The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1908-06-11
A ROMANCE OF STEEL
The Rise of a Great Industry and
Enormous Fortunes.
KELLY AND THE AIR BLAST

The Flash of Genius Which Provided
the World With New Metal-Rob.
ert Mashet's Device-captain Bill
Jones and Andrew Carnegie.
AS late as the middle of the last cen.
fury cheap steel was unknown. 1t
was then sold at 25 cents pound.
The railroads were using iron rails
which wore out in less than two years,
and the total output Of iron and steel
in a year was less than is now made in
four days.
Then came to William Kelly, Pitts
burg 1rish-American, that flash Of gen.
Jus which provided the world with a
new metal. something as strong as
steel and as cheap as iron.
Kelly was an iron maker and needed
charcoal. In time all the wood near
bis furnaces was burned, and the near
est available source Of supply was
seven miles distant. To cart his char
coal seven miles meant bankruptcy I'M
less he could invent way to save fuel.
One day he was sitting in front Of the
'fnery fire" when he suddenly sprang
to his feet. with shout, and rushed to
the furnace. At one edge he saw
white hot spot in the yellow mass Of
molten metal. The iron at this spot
was incandescent. 1t was almost gas
eous. Yet there was no charcoal
nothing but the steady blast Of air.
Like fash the idea leaped into his
excited brain-there was no need Of
charcoal; air alone for fuel.
But people said he was crazy when
Kelly asserted that pig iron could be
changed into malleable iron by the air
blast, for every iron maker believed
in those days that cold air would chill
hot iron. "Some crank will be trying
to burn ice next" said one manufactur-
er, and Kelly, through lack Of means,
could not turn his idea into the sue
cess he deserved.
Then, seven years later. came Besse-
mer, who made the new process com
mercial success by the invention of his
celebrated converter" and received
$10,00O,O00, worldwide fame and a
knighthood as his reward. Kelly re-
ceived 100000 and comparative obliv-
ion, although his idea was the nu-
cleus of the Bessemer process by
which iron is purified from carbon by
the direct introduction of oxygen, for
when Besselner applied for and OBJ
tanned United States patent for his
pneumatic process Kelly claimed pri-
ority for his invention. and his claim
was allowed by the patent office.
Another pioneer of the steel trade,
Robert +. AIushet. a Scotsman. who hit
upon a device for removing difficulty
that battied Kelly and Bessemer, Jared
even worse than Kelly. for he lost his
patent by failing to pay the necessary
fees and in his later years was de-
pendent upon pension of $500 which
he received annually from Bessemer.
The difficulty which Munset removed
was this:
"rhe air blast clears the molten
metal of carbon and Of all impurities,
including sulphur and phosphorus. But
certain quantity Of carbon Is neces.
sary to harden the metal into the re-
quired quality Of steel. Instead Of
endeavoring to stop the process at
exactly the right moment, Mushet
asked. Why not first burn out all the
carbon and then pour back the exact
quantity that you need?' This was a
simple device, but no one had thought
Of 1t before"
The man who took the invention Of
Kelly and Bessemer into his hands. de-
veloped it into one of the wonders Of
the world and made the Carnegie mil
lions was Captain William r. Jones
Bill Jones, as he was known-whe
seemed to live with the sole desire of
topping over the idea that England
owned the steel trade. He could have
been millionaire many times over.
but be cared little for money. When
he was offered a partnership he re-
piled:
mo, Mr.. Carnegie, don't know any
thing about business, and don't want
to be bothered with it. I've got trouble
enough here in these works. I'll tell
you what you can do"-these were his
exact words-"you can give me a
laundering big salary"
"After this, captain" replied Car
negie, you shall have the salary Of the
president Of the United States-$25.-
Co.,"
The famous scrap heap policy was
originated by Jones. He did not be-
lieve in waiting until his machinery
was worn out. The moment that an
improvement was invented old ma
chinery was dragged to the scrap heap
and the latest devices put in its place.
He made the shareholders gasp on sew
eral occasions by asking permission to
smash up $4,000 worth of machinery
that was as good as new. but outgrown.
Jones died, as he had lived, in the
midst Of an industrial battle at the
head Of his men. He was killed in an
accident in the company's works. "Car-
negie. looking upon poor Jones as he
Law In the hOSDital sohhed like q child -