East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1907-08-21
GREAT MAN IN IRON
INVENTOR, PROMOTER
AND A GENERAL GENIUS
Upon His Nerve and Sagacity Have
Been the Great Fortunes of Many
.Iron Kings"-Was a Blacksmith
by Trade-Is Pennsylvania by
Birth and Has Limited School Ed
ucation-Was the First American
to Make "BIow" Steel.

Bethlehex. Pa, Aug. 21.-This is
the S5th birthday of John Fritz iron
master and inventor, famous for his
perfection of armor plate processes,
and one of the grand old men in the
iron and steel industry. A flood of
congrstulatory messages were receiV-
ed at his home in this city. Among
the senders we're leading members of
the engineering profession In Ameri-
ca and Europe, captains Of invention
and industry and the central figures
of finance allied with the iron trade.
John Fritz Is the nestor of the iron
trade IN America. He began life as
n blacksmith in 1898, and in his long
career has been identified with al
most every important step in the pro-
cess of making iron and steel, when
has resulted in an increase OF the
American product of a million tons
in 1898 to upwards of 25,OOO,OOO in
1905. The crowning effort of his life
was the conception, the designing
and erection of the great forge and
armor plate plant of the Bethlehem
Steel company, of which he was the
chief engineer and superintendent
from 1860 to 1898.
Mr.. Fritz is a striking example oil
the typical American, born of poor
. parents, who were solid, substantial
ana God-fearing. With only district
school education, gained in the mid
I die part of Pennsylvania, he started
r life with the stimulus and opportuni'
, ty that American citizenship gives
r aid attained a position in the stee
' Industry that is recognized by th'
. whole world. He is the only man nov
4 lliying of the small group that intro
q drced into the United States the Bes
e semer steel process. A great eco
nomical revolution was thereby ef
fected, from which has flowed tn
: tremendous development seen toda
IS in steel manufacture in the Unite
e states. The leading men In the IN
j. dustry today are the pupils Of Jon
i Fritz. F. .lr r-t j.
It In 1893 the British Iron and Stee
n 1nstitute gave Mr.. Fritz the Besseme
II gold medal, which is about the nien
e est distinction a steelmaker can re
G. Ceive. In lJUE, oH tiS own ~
lie OF Mr.. Fritz, the occasion was sig
1t nalized by the founding. Of the Jon
l. Fritz gold medal for achievement
the Industrial sciences. the medal b'
ing awarded annually by a commute
Or OF the American Society Of civil III
n. eineers. the American Society OF MI
,e chanical Engineers and the America
W institute Of Electrical Engineers.
r., Born on August 81, 1922, In Chest'
i'd county. this state, Mr.. Fritz. at the az
IS. OF 1s left the farm to work In coui
Mt trv machine shop with a view
m learning the trade of machinis
n After various experiments In stee
H. making at Norristown and safe Ha
a. bor. Mr.. Fritz, in 1854, went to John
" town. where he remodeled an old m
and built what is now known as u
Cambria Iron works. 1t was at IN
ut period that, in connection with y
he brother George, he designed al
ut erected the well known three MI
n bloomers," with their automa,
n tables and the three high mill