Evening star., 1902-08-23
AIM MER|CAN INVASION
British Workshops Being Re-
modelled After Our Ideas.
JOHN BULLS SECRETS
HE GUARDS THEM WELL AND
TEACHES US A LESSON.
Something About Sheffield, the Chief
Cutlery Town of the
World
JOHN BULLS SECRETS
Copyright, 1902, by Frank G. Carpenter)
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SHEFFIELD, England
1 find that the American invasion has
| made its way into this the very heart of
Industrial England. Our big steel trust
| has frightened the factors of Sheffield, and
| their trade, not only in England, but all
the world over, is being affected by it.
The English railroads have begun import
ing American locomotives and American
steel rails, and the people here are won
dering whether they will not soon be send
ing them knives and razors as we'll The
letting of the contracts for the enormous
bridges in Africa and Burmah to American
firms astounded them, and they are worried
as to their foreign orders. Sheffield pro-
duces agricultural machinery, but our
American tools are sold side by side with
those of English make, and our biggest ma
chine 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.
American Machine Tools.
One of the greatest specialties of Shelf
field is making machine tools, and the
American competition is cutting deep into
this branch of it's business. In a recent ar
ticle the editor of Fielden's Magazine, one
of the best of Englands industrial authori-
ties writes that there is hardly work
shop of any Importance in the united king
dom which is not using American tools and
labor saving devices. He says he knows of
an establishment which recently bought
800 900 worth of new machinery, two-thirds
of which was American. Since the close OF
the war numerous articles have been pub
lshed in the papers here as to how the
Americans are fast getting the monopoly
of the machinery sales for South Africa. 1t
is reported 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.
How the British Guard Trade Secrets.
This condition makes 1t almost impossible
for an American to have access to the Eng
lish mills. The managers look upon every
visitor as spy They think he is after
their trade secrets and for this reason they
Will not show him their machinery. have
been refused admission to a number of fac
tories and foundries various pretexts,
although my letters of Introduction, some
Of them from our government departments,
show that my mission Is simply that OF
news gathering, and that am interested
in no manufacturing business whatsoever.
On the other hand the Britisher does not
hesitate to borrow ideas and machines from
d
without asking He is quick to take what
he can get not only from foreigners, but
from his own people. A notable instance
of this occurred here at Sheffield far
back as generation before the declara-
tion of our independence. 1t was the steal
ing of the secret Of making crucible or
cast steel. The originator of this process
came from near Sheffield. His name was
Huntsman, and he lived at a town called
Handsworth. He established a factory at
Attercliff for the working of this process,
and his descendants still make steel on the
same spot. He carefully guarded his
cret for a time, but at last one of his trade
rivals stole it in the following underhand
way: He disguised himself as a beggar,
and one stormy night came to the doors of
the factory seeking shelter and rest He
looked rough that the men in charge did
not think there could be any danger from
one of his class, and they compassionately
admitted him. He was told he could lie
down on the cinder heap. He only pre-
tended to be asleep, however, and through
his half-shut eyes took a mental photo
graph of the machinery and the opera
tions. He watched so closely that he was
able to reproduce the process, and he used
it to rival the work of Huntsman. I un-
derstand that the descendants of this man
still own one of the largest iron and steel
factories of England, and that their bust
ness was originally based on the work Of
that night.
Keep the English Out!
If l were at the head of an American
manufacturing establishment 1 would be
chary Of showing my processes to English
visitors, especially to those of the same
business who are looking for points. Every
where | go l learn of Englishmen who are
being sent to the United States to study
our workshops, machinery and methods. A