The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1907-05-24
INSIDE INFORMATION.
John w. Gates Says Bessemer
Process is Debased.

John w. Gates makes the distinct
charge that greed for profits have in
duced the makers of Bessemer stee
rails to neglect the former safeguard:
in manufacture, and that the frequent
recent breakages are solely due to i'm
proper Manufacture and lower stand
ards.
Drawing diagram Of steel con
verter from which steel ingots are
cast, Mr.. Gates said that only two
thirds of the metal poured into the
converter to be made into steel was
of high enough grade to be rolled into
rails.
"N hen l was head of the Illinois
Steel company" he said, 1--WE used To
cut off ten inches below the core OF
the molten steel. Above that point
the steel was full Of 'blubber' air,
puffs and impurities.
SD cutting ten inches below the
core we obtained pure Bessemer steel.
Nowadays the rail companies using
Bessemer steel believe that they can
roll out these impurities and save at
the same time from 10 to 20 per cent
of the material.
with pig iron at S23 ton this
saving amounts to considerable sum
when one is rolling 1000, 900 or 3,000,-
900 tons of steel rails which sell at
$2S ton. The Bessemer makers do
not cut enough from the cooling steel
below the core. Hence these flaws in
the steel before it is rolled"
The men, who control the big rail-
road systems of the country, have
decided not to buy any more steel
rails than they actually have to from
the United States Steel corporation,
nor from any other corporation, so
long as they use the Bessemer process,
which was hailed as one of the great
est discoveries of the age says, mes
sage to the daily press.
This determination accounts for
the fact that Edward III. Hartman
has just ignored the steel corporation
and has placed an order with the Ten.
nesSee Coal and Iron company for
10000 tons of steel rails for the Har-
riman system and 10000 tons for the
Illinois Central road. The Tennessee
Coal s. Iron company has abandoned
the Bessemer process in making steel
rails and is using the open hearth
process, which eliminates large per-
centage of the phosphorus, thereby,
it is said, insuring better, less brit
tie and safer rail.
Recognizing the fact that the days
of the hitherto great Bessemer process
of treating iron ore are passing, the
Colorado Fuel & Iron company has
put in open hearths and the United
States Steel corporations new plant
at Gary, Ind, is being fitted with the
same process. 1t is said, moreover,
to be only a question of short time
before every steel plant in the country
will be fitted with the open hearth
instead of the Bessemer process, and
when such time arrives, railway man
ayers assert, the American railways
will be able to secure safe steel rail
and one which will not cause wrecks
by breaking under the strain and the
pounding of heavy trains.
During test made by the 1S-hour
flyer over the Pennsylvania railroad
between New York and Chicago Mon
day, twenty rails were broken. The
test was made under the inspection
of an official connected with the Car
negie company who made the inspec-
tion right after fast run. The Car
negies, who have been busily expert
menting with new rails, desired to
see just how much damage could be
done to the rail of today when a fast
train was run over the line at top