The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-02-18
MODERN ALCHEMY.
Making Steel is Worth More to the
World Than Making Gold.

| possible by means Of some undiscov-
cred laboratory operation to convert
the baser metals into gold. With the
development OF modern chemistry
this belief was shown to be baseless,
at least in the sense in which the
older workers held it.
AT the same time there has been
evolved as a result of the work of the
| more recent chemists and metallur-
glsts transm utation in the properties
OF that most widely used material
steel which is of far more real value
to the world than any formula for
| making gold could ever be.
The discovery that iron containing
certain proportion of carbon consti-
tuted steel transformed society and
created modern civilization; without
steel we should relapse into parbar-
ism. Today it is known that in ad-
dltlon 10 carbon there are other ele-
part to steel certain properties in
creasing immensely it's value as
material of construction and of oper-
alton.
Among the substances which were
formerly classed as the rare" ele-
ments there are several which were
| rare only because there was not suffi-
2ient use for them to provide all in
| centive to discover natural sources of
| supply.
Thus vanadium, known as an ele-
| ment for a hundred years, estimat ed
as having value many times that of
gold and used solely for a few artistic
purposes in coloring fabrics, has with
| in a few years risen immensely in
Importance because Of the knowledge
which has been acquired Of the valu-
able properties which it imparts to
steel, While at the same time it has
fallen in cost to a point about one
half that Of silver beca use the very
=
demand has revealed hitherto un-
known deposits
The influence of vanadium upon
steel may we'll be regarded as a tri-
umph of modern metallurgy, and
| vanadium steel has become one of
| the most important of the so-caIled
alloy steels. The older steels, now
known broadly as carbon" steels in
distinction to the various alloy steels.
had certain fairly wei ascertained
| properties together with determinate
| limitations.
They could be made ductile within
certain limits of strength or strong
within certain approach to brittleness,
but when both strength and tough
ness were demanded it was realized
| that something else in addition to car
| bon was essential That something
has been shown to be vanadium.
The influence Of the addition Of
small proportions Of vanadium to
steel is two-fold; it acts as a scav-
enger, removing oxides, nitltdes, etc.
N a form easily carried away to the
| Stag, and it also toughens the steel
| directly, by its solid solution, under
| normal conditions, in the carbonless
| portion, known as ferrite. In ad-
dition it forms complex carbdes of
such nature as greatly to strength
en- the steel statically.
The result is a product so vastly su-
perior to the ordinary carbon steel as
to render it practically a new material
Of construction, especially for situa-
| tions in which shocks must be met
and resisted. The combination of
| high strength and great toughness
makes it the material above all others
for automobile parts as well as for
railway aXles and engine frames for
springs for the important parts of
vessels and for bridges and similar
structures.
For the latest types Of engineer
ing work, such as flying machines,
submarines, torpedoes and similar
! work the possession of a material of
high resistance to stresses Of all
| kinds enables some of the most diff
cult elements Of the work to be solV-
| ed.
| While the application Of Vanadiurn
to steel constitutes at present its most
| important use, it has also marked
influence upon cast iron and upon
copper, and while its use has not yet
been developed SO far in these direct
| ions, there is every reason to believe
that these applications will follow
Cassicr's Magazine.