The Irish standard., 1898-05-14
THE STEEL MAKING PROCESS
Was the Discovery of William
Kelly, an lrish-American.
HIS RIGHT TO THE HONOR
Established in the Records of the
u. S. Patent Office.

Tho man whose name was given to
the modern method CT making steel
died last week, after making millions
out Of an invention to which Il KEN
lucky manufacturer established Il prior
claim in the courts of the United States,
says G.. L. Johnson in the ST. Louis
Globc-Dcmocrat. The latter was
William Kelly, of Louisville, and while
hc rcapcd modest fortune from his
patent he received an insignificant sum
as compared with the royalties of $780,
600 which Sir Henry l'csscmer drew FOR
long period. The Englishman also gave
his name to the process, and rcaped all
the scientific reputation that came from
an Invention that wrought the greatest
industrial revolution of tn" century.
The Kentucky claimant to the honor
Was William Kelly. formerly of Pitts
burg. In 1916 he located on the Crmbor-
land river, near Eddyvillc, in this state,
and building two furnaces. began tho
manufacture of iron. This WAS Il common
industry in Kentucky in those days. Mr..
k"llyS furnaces were named tho Su-
vance and the Union. At the former hn
made speciality of large sugar kettles
for the sugar manufacturers Of Louisiana
and at tho latter he produced Il very
superior character of charcoal blooms,
Ills products brought him great rcpu-
lttion. Mr.. Kelly was IL born manu-
iactllrer, for he was not only Il man of
remarkable originality and fertility of
| mind but he was the possessor of an eX-
, cellent scientific education, which he
was continually turning to practical use.
! Ills knowledge Of metallurgy and chem
| istry greatly assisted him In lis exper-
| ilncntS to improve the old processes of
| iron manufacture. He innlly conceived
the Idea that the crude metal could be
converted into mnlleahlc iron or steel
| by sending blasts of air through the
melted metal. This would produce COM
| bllstion and Decentralization of the iron
or enough carbon would be left in tho
metal to convert it into steel or course
! the fluid metal had to be drawn off from
tn" furnace into converter. through
Which the air could be forced from be-
meath.
When Mr.. Kelly disclosed his plans
to his forcmcn, preparatory to putting
them into execution, they laughed Mt
the idea. They had always known that
melted iron was chilled by air passing
over It, and concluded that he would only
cool it by applying air from underneath.
Mr.. Kelly knew that the combination of
oxygen and carbon would produce COM
buston, and perscvercd. His expert
ments prospcrcd. and in 1851, four years
before Henry Bcsscmcr applied for his
patent, William Kelly had succeeded in
heating fluid iron to the incandescent
point simply by throwing air through 1t,
refining 1t into steel at once without the
prodigious use of charcoal heretofore re-
qnircd. This was four years after the
idea had first occurred to the young
manufacturer.
Mr.. kclly's furnaces, 1t should be re-
mcmbcrcl, were situated in what was
then almost Wilderness remote from
railroads and newspapers, his only COM
munication with the outside world be-
ing by the Cumberland and Ohio rivers.
He was Il modest man and had no idea
of making his invention widely known.
He used the idea with great success in
|, Ih,cjnncu lut1 1iI NOT ,f t.ly
ing out patents, although some English
iron workers he had in his employ pre-
dictcd that this process would cventu-
ally slpcrsclc all others. According to
Smiths History Of Kentucky. a very re-
liable work. more than year before
hcsSemcr was heard Of many steamboats,
on the Ohio river. chiefly built at Gin
cinMati, we're using boiler plates similar
to the Bcssemcr boiler plates, made
from iron prepared by 'Kcllys air-boil-
ing process
II was in 1850 that Henry Bessemer
got ont patents in England for the
"pncunIatic process of converting pig
iron into steel. He also applied for pat
cnts in this country. a!r. Kelly had been
reused to q kncwlcdGc Of the value of his
invention by this time. and attempted
to get patents in the United States ahead
of Bessemer He always said that he
would have heen successful bat for the
bad faith of an attorney he had engaged,
and who. he declared was bribed by
Bessemcr. However, he subsequently
succeeded in getting cayeat from the
patent Office and laid his claims be-
fore the patent commissioner The evil
dence was fully heard, and the com-
missioner decided that Kelly was en-
titled to the patent by priority Of in~