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ABCOFIRON 
 
 BY 
 
 CHAS. W. S1SSON. 
 
 LOUISVILLE, KY.: 
 
 PRESS OF THE COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING CO. 
 1893 
 
COPYRIGHTED, i 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 ELECTROTYPED AND PRINTED 
 
 BY 
 COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING CO. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 IRON WHAT IS IT? 
 
 A description of the metal and its uses, showing: in what combinations it is found and the 
 principal sources. 
 
 PIG IRON. 
 An account of the blast furnace process by which the ores are reduced to pig irorv 
 
 CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 
 
 A description of the elements in pig metal which influence cast iron. Described in chapters on 
 
 CARBON IN CAST IRON. PHOSPHORUS IN CAST IRON. 
 
 SILICON IN CAST IRON. MANGANESE IN CAST IRON. 
 
 SULPHUR IN CAST IRON. 
 
 NUMBERING OF PIG IRON. 
 
 Showing the character and analysis of different grades of pig iron, appearance of fracture and 
 the uses to which the several grades are adapted. 
 
 GRADING OF IRON. 
 Should it be by analysis or by fracture? 
 
 HOW TO REDUCE COST OF MIXTURE. 
 
 STEEL. 
 
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF METALS DEFINED. 
 Table of shrinkage of castings. Weights of castings from patterns, etc. 
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 Showyig rhe varieties and production of iron ore, pig iron, pig iron and steel products, rail- 
 road mileage and equipment, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE OF IRON. 
 
 Brief history of the manufacture and uses of iron from earliest times, being principally extracts 
 from Mr. James M. Swank's " HISTORY OF IRON IN ALL AGES." 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 There is nothing so essential for a foundryman to understand as 
 the action which the different elements in pig iron have on his product. 
 Manufacturers now realize that pig iron is not a simple substance, but 
 is in reality an alloy compound of a number of elements very dissim- 
 ilar ; that its physical characteristics, strength, elasticity, etc., depend 
 upon the percentages of these elements. 
 
 Greater knowledge is being sought concerning the chemical ques- 
 tions involved in foundry practice, and as this knowledge is resulting 
 in the production of better and cheaper material, it becomes necessary 
 for the foundryman who would successfully meet competition to study 
 this well. No foundryman can afford to be ignorant of the nature and 
 properties of iron if he expects to overcome the numerous emergen- 
 cies that beset every melter of pig iron. 
 
 The increasing inquiries on these subjects suggested the publica- 
 tion of this book. 
 
 Learned discussions are had on these subjects before societies and 
 mechanical institutions, and papers are written on special subjects 
 which are reproduced in piece-meal in our trade papers and journals. 
 Only few, however, have the opportunity or can afford to attend the 
 meetings of these societies, and the majority do not get to see their 
 transactions published. 
 
 There are very valuable works published on the metallurgy of 
 iron and steel, but they are voluminous and technical, and for this 
 reason very discouraging for a beginner. The author has endeavored 
 in the A B C of Iron, to place before the public such information as 
 all foundrymen should possess, in a plain, condensed form, hoping that 
 
 (5) 
 
6 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 those who read it will be assisted in their desire to master their 
 business. 
 
 The chapters relating to Constituents of Iron are made up of 
 gleanings from the writings and publications by authorities on these 
 subjects, and from personal investigation. Except where extended 
 quotations are given, no mention is made of the authority, for the 
 reason that often it became necessary to change the language to have 
 it simple and readily understood. 
 
 The author is indebted for information to Howe's " Metallurgy of 
 Steel;" the papers of Mr.W. J. Keep, of the Michigan Stove Company; 
 to Major Edward Doud, C. E., Port Henry, New York; to "The 
 Journal of the Iron and Steel Institute ; " Bloxam's Chemistry, numer- 
 ous other works, and to practical foundrymen. 
 
 Beside the chapters relating to the chemical qualities of iron and 
 the source of supply and process by which the ores are reduced to pig 
 iron, the other contents are inserted as being of value and interest. 
 
 The statistics compiled from undoubted authority, will be a 
 revelation to many, showing the magnitude and diversity of the iron 
 industry of this country. 
 
IRON-WHAT IS IT? 
 
 Iron is a metal. Bloxam tells us that "a metal is an 
 element capable of forming a base by combining with 
 oxygen." These compounds of elements with oxygen 
 are called oxides. The Latin word for iron isferum, and 
 the chemical symbol for it is Fe. The oxides of iron are 
 spoken of as ferric oxide, or ferrous oxides, the termina- 
 tion of ous signifying that there is a less proportion of 
 oxygen. 
 
 Iron is found in almost all forms of rock, clay and 
 earth, and its presence is shown by their colors, iron 
 being one of the commonest of natural mineral coloring 
 ingredients. We find it in small proportions in plants 
 and in larger quantities in the bodies of animals, especially 
 in the blood, which is said to contain about 0.5 per cent. 
 of iron, imparting its color. 
 
