Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-07-27
COT DOWN TO STEADY WORK
Birmingham's Steel Plant Going
Right Ahead
TURNING OUT THE METAL
Which Will Bring the Industrial Center to This
PIac,-What a Reporter Learned
at the Plant

Ine steel mill, birmingham infant n
dustry, started in yesterday morning ard
win be operated permanently. The pre-
vious heats. or runs, as they are common
~ called, were of an experimental ma
ture but the steel has been shown to be
of the very best quality and the expo
rimental stage has been passed. The
furnace was heated up yesterday morn
ing and the first run was made shortly
after o'clock in the afternoon.
A State Herald representative visited
the plant in the afternoon and was en-
ablsd to give many additional and inter-
esting facts concerning it. The plant IS
situated near the offices of the rolling
mill, to the south of the mill. The pres
ent building is about 10Ox200 feet and is
covered with corrugated iron. At one
end, just on the outside, are the pumps
and covering, shaft-like, is being erect
ed to protect them from the weather.
One furnace is complete and in opera
tion while work is being rapidly pushed
on another Excavations for four others
them as soon as the one now in progress
of erection has been completed.
The superintendent of the steel plant
II. i
worker from Elmira n. Y. He has made
a speciality of starting steel plants and
this is the sixth that he has placed in
operation. He has worked in the lead
ing steel mills of the country and was
brought here from the Elmira Iron and
Steel works. He is a genial courteous
gentleman with the intricate details of
steel making at his finger tips.
The large furnace has three openings
into which the charges are thrown, which
are protected by doors weighing 300
pounds. These doors can be elevated
by a boy SO well are they balanced by
heavy weights. The heat is so intense
and the glare so brilliant that the work
men are compelled to use thick dark blue
goggles. iWth these goggles 1t is pos
sible to look steadily into the furnace
and see the deep interior. The reporter
gazed into the fiery depths of the fur
mace and saw a mass Of molten metal.
The heat was very intense as the furnace
registered between 5000 and $500 degrees
Fahrenheit.
The analysis of the first heat has not
been completed, but SO far as made II
shows most gratifying results as far as
the phosphorus and sulphur is concern-d
Both have been found to be of the finest.
The report as to the carbon Is not cona-.
plete. A physical test was made yestsra
day and II proved highly satisfactory.E-
The cold metal was bent and twist, q
without the remotest sign of crack ers
break
The capacity of the presslst furrice is
Twenty-Five tons with only one heat
day, and the force employed is twenty
fivis men. When the other furnaces aTs
put into operation each one will engage a
fosea cs the same rumber of skilled work
men, The furnace is working day turn
only, as the extensive repairs on the roll
ing mill are not yet completed. When
they are complete the stssl furnace will
go to work ait night as we'll as in the day..
The night force will number the same 2
that of the day. and an average of five
heats will be tappei1 every foIty-sight
hours.
The metal turned out row is tha FIRST
of merchant, Boiler plate and fire hox
steel No finer steal Is or can be pro-
duced in this United States and poss by in
only two places in the world, Norway
and Sweslan where the ere Is peculiarly
adopted to that use. The furrace is not
allowed to get cold, as two men are k pt
at work -off ish,e gas generators all night
and three during the day.
Superintendent Taylcr is very enthvsi-
astic over the outlook, as well as the out
put eve cam make just es good steel
here he stated "as anywhere in the
country, and we have every facility for
so doing. The only advantage thai. the
great Carnegie steel works posse s over
us is that of natural gas, which they use
as fuel. Here we use gas, ol cOurtS, dS
our fuel, but 1t is msrnfsetured.
At the reporters requ,s Superintendent
TAYLOR explained the method used in the
manufac cture of the STEEL. i is known as
the open hearth basic process. Scraps of
pig iron are used in conjunction with The
medical properties. Crushed limestone Is
thrown into absorb the sulphur, which is
decided detrims mt to steel making.
Hard Lake Sueprior ore Is used for the
purpose of agt alton only. This Is the
orly foreign article used, and this is so
simply because Birmingham cannot pro-
duee that of necessary hardness. The
naw red or brown ore just unearthed at
Pel1 City is equal 10 that brought from
AXE Superior in every respect. If it
can be secured in the necessary quantity
~ will be substituted for the foreign arit-
Gle
When ths heat is tapped the molten
mettle runs out into the mammoth ladle
and is followed by the crust of slag g.
which remains on top From the lad1e
the pure steel is drawn off and the Stag
remains. i: is dumped out afterwards,
and the same fadls is again ready for
use
The present output is consumed by the
Birmingham rolling mill, but 1t Is inlgend-
ed to supply other industries as soon as
the plant can be enlarged.
TODAY,S MEETING