The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1916-03-16
CUTS STEEL OUTPUT
Shortage in Ferro. Manganese Is
Becoming Serious.


With Enforced CurtaIIment-south
American Ore Largely Con.
trolIed by Allies.
Pittsburgh, Pa.-The seriousness Of
the shortage in the United States at
the present time of ferro.manganese
as an alloy in making steel is disclosed
Ey reports that unless the situation ia
speedily relieved many important steel
works will have to curtail the produc.
ton of raw steel. while not a few OF
the smaller open-hearth plants will
awe to suspend operations entirely.
Pittsburgh reports intimate that man.
ganese prices may be expected to
reach the unprecedented figure of 5000
q on OF even more.
Manganese is used as an alloy for
ateel employed in work which requires
that the metal shall possess both hard.
ness and durability. such as rock.
crushing machinery, railway crossings,
mine'car wheels and safes. Manganese
bronze propellers have in recent years
been fitted to nearly all high-speed
Warships and express steamships. Pro.
peller blades made OF manganese com.
position will bend under a blow, but
seldom break. and frequently all that
ia necessary to make a bent manga.
nese blade good is to hammer it back
into shape. The blow that would
snap clean off a steel blade OF a pro.
peller only suttices. usually, to bend
one made of manganese.
While there have been scattered de.
posits OF manganese ore found in the
United States, the supply is unstable,
and it may be said that practically all
the manganese used in steel making
IN this country is imported.
The principal sources of supply OF
manganese ore are India. South Amer.
lea and Russia. Between the ear
1910 and 1914 the United States i'm.
ported manganese ore in values of ST..
592 .073. for 1910; 2 ,l96. C61. in 1918.
and 81. 84l. 451, in 1914. In 1914 Brazil
sent to the United States 72,lS9 tons.
British India 1865 tons and Russia
In Europe 34,S1O tons, and Russia in
Asia. $3.50 tons. In 1912 the Russian
Black sea ports forwarded directly to
the United States 87.753 tons. This
source Of supply has now been entire.
ly cut off owing to the closing Of the
Dardanelles.
The United States Steel corporation
vessels employed in carrying steel
products for export to the far East
have been employed in carrying man
ganese ore cargoes, it is said, On r 9
turn voyages. The British supply Of
manganese, 1t is declared. is now held
exclusively for the British government
needs and is unavailable for use In
the United States. There still re-
main the supplies obtainable in Brazil
but according to current report the
Brazil manganese is largely controlled
now by the allies. What South Ameri'
can manganese is reaching the United
States ia wholly in%adequate'to the de.
mands.
Manganese steel contains about
twelve per cen Of manganese and LEO
per cent of carbon. The alloy was
first known as Hadfeld's manganese
steel. It's ductility is effected by the
rate Of cooling. Sudden cooling makes
the metal extremely ductile, while
slow cooling makes 1t brittle. In this
respect the behavior is the opposite to
that of carbon steel. The great hard.
ness Of manganese, however, Is effect.
ed by the rate Of cooling.
In the shortage of manganese in the
United States at the present time
steel makers are as much concerned
ver the question OF future supply as
they are at the prospect Of immediate.
ly advancing prices.
The situation with reference to man.
ganese is shared largely by high speed
steel. Chromium and tungsten enter
largely into the making Of high speed
steel, and the making of high speed
steel tools has been to a very great
extent a British industry.
The British government, it is un.
d%erstood, will not permit any high
speed steel to be exported at present,
and it is now we'll nigh impossible to
obtain high speed cutting tools In this
country.
The Introduction of chromium and
tungsten into steel mixtures yields a
red hardness which makes 1t possible
for tools to cut metals even when the
temperature of the cutting tool under
q high speed drive is raised to 600 de.
grees Centigrade, or 1912 degrees Fahr-
enheit. This heat is occasioned by
the friction under the high speed
working. In consequence of high
speed. steel machinists can cut down
metal with a lathe nearly six times as
fast as with carbon steel tools.
Manganese is used also in high
speed steel, the amount Of manganese
employed varying from 0.O7 to OIL,
with chromium varying from 5.95 to
SAT, tungsten 1881 to 1919 and carbon
0.68 to O.67.
AS a result Of the scarcity Of high
speed steel in the United States the