The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-08-16

ing air through the molten iron. the
oxygen uniting with the carbon and sill
con and literally burning It up. leaving
the metal pure. The converter accom-
plishes this In a very simple manner, al
though the process was long IN being dis
covered. The heat" which Is melted
iron representing something over 500 de-
grees Fahrenheit, Is poured into boiler
shaped vessel, through which. IN the
Bessemer process. tubes run vertically.
Eight tons Of metal constitute an ordi-
nary bath" and when this Is ready the
vessel is tipped on end and the blast
turned on, forcing currents Of air through
the molten metal. In the Bessemer con-
verter the air enters at the bottom. of
necessity having q pressure and velocity
sufficient to overcome the gravity of the
molten metal Fer this reason. by the
Bessemer process, It Is claimed. the steel
is often overoxydized. The Booltwalter
patent is so contrived that the air en-
tiers at the side, pushing the melted metal
constantly away from it and in this man
ner creating a circulation of the metal
in the vessel which finally brings all in
contact with the current, with the de-
sired result Not having to contend with
gravitation, 1t is possible with the Book
walter patent to admit Just the amount
Of air necessary and no more, and thus
avoid overoxidation.
The shop at Philadelphia will be 70ox60
feet with wings. 1t will contain three
converters of a capacity of two. five and
ten tons, respectively. There will be cleo
trio travelling cranes. metal saws and
every known modern improvement to
make the foundry the ideal one of the
kind In tie country.
The site is not only advantageoualy To-
Gated as to a good water front, but In adj
dition is edjacent to the belt railway.
1t will be possible In this plant to make
castings ranging in size from one ounce
to 10000 pounds.
Raw metal will go In at one end of the
factory end come cut at the other fin
ished steel. There will be absolutely no
waste either In material, labor or time.
Superior Process.
Selden s. Deemer. superintendent of the
Brylgon Steel Casting Co.. in discussing
the process said II have had experience
In making steel castings by different
processes almost constantly since 1887,
namely: McHaffee open hearth, Robert
Tropenaz, and at the present time. Book
walter, which 1 consider under proper
conditions superior to any known pro-
cess. A visit to our plant will con-
vince the most skeptical. / am willing
to make a broad assertion that with
small converter 1t will turn out about
5000 pounds of finished steel every half
hour. You can make any grade the open
hearth people can, and also great
many they cannot. For instance, after
decarbonizing 5000 pound heat you can
make two or three different kinds of steel
out of one melted bath. Following the
analysis of three different grades of
steel made out of the one heat. First
ladle, 1000 pounds, 0.10 car, mang. trace,
sill. 0.01; second ladle 1000 pounds, car.
rs, mang. car. 0.G0, sill. OPS; third ladle
1000 pounds, car. 0.55, mang. 0.S5, sill
O8. The first of these the open hearth
people cannot make at all, for they could
not get 1t out of the ladIe, however, they
might scull. l claim the small con-
verter will produce hotter STEEL with
more life In 1t than the open hearth
and the claim is not fallacious.' You can
decarbonize one 5000 pound heat, pour
it into an open ladle and hold the metal
hot enough until you finish the second
heat, then pour 1t into the same ladle and
pour the entire mass into one mold over
the lip of the ladle without any scull.
You can take small shank ladle with
about 100 pounds of melted steel from the
converter, let two men carry Ii seventy
five feet and pour 1t over the lip of the
ladle the same as you would iron and
have no scull. The open hearth people
could not get 1t to run, even In plain
mold We can run anything from one
ounce up. predict in the near future
that almost every steel casting plant will
install small converter for special
grades of casting. OF course it requires
constant attention and careful practice"
John w. Bookwalter is a well known
Ohioan. He is rated as a millionaire. Be
sides owning $4,000 acres of land in Ne
braska, he owns the James Leffel Co.,
water wheel manufacturers, the Book
walter hotel, the Grand opera house, the
Bookwalter block and other property In
Springfield, o. He was the democratic
candidate for governor in 1884, when he
was defeated by Charles Foster, who
later became secretary of the treasury.
For the last twenty years, since the
death of his wife, he has been a globe
trotter. In the twenty years he has been
In practically every known land.