Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-10
SURPRISE OF THE GUESTS.

OOIl ntOC vi I'LL 0OGO OI
Sir James Kitson Replies for the City's Wis
itOrs-His Institute Not Exclusively Brit
ish-A Valuable Scientific Essay Listened
to With Great Interest.
Sir James Kitson replied in behalf OF the
visitors. He mentioned the surprise with
which he and his fellow members had ap-
preached the city, with its blazing mills, its
outbursts of natural gas, and the general
aspect of great industrial wealth. He then
continued:
BY the courtesy of the President and Council
of the Institute of Mining Engineers of the
United StaTes have been invited to take the
chair. and to open the proceedings of this Con-
gress. 1t is a graceful compliment to those
members of the Iron and Steel Institute who
are your hOnored guests at this moment-an
acknowledgment of high consideration for
scientific services rendered to great industry
by the Iron and Steel Institute, and a marked
distinction conferred upon the President of
that Institute. | gratefully accept the position,
and l now undertake the duty because al
though l am fully conscious of my own de-
icencies, yet feel that the institute is worthy
of the respect you show to it; and also, know
that we have the happiness to count among our
members men who merit the honors you offer
whose names are known throughout the world
a meialurGists, and leaders in scientific study
of the laws which govern the acquisition and
production Of those metals which we know as
iron and steel.
Our Institute is not exclusively British: in
truth, 1t is cosmopolitan, having enrolled on lis
list of members distinguished metaliurgists of
the United States, Germany France. Sweden,
and Russia. The birthplace and the head
quarters of the Institute are in England 1t
WILL therefore, hope, not be considered in any
to consider how much the world is indebted TO
my native land for the vast benefits which
mankind has received from Its engineers aud
its manufacturers of iron and steel.
SOME OF THE WORK OF ENGLAND.
The inventions of Watt and Trevethick; the
development of the steam engine, with all its
consequential powers; the construction of the
locomotive, and the creation of the railroad by
Stephenson, are directly the work of England
and of Englishmen. These discoveries have
made that system of railway and service of
ocean steamers which have brought the nations
of the earth together, have made new lands ac-
cessble and of service TO man, and are destined
in due time to diffuse knowledge and civiliza-
tion into every quarter of this globe.
The pudding furnace of Cort and his method
of rolling the puddled blooms in grooved rolls
produced wrought iron in quantities and at
cost hitherto unattaiuable. Through these in
ventions South Wales became the seat of the
dominate and control the rail trade of the
world. The pudding furnace continued, from
the latter part OF the last to the middle of the
present century, to be the instrument bv which
practically all the malleable iron in :he world
was made.
The hot blast process of Nelson, patented in
ISIS. secured great economy of fuel and
large increase of production. 1t entirely
changed the condition of the pig iron manufact-
ure. and was truly ranked by Mushet as "a
means of developing the national wealth, of
equal value with Arkwrignt's invention of cot
ton spinning"
The economy effected in the use of coal IN
the various processes of the manufacture of
iron and steel has been great and progressive.
The margin for economy which then existed
has been narrowed. But still when YOU know
on the authority of Sir Lowthiau Bell the duty
performed is by no means equivalent to the
whole of the useful effect which coke is cana
BILE OF affording. Taking a ton as being able
to produce 70 cwt of pig iron from Cleveland
ironstone, this, after an allowance for ash etc.,
when burnt to carbon dioXide, represents
l47 200 calorics, whereas something like $4,000
calorlcs has been the limit of the power OBJ
tanned" This sacrifice of 40 per cent lends it
self to reduction, as does the heat held in the
stream of molten Stag flowing from the fur
mace.
RAPID DEVELOPMENTS IN IRON.
Nasmyth's steam hammer gave the means of
forging, which led to rapid developments and
improvements in the applications of iron. The
reversing rolling mill engine of Ramsbottom
has been invaluable in the rolling of plates and
bars of great dimensions. The forging press.
too, has been designed and improved by En-
glIsh inventors-to whom the world owes much
for other mechanical appliances devised to
meet the various wants of the Bessemer pro.
cess and the treatment Of masses OF iron and
steel.
To youprobably the most important inven-
tion of modern times has been that of sir Henry
Bessemer. 1t has given you material in quail
lty and quantity for your railroads which it
was physical iinpossibllity to obtain by the
ancient methods of iron making. 1t is no ex-
aggeration to say that without the Bessemer
process for steel rail making, the present rail-
way system of the United States would not
now exist; and the settlement of the new lands
you have peopled, and the binding together of
the vast territory between the Atlantic and the
Pacific under one civilized power, would not
yet have been effected.
Sir Henry Bessemer has been kind enough.
at my request, to prepare. for communication
to tins meeting, an account of his discovery of
the process for manufacturing what is known
as Bessemer steel; and some history of his in-
yestigations and the way in which step by step
he oyercame the difficulties he met with, and
finally dispersed, in his developments Of his re-
invention
The Siemens-Martln process for the manu-
facture of open-hearth steel met with its
greatest development in England, and it has
enabled us to produce a material suitable for
be has availed himself to a vast extent
GREAT BRITAIN's OUTPUT OF STEEL.
In Great Britain the pr oduction of Bessemer
steel ingots in 1889 was 2l40.79l tons; of open
hearth steel ingots, l,429 1863 tons. We in Great
Britain and Ireland are justly proud of our
marine. The supremacy of our
'hipbuiders and Of our shipping interest is
BASED upon the excellent quality and the |
abundant supply at = moderate price of steel |
furnished by our steelmakers.
The demands of naval architects and marine |
engineers have been responded to with lntelli- |
yence and enterprise. Plates, frames, shafts, |
Orgings steel castings Of forms aud dimen- |
lions thought impossible but few years ago, |
rave been manufactured at low prices. These |
productions have enabled our naval architects 4
20 design, and our builders to construct the |
magnificent ships which are the pride OF our |
navy and our mercantile marine.
The strength of our position and the remark. |
Ible economy Of this important industry can
'e best demonstrated to you by fact within