The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-07-22
4 ROMANCE OF STEEL
rhe Rise Of a Great industry and
Enormous Fortunes.
KELLY AND THE AIR BLAST

Jones and Andrew Carnegie.
Az late as tho middle OF the last cen
tury cheap steel was unknown. i
was then sold at ~ cents pound
The railroads were using iron rail-
which wore out In less than two years
and the total output OF iron and stee
Ia year was less than Ia now made Il
four days.
Then came to william Kelly. d Pitts
burg Irish'Americnn, that fash Of gen
iuS which provided the world with d
new metal. something as strong ~
steel and as cheap as iron.
Kelly was an Iron maker and needed
charcoal. In time ,all the wood neaI
his furnaces was burned, and the near
est available source OF supply wal
seven miles distant. To cart bis char,
coal seven miles meant bankruptcy un,
less he could Invent way TO save fuel
One day he was sitting In front of the
"Hnery fire. when he suddenly sprane
TO his feet. with n shout, and rushed te
the furnace. Al one edge he saw a
white hot spot In the yellow mass OF
molten metal. The iron at this spot
was incandescent. II was almost gas,
eous. Yet there was no charcoal
nothing but the steady blast OF air.
Like fash the idea leaped into his
excited braln--therc was no need Of
charcoal: mir alone for fuel.
But people said he wns crazy when
Kelly asserted that pig iron could be
changed into mnllcablc iron by the air
blast. for every iron maker believed
In those days that cold afr would chill
hot iron. "Some crank will be trying
10 burn ice next said one manufactur-
or, 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.
merclal success by the invention OF his
celebrated converter and received
sl0000,000. worldwide fame and a
knlghthood as his reward. Kelly re-
celved 100000 aud comparative obliv-
lon, 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 Bessemer applied for and oh.
talned a 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 r. Mushet. Scotsman, who hit
upon a device for removing difficulty
that batiied 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 $1,000 which
he received annually from Bessemer.
The difficulty which Munset removed
was this.
"The air blast clears the molten
metal Of carbon and OF all impurities,
including sulphur and phosphorus. But
A certain quantity of carbon Is neces.
sary to harden the metal Into the re-
lulred quality OF steel. Instead OF
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 needi' This was q
simple device, but no one had thought
of II before"
The man who took the invention OF
Kelly and Bessemer into his hands. de-
veloped Il Into one OF the wonders OF
.he world and made the Carnegie mil
Ions was Captain William II. Jones'
Bill Jones, as he was known-who
seemed to live with the sole desire Of
.oppllng over the idea that England
,wned the steel trade. He could have
been millionaire many times over,
but he cared little for money. When
le was offered a partnership he re-
)lled:
mo, Mr.. Carnegie, don't know any
hing about business, and ! don't want
o be bothered with 1t. I've got trouble
here IN these works. I'll tell
fou what you can do"-these were his
,xuct words-"you can give me a
big salary"
"After this, captain" replied Car.
legie, "you shall have the salary of the
president Of the United States -$25,-
)00."
The famous scrap heap policy was
originated by Jones. He did not be-
ieve In waiting until his machinery
vas worn out, The moment that an
Improvement was invented old ma
,hinery was dragged to the scrap heap
md the latest devices put In its place
ae made the shareholders gasp on sew
,ral occasions by asking permission to
smash up $500000 worth of machinery
hat was as good as new, but outgrown,
Iones died, as he had lived, in the
MIDST Of an industrial battle at the
read Of his men. He was killed In an
lccldent in the companys works. Gar
Degle, looking upon poor Jones as he
ay In the hospital, sobbed like n child"
-"The Romance of Steel" by Herbert
n. Casson.
The Wind.
The senator pushed into the crowd