Year: 1879

put that fire out, said Mr.. Crane. AS
he spoke it flashed over me that If my
bellows gave hot blast it would bring
the grateful of coal to bright glow,
and, with the thought, there came like
an inspiration upon me that the hot
blast was all that was needed to utilize
the rich beds of anthracite under our
feet for making iron. l dropped the
bellows and gave utterance to my
thoughts. Mr.. Crane smiled, then grew
attentive, and as Iwent on thinking out
my theory as l spoke he became inter-
ested. When [ concluded we grasped
hands over the dead Goals of our an
thracite fire, and separated. Little
sleep we got that night. To me it was
one of restless anxiety. When Eread
an account of the night before the exc
cution of condemned man | always
think of my night with my new idea.
The next day posted up to Scotland,
and on my return | brought with me
the plans of hot blast furnace, which
we at once proceeded to build for the
purpose of making iron with anthracite
coal. 1t was a great success, and at
tracted capital to the development OF
the anthracite coal beds of Wales and
the attention of the scientific world.
Before that for our furnaces we had
bought coke from the distant bitumin-
GUS coal fields, thereby increasing the
cost of our product over establishments
more favorably situated. The very hills
underneath our feet were filed with
rich deposits of anthracite, and the dis
covery of means to utilize it was like a
mine of gold to the country around. Our
eXperimentwas a success. Of course the
scientific discussion carried on in the
papers in that country provoked atten-
ton in America, and the few scientific
journals published here took up the
matter, and thereby the iron-workers
of this region came to know of it's great
value. They were then using charcoal
and coke. At once they set to work on
my plan. 1t resulted in great losses to
the capital invested and many cases of
financial failure and bankruptcy.


- The Lehigh Coal Il Navigation
Company watched these experiments
with ardent hope of success, for they
saw what great advantage to them
must result in carrying 10 perfection in
this country what we had perfected in
w 1lOos hCl WdlbCu anu uOJCu Ill
vain, and finally concluded to send for
Mr.. Crane or me. Their representative
visited me, in the person of Erskine
Hazard, of Philadelphi l had often
thought of coming to America, and my
wife was strongly in favor of it, so we
received Mr.. Hazards proposition with
favor. Terms were fixed upon; it was
arranged that my expenses out were to
be paid, and that if l did not wish to
stay after five years l was to be sent
back with my family at their expense.
l arrived here early IN the fall of 1889,
and Catasauqua being selected as the
place to build the first furnace, at once
set to work. The population which at
that time was only that of hamlet was
composed entirely of Germans, and my
greatest difficulty was to get skilled
labor. picked up an old countryman
here and there, and on the Fourth of
July, 1910, l started the first blast, and
on that day made the first iron. There
is the furnace, sir, just below my house.
1t was in blast ever since until within a
few days. The success was so complete,
as shown by the work turned out during
the following six or eight months, that
another was started, which | built in
1912. l built the third in 1876, and the
fourth and fifth in 1S49 For forty years
we have averaged 10000 tons of iron a
year from these furnaces, or 600, ,OeC
tons in the aggregate. Then furnaces
sprang up all over the anthracite re.
gion. The way to utilize the hard coal
in the manufacture of iron was the only
thing needed to completely develop the
great mineral wealth of the country,
and, this fact being recognized, there
was no lack of money to take the pre-.
| liminary steps,