The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-09-22
81. Louis 81 Democrat.l


Des MOines. Ia. Aug. 10. ~ few DAYS
ago there walked forth from the doors
OF the Iowa state prison at Anainosa
n white-haired man with a history as
weirdly strange as could be conceived
IN the widest nights of romance. This
man was 5. r. Dawson of Os5 Moines,
convicted on the charge of numbering
his son-iu-law. Waiter Scovt, ana sem
fenced in 1895 for a term OF years, but
released on parole by Cove rnort l.. NJ
Shaw, and through tie influence Of
hundreds Of his Did acduain5ances N
this city.
The secret of the manufacture of Da..
mascus steel or tempered wrought iron.
and of fempering copper. discovered by
Dawson before he was convicted. ana
still profoundly kept by him. -sie sem
satiOnal circumstances surrounding his
crime. and the remarkable steps by
which he was enabled to resurrect one
of The most mysterious Of the lost arts
of the ancient Syrians. he's lent 10 the
man q most fascinating interest.
Whether he has actually plucked flOm
the past the forgotten method by which
the ancient Saracenic blades We're tenn
pergd. is a question on wiicn opinions
differ II is certain thar rigid scientific
Investigation has so ear been unable to
pick any flaw in his DIS sovery; that
capitalists ia Des Moines wc~e suih-
GENTLY convinced his assertions were
true 10 take stock in the Damascus
Steel company. and that Dawson him
self is upheld By an almost fatalistic
belief that before his death he viii
be able 10 convics the m1s- skeptical
of the genuine nature Of mis- discovery
and TO make MS researches in the field
of metallurgy of value 10 the manu-
featuring world.
That the claims made u Dawson ClC
entitled to respect rests upon an album
~ 90 II n. L %
chisels and other tools have been PIE
scented by him 20 his friends that pos
sess all the remarkable qualities for
which the old blades of Damascus wers
famous. Copper and tempered wrought
iron implements fashioned by Dawson
and unshaDed masses of the tempered
metals have been repeatedly subjected
to sevC = tests in Des MOines and in the
east. and those who have looked n oct
carefully into the facts are the least
given to belittling the discover.
Generally regarded as n dreamer AMI
a visionary, and by some considered err
ratio. Dawson is yet a man of reinarKa-
bic Intellectual powers. He is 81 years
old. tall. spare ana nervously energetic.
He is an incessant talker. and when
aroused discusses scientific subjects
overwhelmingly. His natural aptitude
.sor mechanics is astonishing. What he
knows along mechanical ami scientific
lines IS due 20 his natural Seenness
in these directions and to hard and
patient stldy. He is a sele educated
man. In school he got as far IS Rays
practical arithmetic and McfiuffY $ htth
reader. Yet when in Anamosl prison
life was made enddrable fCr him by
the discussions he carried on over -Cnic
sections. triangulati0n, metsllurgy and
kindred themes with a fellow prisoner
ence at Harvard. but who mao lapsed
from the promise of his early years ana
became a convict.
Dawson put I'm most OF his time for
years in studying metallurgy and IN
vestigating processes for hardening
steel and copper. He became intensely
5nterested in these lost arts He ex-
plored all the historical lore tLe libra
ries could furnish 10 shed light on what
he was seeking. Finally. in 1893 he was
successful. as he says. in finding the
processes known to the ancisnts He
made numerous articles to convince his
friends his alleged discovery was a
reality. on ore occasion lie vac crt-
plOyed by a local secret lodge T. make
spear heads. He made them Of copper
hardened by his process. .ie iett in the
sockets no holes for fastening on tae
handles When efforts were made TO
drill these holes b. other paroles IL Was
tOunI impossible to obtain tools .ha-
would touch them.
About that time a large building was
being erected in the city. Certain
heavy steel Orders had to be cut. The
work caused much trouble. Dawson
provided the workmen with a CAlsel
shat did the work OF a score OF ordinary
toes. and that saved much time y, tie
construction Of the building. lis nro-
cess was tested in Chicago shops. Sci
entists studied it and could not but sd-
mit he had accomplished tsondes's.
though not prepared TO accent his state
ment that ne could manufacture -Ye
hardened steel and copper cheaply
enough to make the discovery OF prac-
tica' benefit.
g g q
The invention gave sucs promise that
Dawson was enabled T. interest capt.
taiists and form the Damascus Steel
company for its production. He die
fated terlcs TO the company> II was
formed for the manufacture and ham
ding OF tempered wrought iron IN this
country. but the formula was to re-
main IN DawSon's hands and to be