Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-04-26
SECRET INVENTIONS.
Some Withheld from the Public and
Discovered at Last.


In the early working on arts and
mechanics worknen We're put on oath
never to reveal the process used in
their manufacture, says the Manu-
facturers' Gazette Doors were kept
closed. artisans going out were search
ed. visitors were vigorously excluded
from admission, and false operations
blinded the workmen@ themselves. The
mysteries of every craft were hedged
i'm lsy quiekset fences of empirical pre-
tension.and judicial affirmation There
used to be close by Temple Bar in
LONDON. an old chemists shop. the
proprietor Of which, in days gone by,
enjoyed the monopoly Of making citric
acid More faV orably circumstanced
than other secret manufacturers, his
was a process that required no assist
aGcc. He employed no workmen EX-
prts came to sample and assert and
bottle his products. They never en-
tered the laboratory.
The mystic operations by which he
grew rich were confined TO himself.
one day. having locked the doors and
blinded the windows, sure, as usual
Of the safety of his secret, our chemist
went home to dinner. 4 chimney
sweep, or a boy disguised as such,
wide awake i'm chemistry, was on the
watch. Following the secret-keeper so
far on his way to Charing Cross as to
be sure he would not return that day,
the sooty philosopher hied rapidly
back to Temple Bar, aScended the
low building, dropped down the tlue,
saw all he wanted and returned, carry
ing with him the mystery of making
ct.ir acid The monopoly of the in
ventOr was gone. 4 few months after
the price was reduced by four-hfths.
The poor man was heartbroken, and
died shortly aftcrward, ignorant Of the
trick by which he had been victimized.
The manufacture of tinware in Eng-
lard originated in a stolen secret
Few readers need to be informed that
tiuware is simply thin sheet iron
plated with tin by being dipped into
the molten metal In theory 1t is ain
easy matter 10 clean the surface of
iron Dip the iron in a bath of boil
ing tin and remove it, envelOped in
the silvery metal. to place Of cooling
In practice, however, the process is
one of the most difficult Of arts. 1t
was discovered. in Holland and -suard-
ed from publicity with the utmost
vigilance for nearly half a century
England tried to discover the secret
in vain, until James Sherman, a Cor
nish miner. cross ] the channel, in
simulated himself ureptitiously into
tin plate mandatory, made him
self master of the secret and brought
it home.
The history Of cast steel presents
a curious instance of a manufacturing
secret stealthily obtained under the
cloak of an appeal to philanthropy.
The main distinction between iron and
steel, rs most people know, is that
the latter contains carbon The one
is converted into the other by being
heated for a considerable time in con
tact with powdered charcoal in an
iron box. Now steel thus made Is I'M
equal The middle Of n bar is more
carbOnized than the ends, and the sur.
face more than the center 1t is.
therefore, unreliable. Nevertheless, be
fore the invention of cast steel there
was nothing better. In 1850 there
lived at Attercliffc, near Sheffield, a
matchmaker named HuDtsman He
became dissatisfied with the watch
springs in use and set himself to the
task Of making them homogeneous
'If," thought he, 81 can melt a piece
of steel and cast it into an ingot
it's composition should be the same
throughout" lie succeeded. His steel
soon became famous. Hmtsman's in
gOts for fine work were in universal
demand. He did not call them cast
steel
That was his secret About 177O a
large mandatory of this peculiar
steel was established at Attercliffe
The process was wrapped in secrecy
By every one within reach, true and
faithful men hired. the work divided
and subdiyided, large wages paid and
stringent oaths administered 1t did
not avail. One midwinter'S night, as
the tall chimneys of the Attercliffe
steel works belched forth their smoke,
a traveller knocked at the gate. 1t
was bitter cold, the snow fell fast
and the wind hOwled across the moat
The stranger. apparently a plowman
or agricultural laborer seeking shelter
from the storm. awakened no suspi-
cion. Scanning the wayfarer closely,
and moved by motives Of humanity,
the foreman granted his request and
let him in
Feigning to be worn out with the
cold and fatigue, the poor fellow sank
upon the floor and soon appeared to be
asleep. That however, was far from
his intention. He closed his eyes ap-
parently, only He saw workmen cut
bars of steel into bits and place them
in crUcibles in a furnace. The fire