Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-24

ITlhf ibhDs Ehbst AuBs Afs-NDpt-
cial Correspondence of The Bee)
A Il find that the American in
vasion has made its way into
- this the very heart of industrial
England. Our big steel trust has fright
ened the factors OF Sheffield, and their
trade. not only in England. but all the
world over, is being affected oy It. The
English railroads have begun importing
American locomotives and American steel
rails and the people here are wondering
whether they will not soon be sending
them knives and razcrs as we'll. The let
ting of the contracts for the enormous
bridges In Africa and Burmah to American
firms astounded them, and they are wor-
rled ne 20 the!= foreign orders. Snemeid
produces agricultural machines =. nut our
American tools are sold side by side with
those OF English make, and our biggest
machine companies have their agents at
every country fair to drum the trade.
Much Of the business Is done at the fairs
and our men sell direct to the farmers.
One OF the greatest specialties of Shelf
field Is making machine tools, and the
American competition Is cutting deep into
this branch of its business. In a recent
article the editor OF Fielden's Magazine,
enc of the best OF England's Industrial
authorities, writes that there is hardly
a workshop Of any Importance in the
United Kingdom which is not using Amer
lean tools and labor-saving devices. He
says he knows OF an establishment which
recently bought $780, 900 worth OF new
machinery, two-thirds Of which was Amer
lean. Since the close Of the war numer-
Gus articles have been published In the
papers here as to how the Americans are
fast getting the monopoly Of the machin-
~ oaTao Tor South AfrFaa "a to ranorfaa
that our trade in the British colonies is
steadily increasing. and the complaint is
made that the governments Of the various
British dependencies are giving their most
important orders to the United States.
british Guara Trade secrets.
This condition makes It almost impossi-
BILE for an American to have access to the
English mills. The managers look upon
every visitor as a spy. They think he Is
after their trade secrets and for this rea-
son they Will not show him their ma
chinery. l have been refused admission to
a number Of factories and foundries on
various pretexts, although my letters of
introduction, some OF them from our gov
eminent departments. show that my mis-
sion is simply that of news gathering, and
that l am interested In no manufacturing
business whatsoever.
On the other hand the Dritlsher does moi
hesitate to borrow ideas and machines
from others. and as a usual thing he Dor
rows without asking. He Is quick to take
what he can get, not only from foreign
ers but from his own people. A notable
instance Of this occurred here at Shefielc
as far back As a generation before tbs
declaration Of our independence. 1t wal
the stealing Of the secret Of making cruel
BILE or cast steel. The originator Of thii
process came from near Shefleld. Hi
name was Huntsman and he lived at
town called Handsworth. He established
factory al Atterelin for the working o
this process, and his descendants still max
steel on the same spot. He CAREFUL
guarded his secret for a time. but at las
one Of his trade rivals stole II In the fol
lowing underhand way He disguised him
self as a beggar, and one stormy nigh
came to the doors Of the factory seekin
shelter and rest. He looked 50 rough tina
the men In charge did not think theT
could be any danger from one Of his elias
and they compassionately admitted him. II
was told he could lie dow In the einds
heap. He only pretended to be asleel
however, and through his hRlf-shut eys
took a mental photograph Of the machineI
and the operations. He watched so closel
that he was able to reproduce the PR
cess, and he used II TO rival the wol
OF Huntsman. l understand that the d
scendants Of this man still own one OF Il