iron ba
through n small hole in the door, h
works and turns the pasty mass, form
ing it into hugo balls which must b.
carefully kept separate from eacl
other else they fuse together into
mass which can not be removed unless
the furnace DO taken apart At nigh
the scene in the puddling-mill is weirt
and picturesque In the extreme,
Hero and there in the darkness glow
the fiery eyes of the furnaces flashing
bright light upon the swarthy and
half nude forms of the workmen as
they tug and pull on the molten metal
with long iron bars. The roaring OF
the fires, the hiss of escaping steam
and the clang Of iron bars add to the
wildness of the scene
For about an hour and q half the
kncading process continues before the
metal Is to be Withdrawn. This means
incessant labor by tho puddler. and
labor OF tho hardest and hottest kind.
With no clothing but q pair of over
alls. and working in temperature of
one hundred and sixty degrees, the
men pcrspiro so freely that e IL con-.
...aSnco they drink freely of water.
,nlping down three or four gallons in |
day without any injurious results.
But If the Precipitation should stop and
The men continue to work, prostration
would soon follow. The heat is so in
tense and the work so eneryating that
the puddlers, after standing before tho
furnanco for an hour and half, rest
three quarters of an hour before resum-
ing operations. An hour and half
of pudding and the iron is ready to be
drawn. Up goes the door of the fur
mace, showing mass of flame too
dazzling to look upon with the naked
oyo. With y big pair of tongs lump
of glowing iron is picked out of the
flames and swung along to the
"squeczor This is n circular re-
volving machine that takes the mis-
shapen mass of iron and rolls 1t over
and over, crushing 1t into rough
block OF solid iron. Tho "squeezei'"
is suggestive of n pair Of monster jaws
cruncling and crushing the molten
food which is thrust into It while the
melted cinder tricklos out between its
hugo teeth. After leaving the
"squeczc,' tho lump Of iron is ready
to be rolled into shape, and this fur
uishcs the most interesting of the pro-
cesses.
Away across tho iron floor upon an
iron truck goes the lump from the fur
mace. A huge engine. with It's cylin-
der high up in the air turns the rolls,
and as tho lump of iron Is thrust be-
tween the rolls there is trembling of
the ground rs 1t is caught and pulled
through. Back it comes through an
other part of The rolls, more regular in
shape and much larger than when it
started. Back and forward it goes and
comes through the rolls. faster and
faster, until it comes through the last
roll and rushes across tho floor in a
path, looking verltable
reptile OF hideous appearance. A
workman clutches the glowing snake
by the tail with pair of tongs and
drags it aside. Another man thrusts
it before n swiftly revolving saw;
there is q doafening noise and a shower
of sparks and the iron bar Is nearly
cut in two pieces. A few blows
from hugo wooden mallet TO straight
en- the red-hot bars and they are
dragged aside to cool.
To one unaccustomed to such sights
a rolling-mill appears as place of
wild confusion aud disorder. Tho
rumble of the rolls. the rattle and
clash of the tongs and chains, the
crash of the hugo saws as they cut the
red-hot bars asunder, and the ever
flying shower of sparks, make pam
demonium for nervous person. Even
n steady man IS apt to be startled by q
sudden yell by one of the hurrying Ia
borers, or by m explosion like that of
n cannon close by his side A stream
of water constantly plays upon the
rolls, and as it occasionally gets into
the cracks in tho red-hot iron passing
through tho. rolls. there is an explo-
sion that echoes far up the hill across
the river. Philadelphia Record.