New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-05-14
Dividend Notices
RAIL DISPUTE GROWS
Bessemer and Open Hearth AdUo-
Gates Still Talking.

ss, ~ the COMMITTEES OF experts ap-
poipted by the American Railway Association aiu
the steel rail manufacturers to agree upon s'aIi
rd s excellence in steel rail manufacture ara NOT
onsotod for some time. In the mean time tne
controversy over the quality of the steer rauS W
ing manufactured at present anu rs "
,bs oman hearth or Bessemer process produces tIie
hest rail shows no sign OF abatement A Wen IN
80 - nan said Yesterday that the open
haartb rail vas superior TO the Bessemer ran. as
It contained less phosphorus ana was 'e
NOT so brittle He said that, In MS opi"iol' siie
- trcresso I'm broken rails due more to nat
n.beaIs combined with heavier rolling stock ana
r,.ha- snsed than to any other reason and that
he believed the steel companies were turning Ou'
INST as good rails they ever did
prrssentstives of the Pennsylvania tamorls
and Lackawarna steel companies sau Ss.s a.Io.
that while at present none OF their eoihpaii'e'
,,.ru,actured any open hearth rails they all eA-
nac,sd ~ do so before long. owing to the ihCreas
irg demand from the railroad companies i'' 1'
made bv that process They SAN 'hat 'ue 'pe
baar,b process was slower and more expensive ana
-. :. o,,Id ranuire two or three times as many
t,~raccs nc the Bessemer process 70 turn out Tue
same number of rails They said that rams "A
b,, the open hearth process were SUPPOSED !" %
80 as they we're not so high In phosphorus
but that they did not think their general use "oua
a,,a all the difficulties being encountered
In the way of breakage They declared tnS' '"e
steel companies were using as nuch care as ~.
60 had IN the manufacture Of rails. but said tna'
Naay 81
- .hat most Of the broken rails were caused ey
' taa,iar rolling stock. increased traffic and
higher speed. -, -, ir,;,a- q,
Wrought iron" said manufacturer. VINO oeheVes
e., tho superiority of the open hearth process II
- 80. brittle like the Bessemer rails that are hlsh
g., nhosphorus In brief the open hearth ran IS
r,,,cb less susceptible to breakage than the bes-
sener rail. 1t will last longer ana the rallroads
GO thus given an additional insurance. The
,..,,,sr rolling stock increased speed. etc, will
recessjtate a heavier Bessemer rail than is now
- uen This and the fact that the life of the steel
rau has been greatly shortened mean that the
a;iroads will have to use a larger tonnage. The
s,aten,ent that a 1lO-pound rail is as susceptible
- brAakage as an so-pound S-pound rail Is
absurd You might we'll try 10 argue that
sinch beam will stand as great weight 10
inch beam
Al present the only steel corporation In the coun-
try that is manufacturing steel rails under the
omen hearth process is the Tennessee Coal Iron
Company which has just received order for
,57 5os, tons from the Hartman lines. The United
miIiians on it's new plant at Gary, where Il is in
stallng the open hearth process The corporation 5
its Youngstown plant, will, it is said. be changed
from the Bessemer to the open hearth process.
The Bethlehem Steel Corporations new mill which
Is expected start operations this fall will manu-
support the contention that open hearth rail is
superior to the Bessemer product.
The Southern higher in phoSDhOrls
! than the Northern ores. yet the Tennessee Coal
and Iron Company produces a rail- containing
siderably less phosphorus than the Bessemer mills
can produce with the Northern ores. For example
the steel rails manufactured under the BesssIncr
process must contain not more than IO-lOO of /
per cent of phosphorus while the open hearth rail
must not contain more than 6-100 l per cent 4
representative OF the Tennessee company said yes
terday when the rehabilitation of its plant
was completed the company would be able 10 pro
ducesteel rails cheaper than any other rail com
pany in the country.
A dispatch from Pittsburg yesterday quoted Chief
Engineer Atwood. OF the Pittsburg & Lake Erie
Railroad Company, who is said to be authority
on railroad construction. as saying: Heavier rails
are needed the heavier rails ought come
| until general conditions OF railroad construction
| have been greatly improved. While We may be