Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-04-26
SECRET INVENTIONS.
Some Withheld from the Public and
Discovered at Last

tIoScu, ullSduS going out We're search
ed, visitors We're vigorously excluded
from admission, and false operations
blinded the wOrkmen themselves. The
mysteries Of every craft We're hedgei
in by quickest fences of empirical pre-
tension and judicial affirmation. There
used to be close by Temple Bar. il
London, an old chemists shop. the
proprietor Of which, in days gone by
enjoyed the monopoly of making citril
acid. More favorably circumstanced
was a process that required no assist
ance. He employed no workmen. En-
pertS came to sample and assert and
bottle his products. They never en-
tered the laboratory.
The mystic operations by which he
grew rich We're 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. A chimney
sweep, or a boy disguised as such,
wide awake in 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, assembled the
low building. dropped down the flue,
saw all he wanted and returned, carry
ing with him the mystery Of making
cit"lt' acid. The monopoly of the in
ventOr was gone A few months after
the price was reduced by four-fifths
The poor man was heartbroken. and
died shortly afterward, ignorant of the
trick by which he had been victimized.
The manufacture of tinware in Eng
land originated in a stolen secret
Few readers need to be informed that
tinwarc is simply thin sheet iron
plated with tin by being dipped into
the molten metal. In theory it is an
easy mat tier to clean the surface of
iron. Dip the iron in a bath of boil
ing tin and remove it, enveloped in
the silvery metal, to a place of cooling.
In practice, however, the process is
one Of the most difficult of arts. 1t
was discovered in Holland and guard
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. crossed the channel, in
simulated himself srureptitiously into
a 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, as 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 a bar is more
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 Attercliffe. near Sheffield, a
matchmaker named Huntsman. He
became dissatisfied with the watch
springs in use and set himself to the
task of making them homogeneous.
eff" thought he, 81 can melt a piece
of steel and cast it into an ingOt,
it's composition should be the same
throughout" He succeeded. His steel
COTS for fine work were in universal
demand. He did not call them cast
steel.
That was his secret. About 1910 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 subdivided, 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. It
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 bt
asleep. That. however, was far from
his intention. He closed his eyes ap
parently, only. He saw workmen GU
bars of steel into bits and place then
in crucibles in a furnace. The fir
w2s urged to its extreme power unit
the steel was melted. Clothed in we
rag. to protect themselves from tn
heat, the workmen drew out the glow
Ing mold. Mr.. Huntsman's factor.
had nothing more to disclose. TIL
making of cast steel had been discov
cred.
The casting Of hollow ware was TO
a number of years a secret, and wa
kept in one family for more than
years.
TROPICAL BEAUTY OF CEYLON