New-York tribune., 1912-03-10

purpose Of removing the piped section. oh-
fortunately. this cutting Off Is regulated
more bv the length of the bloom thah py
the depth Of the defect OF piping ana poth
the interrupted formation Of the pipe IN
MANY instances and the speed with Whch
the incardescent billet is handled make IL
ouito impossible always to tell whether or
not the whole of the blemished material mas
been discarded. The cut may come just at
sound point between two sections Oh
the nine cavity. and when this is the case
the bad material is almost certain to De
rolled into the rail Some railroads specify
that a discard Of 90 per cent OF the weight
shall be made from every bloom, about ls
nor cent being rejected from the top or
mined end Of the ingot and the per cent
remaining being cut off from the other end
of the billet which becomes deformed by
tho action of the rolls. 1t is safe to say
that a very large percentage Of the ingots
cast to-day are piped a good deal deeper
,ban this allowance will cover, and this
discard percentage is bigger than the meas
ure Of scrap usually cut OF from lhe oiooi'''
by the average rail mill
The metallurgist has found that more
carbon as well as the presence OF other
allows. such as nickel, chrome manganese
etc add materially TO the physical prop
critics Of the steel, incidentally reducing the
b1ouboIes or gas cavities in the steel. Whils
augnenting the depth or reach or the pipe
In these higher grades OF steel the pipe Tor
nation frequently runs down into the iheo'
an,vbere from 25 to 40 per cent, depending
NJ course. upon the percentages or these
allows. No arbitrary figure OF discaro'
therefore. can properly be set, each ingot IN
;,.oIf beinp more or less individual in this
respect.
Iess speed in the turning out OF the rail-
end = much bigger discard OF doubtful ma
terial are the only ways by which the
safoty of the public can be assured. we
,,,,st remember that these defects are not
alwavs visible even at the rail end when
cold or under the searching scrutiny OF
.tronr glass. and 1t should not be nara
tberefore TO understand how the nasty
Glance Of an operative at the cutter Is
insufficient to detect flaw in the glowing
rnetal Another trouble is due to the pres
ence OF little globules OF Stag. Cnder the
! s,,ocees,ve blows Of the driving wheels or
the trucks Of loaded cars these particles OF
Stag because of their hardness, tend 10
srl,t the rail- To a large extent the pres
| o,,oo of Stag cannot be readily detected, and
! ooret,tutes a hidden danger. IL the steel
| be allowed TO stand long enough in the big
,od,e before teeming into the moulds the
a,oo, Il,e cream In milk, will rise to the
! g. II the steel is not allowed TO stand
and ruree itself In this way, then these
classy granules remain mixed with the
ala steel and pass through the bottom Of
,ho todIe and thence into the body of the
! -. ,,,ben cast Any one who has ever
80, IN rail mill knows how much is
80 ~ sneed in every operation, and as
tho nav or the operatives and the standing
90 some Of their superiors are directly af-
feeted by the tonnage output In each work
inc dav the desire for gain and record
,,,,,os I,ttIe heed 10 the lives that later may
- tr,na,,l,ed when that track Is laid.
:, g. sa,d that In GONE American mills a
Iii ., rail can be rolled every hour for
four hours a day, and during TWEEN
tive DAYS Of every month During some
y, ,hn oneratlons the red hot steel goes
,hrorob the passes at the rate of ten miles
80 ho,,r One Of our greatest steel experts
re said. "The temperature at which the
roIIod material IS finished Is gausen with
,,,,oh ,rss accuracy than In forging opera
,to,s and Is ,,Iwavs too high FOR the best
quality Of the steel. because eeonoii! oi