The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1908-06-13
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 a New metaI--Rob-
ert Mashet's Deviee--captain Bill
Jones and Andrew Carnegie.

Jones and Andrew Carnegie.
AS lnte as the middle Of the last cen.
fury cheap steel was unknown. II
was then sold nj % 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 20 William Kelly. Pitts
burg Irlsh-Amcrican. that flash OF gen.
ius which provided the world with a
new metal. something ais strong as
steel and rs cheap as iron
Kelly was an iron maker and needed
charcoal In time all the wood near
his 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 10 save fuel
One day he was sitting Ia front OF the
"hnery fire" when he suddenly sprang
TO his feet, with shout. and rushed To
the furnace. At one edge he saw a
white hot spot IN the yellow mass OF
molten metal The iron AT this spot
was incande>cent IL 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 mir
blast. for every iron maker believed
in those days that cold air would chill
hot iron. "Some crank will be trying
10 burn ice next" said one manufacture
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
mercial success by the Invention of his
celebrated converter" and received
Sl0,OOO0O0. worldwide fame aud a
knlghthood as his reward Kelly re.
ceiyed $4,000 and comparative oblly-
Ion. although HIS idea was the nu-
cleus Of the Bessemer process by
which iron Is purified from carbon 10y
the direct introduction OF oxygen, for
when Bessemer applied for and OBJ
talned 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 f. Mushct Scotsman. who hit
upon a device for removing difficulty
that baHied Kelly ana Bessemer. Jared
even worse. than Kelly, for he lost his
patent by falling 10 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 Munsct removed
was this
"The air blast clears the molten
metal or carbon and OF all impurities.
including sulphur ana phosphorus. But
n certain quantity OF carbon is neces-
sary TO harden the metal into the re-
Quired quality OF steel Instead OF
endeavoring 10 stop the process az
exactly the right moment. Mushet
asked. why not first burn out all the
carbon and then pour back the exact
quantity that you needT This was n
simple device, but no one had thought
OF II before"
The man who took the Invention OF
Kelly and Bessemer into his hands. de-
velopcd II Into one OF the wonders OF
the world and made the Carnegie mil
lions was Captain William Il. Jones
Bill Jones. as he was known-who
seemed 10 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 he 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
10 be bothered with r. I've got trouble
enough here IN these works tll tell
YOU what you can do" these were his
exact words -"you can give me
laundering big salary"
after this. captain" replied Car
ncgie, you shall have the salary OF the
president OF the United States S25..
600"
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
chlnery was dragged 60 the scrap heap
and the latest devices put In It's place.
He made the shareholders gasp on sew
eral occasions 10y asking permission TO
smash M 100000 worth OF machinery
that was as good rs 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. Gar
negle, looking upon poor Jones as he
lay In the hospital, sohbed like child"
THE Romance OF Steel" by Herbert
" Casson tG
f-.-------s-e---z.7-4@~e