Telegram-herald., 1891-05-02
IRON and CHARCOAL
]. W. Jones Gives the Rssults Of
His Wait 70 the Smoky Furnaces-
IN Tue IRON REGIONS OF The yORIH
How Diamosds and ChAreeei Asrss-
lrnaasass smoke Donss Whore Wood
IL ChaTred-rons Of Ore. Line
atone Aad VI osd Consumed.

Inc pi-WcCA4y H1cSt4HS VI e1Ac NS-s
scientific institute was held at the CEN
trail school building last night The at
tendance was very gratifying. The
feature of the meeting was an able pa
per on charcoal and pig iron by J. w.
Jones. The reader stated that during
last summer when on vacation, he made
some inquiries concerning charcoal. its
manufacture, nature and use, as we'll
as an examination of the pig iron works
at Spring Lake. His paper WAS COM
prehenslve and very cleyerly written.
He said that he had visited the CHAR
coal and pig iron works AZ Spring Lake,
where seventy-rve men are employed.
The ore for this furnace comes
from Marquette via. Escanaba,
from the last port being
transported on a steam barge 70 the
works. The barge is loaded with ore
through huge chutes the cargo gong
into the hold at the rate OF 2oO tons
per hour. The ore must all be deliv-
cred during the navigation season, the
boat making round trip eyerY 90
hours and carrying 500 tons Of the ore
at each trip. The loading Is scompleted
IN eight hours but 1t requires 10 hours
to unload, The ore is lifted from the
hold N buckets capable OF containing
1900 pounds. dumped INTO a small can
and taken to the ore-pockets at the
furnace. The ores mostly used are
Lake Superior, hard ore, magnetic so
per cent; Marvuette range. blue mag
netic 62 per cent; Dunn's mine, go Der
cent; HematIte 60 per cent; Cleveland
Hematite 80 per cent; Queen Hematite
60 per cent, and one called ''haxseed."
The ore is first crvshed and then mixed
with crushed limestone in the proper
ton of pounds or the latterito 100 of
the former. The limestone acts as a
fiux causing The molten iron to sepa-
rate from the Stag. The limestone
comes from Ohio and is used because
it contains little PHOSPHORUS.
Great Qantity of w ood Reqdtrsd.
The charcoal with which the ore is
melted is made by the company. They
use 1000 busels each day. Three hun
dred and thirty thousand cords Of wood
are used annually. Charcoal Is q CON-
mon name for variety OF carbOnace-
Gus substances obtained by a partial
combustion of wood. Except in the
diamond, charcoal is the substance in
which carbon exists nearest to purity.
1t burns without flame or smoke and
amount of wood. 1t contains hydro
gen and oxygen and small proportion
of ashes. It has an extraordinary
capacity for absorbing gases. 1t is said
that it will absorb ninety times its bulk
of ammoniacal gases. 1t 10 h.
fusible. 1t is not soluble in acids
or other liquids, is not liable to
decay and is not altered by any degree
of heat If IT be not exposed to the air or
oxygen. He described in detail the ex-
terror and interior appearance of the
pits in which the wood is charred.
Beach and maple are the woods princi-
pally used. When the pits are filled
the wood is igaited at the top, and
after the fire begins TO burn freely. the
fiues in the domelike oven are closed
and the fire allowed TO smolder until 1T
finally goes out. This usually occupies
from ten days 10 two weeks. Doors are
so hung that the pressure Of gas may
force them open before exploding and
demolishlng the pit. The furnaces
where iron is smelted are ii feet in
diameter and 40 feet high. The ore,
limestone and charcoal are fed in at
the top at intervals of ten minutes. A
bell-shaped cover on the INSIDE of the
stack distributes the ore, etc., evenly so
that the fire may penetrate them easily.
He then gave very extended and
elaborate explanation of the process of
smelling the ore. The intensity OF
heat, the current Of air forced into the
cupolas, the emptying of the molten
metal into toe molds, aggregat:ng l3
tons to the run" were all minutely
described.
The paper was one of extreme length,
but 1t was listened to with rapt atten-
tlontby those present.