New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-03-20

v,,e were taken uPoa the relative merits
= ,ho great inventions Of the nineteenth cen
-. amt OILY experts were permitted 10 paruci-
=, IN n, decision. Il j. probable that an en-
.o,;c though perhaps not unanimous verdict
,.,a b. given ~ favor Of Bessemers process Of
ro,nc steel il would be difficult 10 find one
.ncA benefits directly not to say indirectly.
nh large PROPORTION II the population of civ
MED iacds Practically every man. woman and
MA is a user # steel. Forty years ago Great
p,;,aiD produced about fifty thousand tons of
,,s metal A year. ard il sold for $50 or 800 a
,or To-day No outpu; in England is ten mill
,or TINS OF more and in the United States that
,,,ur,i IS fully eGualled In the mean time the
,-rq has been reduced TO $50 or S25 a ton. The
construction u railroads. steamships. steel sEel-
s,op buildings and Of bridges that are almost as
,bsap as # made Of wood and a host Of other
,nsns,ries have been wonderfully stimulated by
me late Sir Henry's remarkable invention.
Il was happy misfortune which made Eng
,anj The birthplace of this great inventor and
engineer F.- lathe. Anthony Bessemer, began
lie IL Holland and al III aSe II twenty had
t,,l, floating steam cnSicc for pumping Pur-
,,ses IT,: 81, Went to Paris. and became occu-
mad vita tar scientific pursuits He I'M
rrov.d Oh -..., s.. re. and became member Of
IT, French Academy when scarcely twenty-five
,eals D.l 81 r,Iy aftcrward he was type
.vrd,r { .rHcG -ss.Y. kind. Who experimental
VITA and INVESTIGATED me nature # numerous
metallic allows When thu French Revolution
t-5Ae ,u.. D.. l7g2. Anthony Bessener was en-
pl5yed al The mint Finally Robeslierre put
hin n char-, 0t In, national bakery, and. up n
an unjust suspicion . giving light weights. d
yopula. uprising drove him from France He
fed 10 Enel.ud. and married there Henry was
born n January ~. 1913.
The lad Inherited MS fathers tastes. one of
bis earliest amuSements was the use of a turn
ing lathe With Which he was presented. He also
Developed skill IN sculpture. Indeed. at first he
inclined - he career Of a modeler and de-
sgner. Some OF ms statuary was exhibited at
the Royal Academy. However. before he had
more than completed his nineteenth year he
began 10 show inventive talent At this time he
devised a per:Orating stamp for canceiling
checks and bills. This instrument. one feature
Of which vas suggested by the young woman
who atlerward became his Wife was given 10
TIE British Government FOrtysix years later
he was made Sir Henry IN recognition OF this
public service. Knighthood was not conferred
On account Of the steelnlaking process
Among Bessemer's other inventions were
method Of casting type 50 that IL would be
free from blowhOles. the manufacture OF bronze
powder for painting and decorating. and i'm
pr0yements on the centrifugal pump" For
twenty years after attaining his majority he
studying a great variety Of mechanical and
chemical subjects like those relating 10 the con-
rruction OF cars and cannon. the refining OF
sugar and the production of oils. varnishes and
vinegar He vas probably the first man TO do
siectropiat:ng with copper.
Owing 20 the outbreak Of the Crimean and
Franco Italian wars. Bessemers attention be-
tame strongly directed 10 the making OF big
guns and pTojectiles. and thus he was led 70
study the problem Of purifying cast Iron. His
immediate object was 10 find better material for
ordnance purposes And ne believed. in lSJ6
that he had completely solved the problem
hat he read a paper In public that year describ
Ing ms process Of burning out the carbon from
molten iron by injecting jets of air from below.
and thus converting II into steel
But Bessemer had long perplexing and cost
~ night 10 wage during the next four years. His
process was far from perfect. II became neces-
sary for him to carry his Investigations much
further One needs TO remember. IN order 20
appreciate the situation in which he found him
sell, that when ron ore is srnelted the resultant
pS-Hon contains about per cent of carbon. de-
nyed from the fuel. Now. only fraction of
per cent Is wanted for steel. the size Of that
fraction depending upon the particular use to
winch the metal is 10 be applied And when
The oxygen # the air Jets combines with this
carbon II burns with dazzling coruscatons,
whose effect is heightened by the tremendous
nast Issuing from the mouth OF the converter.
But the trouble with Sir Henry's process was
that consumed the carbon completely. and
left not steel but soft. pure. mal-able iron.
Thirty days after he read his paper before the
British Association for the Advancement Of
Science IN $50 ~ received S13J. 900 from IRON