The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-24
ERA OF GREAT FURNACES.
IMPORTANCE OF THE CHANGE IN TIE
IRON INDUSTRY HERE.

s'"''
new era has opened in the iron ana Steel
trades which would have bcen deemed impossiolo
only ten years ago This fact Is contained IN
a recent announcement from Pi'sburg 'na. mo
American Steel and Wire Company. called by
some people the Steel Wire trust mas broken
ground on Nevillcs Island Tor n new bias' lur-
mace which when completed Will 'urh OUT ooV
tons OF pig iron day ms IL nguro "hoh
70 the most progressive iron masters vi a ueonuo
ago would have seemed ike dream rom 'ho
Arabian Nights" Only ten months ago mo
| announcement that the Carnegie steel company
intended building stack TO make 1oo tons
day was received with something ike hstonisn-
ment in the trade.
The blast furnace Is tho first step In inc con-
version Of ore into manufactured iron and steel
Its product commonly called pig iron, Is used
in all iron and steel processes. Whether II Is
intended for castings for engine bed plates, Tor
stoves or machinery frames; whether II Is designed
20 turn IL into wrought iron In the shape OF BARS
plates horsoshocs or the like: or whether the user
desires steel in some one OF Its Infinite variety
Of FORMS such as ship plate tank plate. engine
| shafunga pistons. railroad rails, the frames OF
New York skyscrapcrs. edge tools or tho nails
in the heels OF a woman's shocs--in any OF these
events and for oil the purposes hero mentioned,
the metal must begin its career first as ore In Tho
earth and go through a blast furnace to be made
into pig iron Tho ore is dug from the ground.
awshed FREQ Of all tho earth that clngs 10 II and
| poured into the gaping fiery mouth Of tho bias,
furnace along with the fuel-the coke, the anthra-
cite coal or tho charcoal as the case may be-and
| enough limestone 10 join in chemical combina-
| lions with the impurities In the ore Then a
| blast OF hot air Is blown through tho whole mass
| 20 supply draught and hclp burn away and dux tho
foreign matters with the lime, when tho COM
| bination IN drawn off as Stag
| The furnace Is then tanned and the iron Is run
| into little channels cut in the sand at tho base
| of tho stuck and allowed TO cool These forms
| arc then btoken IN into lengths about four feet
| long called pius and are ready for further manu-
| facture They NAV 20 10 the pudding furnace
| where tho carbon il burned out and the material
becomes almost pure or wrought iron and Is rolled
into bars NJ pl,tes or IL NAV 90 10 An iron foundry
| where tb, c,ybon and th. sand that was burned
into Il when IL left the furnace are positive adj
| x.,tsocs On 4, making a at and e,sv 90 work
in machine tools sim another fate may bo
| IN sto,e 10, tb. pi,s aud they NAV po 10 one OF
IN. gigantic s,..i mills and IL they bny. the proper
| chemical constitution n, pl,c.d in . Bessemcr
conv.rt., . bold., Witch ioots like n roc, egg
from out ~ IN, Ar,bi,p Niqbts win ~, .pout
on ,h ,,d ~, 4, "a, n,,,ing ont IA. melton metal
| w. w. u " I -,
| In THIS converter thu pig Iron Will DE mcIoa
| and another blast OF hot VIII bg sent TIL I'll
| u ,b. c.,bnr consumed and . certain ou,ntity
| ..,I.., a., 81 a.. -, - h, ,,i,i,r,
| Upaeou III 'ne he'eo no''e" mass w mixing
| other ores with IL This comes out as steel for
railroad rails or for structural shapes such Is are
w,.s in sI,y..,,rs,s ,r NJ Wi. ,,d ohs, r,s.t
uscu III sksscfapels III new holk anu o'ue' E'ea'
cities, or for ship ribs, plates and the Ike Other
| thing, NAV he done with the mig iron hut IL IL
moi necessary "a dcsc,iho th.n b.,s
| no' h''cSsa's '" u'S''iDo '"eh hoto
IL is quite easy To talk of furnaces OF such and
such city without In the least comprehendine
| ,,h., Il; ,,..,, ,,h., ,o,,,,,. y, hu,,., .,.,,,,,
ingenuity, anxiety, care courage, effort Is repre-
=, .,.r,n ~ o W. AZ T., Ue % , ,hs ., ,S
| - i,,I " y. > ~ iu' -
| permitted 10 go ou' OF blast' as 'he expression
,.,ui,.s w., ,wsn,v',o"r b"m,s soo ,,,. y, o,s
i.au'' '"th's , ., Nou's ooo 'oi," o' ORC,
app'oN''nn.s' stn,' 'no IA" n'a"r'a' ou' Oi
| no n., cent Of metallic irop som. ores So
! =. ,,o.. 4, IN. o., ,.,,.. i N,i,hio.., -
as '"ose al "'o sfea' ranges III Mch'gAh anu
Minnesota and some in other places. run higher
In meta c iron than this and much Of the material
mined ana used In the world runs lower
1t takes in round numbers ono and a fourth
tons Of coke to make ton Of pig iron. so that the
eapaeiCos NOUN o. 'he monster must DC led with
Soou, ov0 was o. ,us' ua , nnen 1oo IONS Of
,nr ,rJ b.. a.. o,,., -, s,,r,,,i..i
ing anu mere S'e othef minor smppnes-san ~
Iva, ua whhtaso oe smn oio mus. a'So ieheRl
vi ,has .neIv arc wv IONS OF huisheu iron 10 be-
hkeh away every Weny -FOUR hogis- l'seit about
hsli 81 an ano asniage ua!h load a., summed al up
nDou' 800 Ins oi ifsigh Oh ~ klhda--oies iuol
e. m,sred ps =, ,tIn any oiaer
W W mg me- uaIS 10 hesp ,he stavk gong making
ABOUT ~ satoads OF oo Ions cach' Somewhere
between Ioo ana iOo men wil have 70 Work Ia get
ouI me 1,e; w, Hspeha!hS upon JUS locality, tich;
mr5s IN m n,n fIn &s ~ o., mine me coal and
Hhke !, Iul0 coke 70 quarry the limestone and do
all tne haulihS az east 200 men VIII b. required.
eha the furnace itssli VIII give WORK TO 20 men
at the very least In other words the running Of
single blast furnace turning ou, 400 tons Of pig
non LaIiy mrans the employ ment OF LOO men
and OF e-'oooooo capital When y comes 10 the
gigantic INSTITUTION now planned for Neville
Island by We American Steel and Wire Company.
10 turn out 500 tons daily II Is impossible ut this
time even Tor the projectors themselves 10 give
exact figures. but u Is probable that not Tower
than 1000 men will hnd employ mcni by II, in one
way and another, and that II and It's ramiAcatOns
Wal meal, utilization OF between three and four
millions VI capital
Al present the United States are turning OH,
more iron than at any other time In their history.
Estimates diiier as matter Of course. but figures
lated by the best authorities in the trade seem
60 leave no doubt that 1900 COO tons II pig iron
will have been turned out Tor the twelvernonth
when 1900 u mshercd in. In 1898 itself record
year, The total OUTPUT was ll,573oA tons The