 Except in the case of meteorites, large metallic 
 masses which occasionally fall to the earth, sometimes 
 of enormous size and of unknown origin, iron is not found 
 in the metallic state. 
 
 The chief forms of combination in which iron is found 
 available as sources of the metal, are in the different 
 varieties of the ores of iron. By ores of iron we mean 
 
 (7) 
 
THE A D C OF IRON. 
 
 those mineral masses or beds which contain sufficient 
 metal to justify smelting. Ores of iron are not consid- 
 ered rich unless they contain 50 per cent, of metal, and 
 those containing less than 30 per cent, are rarely smelted. 
 
 There are many varieties of iron ore, but they are 
 generally classified under four general divisions, viz. : red 
 hematite, brown hematite, magnetite, and carbonate ores, 
 and in quantity mined rank in the order named. The 
 production of red hematite in 1890, according to the 
 census for that year, was 66^ per cent, of all the ore 
 mined; the quantity of magnetite and brown hematite 
 being about equal, or 16 per cent, each of the total, while 
 the carbonates were only about 2^/3 per cent, of the 
 whole product. A table showing the production of the 
 several varieties mined in each State during 1890, will 
 be found in these pages. These ores all contain impurities 
 such as sulphur, phosphorus, etc., which have great 
 influence on the quality of the iron and determine, to a 
 great extent, the value of the ores. 
 
 The ores of iron are used for flux in smelting furnaces 
 producing precious metals, and for the manufacture of 
 paints. It is also used as a fix, lining for heating and 
 puddling furnaces ; but the principal use to which they 
 are put is the production of pig iron by smelting the ores 
 in blast furnaces. We will describe briefly this process 
 in the succeeding chapter. 
 
 The high position which iron occupies among the 
 useful metals is owing to a combination of valuable 
 
IRON WHAT IS IT? 9 
 
 qualities not found in any other metal. We find in 
 Bloxam's Chemistry, the following description : 
 
 " Although possessing nearly twice as great tenacity 
 or strength as the strongest of the other metals common- 
 ly used in the metallic state, it is yet one of the lightest, 
 and is, therefore, particularly well adapted for the con- 
 struction of bridges and large edifices, as well as for 
 ships and carriages. It is the least yielding or malleable 
 of the metals in common use, and can, therefore, be 
 relied upon for a rigid support; and yet its ductility is 
 such that it admits of being rolled into the thinnest 
 sheets and drawn into the finest wire, the strength of 
 which is so great that a wire of i-io inch in diameter is 
 able to sustain 705 pounds, while a similar wire of copper, 
 which stands next in order of tenacity, will not support 
 more than 385 pounds. It is, with the exception of plat- 
 inum, the least fusible of useful metals and therefore 
 applicable to the construction of fire-grates and furnaces. 
 
 " Its qualifications are not all dependent on its phys- 
 ical properties, for it not only enters into a great number 
 of compounds which are of the utmost use in the arts, 
 but its chemical relations to one of the metallic elements, 
 carbon, are such that the addition of a small quantity of 
 this element converts iron into steel far surpassing iron in 
 the valuable properties of hardness and elasticity, where- 
 as a larger quantity of carbon gives rise to cast iron, 
 the greater fusibility of which permits it to be molded 
 into vessels and shapes which could not be produced by 
 
IO THE ABC OF IRON. 
 
 forging." Perhaps the finest description of iron is found 
 in Ures Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines: 
 
 " Every person knows the manifold uses of this truly 
 precious metal. It is capable of being cast into molds 
 of any form ; of being drawn out into wires of any de- 
 sired strength or fineness ; of being extended into plates 
 or sheets ; of being bent in every direction ; of being 
 sharpened, hardened and softened at pleasure. 
 
 " Iron accommodates itself to all our wants, our desires 
 and even our caprices. It is equally serviceable to the 
 arts, the sciences, to agriculture and war. The same ore 
 furnishes the sword, the ploughshare, the scythe, the 
 pruning hook, the needle, the graver, the spring of a 
 watch or of a carriage, the chisel, the chain, the anchor, 
 the compass, the cannon and the bomb. It is a medicine 
 of much virtue, and the only metal friendly to the human 
 frame." 
 
 What we have to deal with particularly in this book 
 is the product of the blast furnace pig iron. Five 
 elements enter into all pig iron, in a greater or less 
 degree, and in some varieties are found tungsten, and 
 chromium, and also copper, but with these we have rarely 
 to deal. 
 
 After a brief account of the process by which the 
 ores are reduced to pig iron, we will consider, in the order 
 named, the effect these five elements carbon, silicon, 
 phosphorus, manganese and sulphur have upon castings 
 made from pig metal. 
 
PIG IRON. 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE BLAST FURNACE PROCESS BY WHICH 
 THE ORES ARE REDUCED TO PIG IRON. 
 
