Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-09
How Sir Henry Bessemer Discovered
His Famous Process.
EFFECT ON TIE IRON INDUSTRY
Has Resulted in a Tremendous
Cheapening of Steel.
BENEFITS ALL MANKIND
From tn, Chicago Evening Post.

From the Chicago Evening Post
1t Is refreshing, in considering the nota-
bic achievements of great inventors TO hap
pen upon an occasional instance where for
tune has not only smiled on. but has well
rewarded genius. IL is far too often the
case that the successful inventor closes his
life In poverty and distress ana leaves 10
others the harvest of substantial benefits
which In justice should have been lis Sir
Henry Bessemer was a marked exception
to this class. and his death. occurring 50 re-
Gently, makes consideration OF the most
important of his inventions timely While
Bessemer did not invent steel, he discover
ed process for Its manufacture that tas
revolutiOnized the iron and steel working
| industry OF the entire worlI. I'p Till the
time when his experim .nts were crowned
with success. the making OF steel was a
very slow. and, consequently. a very la
borious process and steel had a compare
lively restricted application in the indus
trial arts. Bess.mer brought II so near
perfection and at such reasona BILE cost that
1t Is today one OF the most widely employed
and most useful Of all the materials which
man has pressed into service for his adyan-
tage and comfort
In measure. the discovery Of Bessemer's
Process was accidental To begin with he
had no knowledge OF chemistry and metal
lurgy WHEN he first set about his invest ga
ton to turn iron into steel. But he visited
many places where iron was wrought md
he kept his eyes open. He saw that In the
slow process of pudding the particles Of
molten metal vera gradually brought INTO
contact with the air, and that this seemed
TO. In time. produce a fair quantity OF steel.
Had he known the chemistry which was at
work during pudding Bessemer steel LII
doubleday would have been made some
wears than Rlfh ,.a ary
the mechanical part of the operation. lie
knew that II was a great deal easier to stir
air than II was to stir Iron, and II
while recovering from q severe Illness that
the idea came to him of blowing ai- through
the melted iron. AS he lay In bsd Inc
breexes from an open window famed his
cheek. and this turned his thoughts in an
other direction. which proved 10 De the he
ginning of the problems solution.
The Day for the Test.
As soon as he was sufficiently recovered
to resume his Investigations he set about
making a retort i'm which he could test his
new idea. 1t was constructed that "a
blast of cold air was forced into the bot
tom SO that it would pass through the melt
ed iron In the upper part Of the retort. The
day for the test arrived. and Henry Besse-
mer was naturally not the least excited Of
the group that gathered around the new
continuance. When the pig iron was melt
ed the blast Of air was turned in to prevent
the metal filling the holes through which
the air entered. Then the metal was pour
ed in through the charging hole by at
tendant stoker. A tremendous commotion
Immediately took place within the vessel.
THE molten iron" to quote one present.
bounded from side to side; a violent ebul-
lition was heard going on inside. We 4
vehement violet flame. accompanied with
dazzling sparks, burst from the throat OF
| the cupola, from which the slang was also
rhfnxl in In rya foam la a
iron plate of the kind used to cover holes
in the pavement. that had been suspended
over the mouth OF the vessel, dissolved in q
cleaning mist, together with half doze-
yards OF the chain by which IL hung"
Thought He Had Failed.
1t IL not surprising that such an unusual
sight should have frightened not only the
men. but the daring experimenter. Besse-
mer thought he saw in this terrific demon
stration of two prime elements the COM
plete failure of his plans. He wanted 10
shut off the air before the charge of iron
was spoiled or the furnace burned. but the
| stopcock regulating the supply was SO close
to the retort that no one dare go near il.
This proved fortunate, for soon the commo-
ton within the retort subsidized, the fu-y OF
Decentralization had expended itself and
the pro6rct was run off. The result was
not quite satisfactory. The product was,
mer saw enough in the experiment to en-
courage him in making a second trial and
the product from this proved to be malle-
able iron.
BY further experiment It was found that
by interrupting the process before the de-
carbonization of the iron was complero the
product was Enthusiastically steel. which
| when tried proved to be Of very good quail
ity. Here was a discovery OF immense i'm
portance. If maIleable iron and steel could
be produced direct from pig iron by a pro-
cess so rapid and simple Ii could not fail
before long to effect an entire revolution
the iron trade. and such IL actually did
many years before Bessemer closed his lorg
and successful career.
Chemistry of the Process.
The chemistry of the Bessemer process il
simple. so simple. in fact. that the wonder
| is IT was lot sooner applied to the making
Of steel. Bessemer at first called IL 1.-THE
| manufacture of iron and steel without
fuel" While this title was a misnomer, IL
| answered lis purpose in placing the process
before the leading iron workers OF Great
Britain. This is how he explained the
method Of conversion: by forcing atmos-
pheric air through the fluid metal the oxy-
gen is brought into contact with the sew
eral particles OF iron and the carbon which
1t contains The carbon and oxygen con-
tinue TO form carbonic acid gas. which
passes on by the throat of the vessel
through which the Stag Is also thrown
leaving as the product a mass of malieabls
iron. which is run or by the tap into ingot
molds placed to receive it. Thus. by sin
gle process requiring no particular fnanipu-
ulation and with only one workman, from
three to five tons OF crude iron pass into
the condition of several piles of maileable
iron. in from thirty TO fhirty-five minutes
with the expenditure of about one-third
part Of the blast now used in a fiery fur
mace with an equal charge OF IRON and
with the consumption of no other fuel than
Is contained In the crude IRON" In fact,
the chemical action OF the oxygen, carbon
and other elements kept up a sufficient agi-
tation and temperature to maintain the
fiCidity OF the metal until the process was
complete.
Far-RenchinG Results.
Before the Bessemer process came into
Use. the production Of steel in Great Bril-
tain was only $1,000 tons a year and the
average price was ESQ a ton. In 1871. when
the general condition OF trade was greatly
depressed. the Bessemer mill alone turned
out 10000 tons OF steel. at an average
Price OF $50 a ton. The coal consumed I'm
producing this was less by e JD0OoO tons