The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-05-09
MT. Crockard Talks of Advan-
 tageS of Open Hearth
NEW YORK IS COMPLAINING
Eastern Rails of Heavy Sizes Show a Large Number of Breakages and the Railroads Are Inclined to
 Blame Manufacturers.

to w. c. Brown, president or the Amer ican Railway association, in which the attention of MT. Brown was called to statistics of railways of the state, show ing an unusual amount of breakage in rails during the year and consequent danger to the travelling public from this source.
 MT. Brown, who is also senior vice president of the New York Central rail- road. was asked to bring this matter to the attention of the Railway association and seek a remedy as the railroad com mission contemplated taking drastic meas ures in the matter unless conditions inn proved.
 The report on railways indicated, ae- cording to the commission, that something was radically wrong in the manufacture of steel rails. as 1t appeared that the 10o- pound rails broke more quickly than the lighter weight rails.
 These statements were yesterday pre- sented to F. II. Crockard, vice presi- dent and general manager of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad tohlPdHy, bShiiS AoA AbhN VII NiAN subject. and whether the product df the local plants fell under the ban of this complaint, directed against steel rail man. ufacturers in general.
 Birmingham Steel Not Affected.
 MT Crockard declared in reply that he had read the statements in question and that he was frank to say that the Birmingham steel rail production Is not affected by the criticism
 ''rhe rails referred to-" he said, "are those manufactured by Pennsylvania plants by the Bessemer process, and as the Tennessee company uses the open hearth process, which is known to be superior, there Is no fear that our rails will not stand the test or subject us to criticism.
 'I wish to say, at the outset, however, continued MT. Crockard that the criti- cism of steel rail manufacturers is not altogether direct but is merely part of a criticism of the New York Central road for while the rail manufacturers may not have used the most superior process in manufacturing the rails. the fault of the breakages was not entirely theirs.
 'The rail manufacturers could not be increased weight of rolling stock, the greatly increased traffic and the manner In which the tracks are laid.
 "The blame should not be put where it does not belong, for do you not think that the rail manufacturers would make progress in their manufacture where the incentive is so great as in this line of industrial activity? For example, modern methods of manufacture are allied with every discovery of science and the steel rail maker can now follow the turning out of his product with thermometric tests, which enable the skilled workman to read the temperature of the rail all through the process of manufacture, and In another department the microscope Is used to detect result of the rolling pro- cess in the grain of the ral.
 'I do not believe that the facts will bear out the statement that the manufacturer Is responsible for the breakages through the alleged hurry in getting out the prod uct. The question, of course, does not affect our industry and we are turning out 75, S5 and 1O0-pound rails for southern roads and no complaint has been received from any source as to the quality of the rails or the ability 10 stand the strain of traffic"
 About Increased Size.
 Mir. Crockard was asked If by any pro- cess of manufacture the increase in the size of the rail would render 1t more liable t. |.
 'Is not greater strength desired in larger rail, then why should the small increase of size from an 80 to 10O-pound rail render it more brittle? When a builder orders girders of increased size for building does he not desire increased strength? Then why Is 1t that a steel plant can turn out 32-inch girders for building purposes that stand the tests, and cannot turn out a seven-inch rail that will stand the test
 "Of course there are vast differences in the condition attending the strain upon girder and the wear and strain upon a rail and this must be taken into con sideration. So far as the difference in process of construction of the ral Is con cerned there is no doubt that our pro- cess, the open hearth, is superior to the Bessemer process, as followed by eastern manufacturers, but that should not ac- count for all the blame that is attached to the report of the New York railroad commission"
 Presented to Railroad Men.
 The complaint of the commission as communicated to MT. Brown was pre- scented to the meeting of the American Railway association which was held in Chicago during the latter part of April but the matter was treated in executive session and 1t is not known what decision was arrived at by the railway men. The steel rail manufacturers were represented at this meeting by five men of high au- thority and experience, and it is interest ing to know that the report was made at this meeting that those high in au- thority in the Southern railway system had informed the manufacturers of steel rails in the south. who use exclusively the German or open hearth process, that this railroad would take for a year or two all the rails the manufacturers could produce.
 
 aeavers Will Meef Toninbt