 The modern blast furnace is supposed to have origi- 
 nated in the Rhine provinces about the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century, but whether in France, Germany or 
 Belgium is not clear. One hundred years later, in 1409, 
 there was a blast furnace in the valley of Massavaux, in 
 France, and it is claimed by Landrin that there were 
 many blast furnaces in France about 1450. The exact 
 date of the erection of the first blast furnace in England 
 is unknown, but it was along in the fifteenth century. 
 The first attempt to make pig iron in the United States 
 was in 1645, at Lynn, Massachusetts. We see, therefore, 
 that, although iron melted by charcoal in the old Catalan 
 forges was used many hundreds of years ago, cast iron 
 or pig iron is of comparative recent origin, and may be 
 said is yet in its infancy. 
 
 In the reduction of the ores the fuel may be charcoal, 
 coke, block coal or anthracite coal. Charcoal is freer 
 from impurities than any of the fuels and has been used 
 from the earliest times. Experiments were begun in 
 1630 with coal and coke, but it was not until 1735 that 
 
12 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 any degree of success was attained. The first successful 
 blast with coke as fuel was made by Abraham Darby, of 
 Shropshire, at his furnace at Coalbrookdale, England, in 
 the year 1735. The first successful manufacture of pig 
 iron with anthracite coal was by George Crane, an Eng- 
 lishman, at Yniscedirin, in Wales, in 1837. The blast 
 used in furnaces was cold, until 1825, when James Beau- 
 mont, of Scotland, invented the hot blast now in general 
 use all over the world. In order to separate the extrane- 
 ous matter usually contained in a furnace charge of ore 
 and reducing agent, certain materials must be added to 
 form slags. These materials are known as fluxes. 
 Limestone constitutes the bulk of fluxing used by the 
 blast furnace. The slags of a blast furnace are its 
 refuse, and are formed by a combination of silica with 
 the earths and metallic oxides. They are used, if not 
 too glassy, for macadamizing roads ; it makes an excel- 
 lent railroad ballast, as the mass is very permeable and 
 keeps the sleepers dry. It is also used in making brick 
 and cement. 
 
 It is not within the province of this book to give an 
 elaborate or detailed description of the blast furnace, but 
 we will briefly describe, without technicalities, how iron 
 is separated from its ores. 
 
 Strictly pure iron ore is metallic iron and oxygen in 
 chemical union in fixed and known proportions ; the 
 most common being that of peroxide, which is 70 per 
 cent, of iron to 30 per cent, of oxygen by weight. 
 
PIG IRON. 13 
 
 Iron ores, as mined, consist of various combinations 
 of iron, oxygen, phosphorus, sulphur, carbonate of lime, 
 carbonate of magnesia, silica, alumina, and sometimes 
 water, manganese, titanic acid, etc. 
 
 It is the office of the blast furnace to separate the 
 iron from the other materials. Since chemically pure 
 iron is not used in the arts, such is not sought, nor could 
 it be produced in the blast furnace. Commercial pig iron 
 usually contains 92 to 94 per cent, of pure iron and 6 to 
 8 per cent, of impurities. 
 
 The presence or absence of these impurities in vary- 
 ing proportions give to pig iron its varying characteristics, 
 suiting it to widely varying uses. Upon the proper 
 composition of the impurities depends the grade and 
 value of the pigs. 
 
 The highest skill of the iron master is exerted to 
 secure the best possible composition, varying the com- 
 position to suit the various uses of his patrons. 
 
 The chief components of the impurities are carbon, 
 silicon, phosphorus, sulphur and manganese. 
 
 The reduction of the oxide of iron by withdrawing 
 the oxygen, the simultaneous carburisation of the result- 
 ant metal and the fluxing of the various earths entering 
 the furnace with the oxide of iron and carbon, are accom- 
 plished by the use of the laws of chemical affinities. 
 This use may be empirical or intelligent. The former 
 was the method of the past, sometimes even now disas- 
 trously lingering in the lap of the present. The latter is 
 
14 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 alone in accord with the spirit of to-day, and is soon to 
 be the sole method of the future. These affinities are 
 absolute and positive, and the skillful furnace manager 
 handles them in full confidence, dividing, adding and sub- 
 tracting as an accountant does his figures. 
 
 All solid materials enter the furnace at the top in 
 carefully considered mixtures, determined by analyses to 
 conform to fixed chemical laws. The air equaling or 
 exceeding the combined weight of the solid materials 
 alone, enters near the bottom. The furnace being full 
 and in action, is found to divide into the following zones : 
 Beginning at the bottom we have first the hearth, which 
 is for receiving and holding the liquid mass until con- 
 venient intervals for tapping or drawing out. Very little 
 chemical action occurs here. The molten mass quietly 
 rests and the iron separates from the slag by specific 
 gravity. Next comes the zone of gassification. Into 
 this zone is introduced the blast, previously heated to a 
 temperature of 900 to 1,500 Fah., and is driven in 
 under a pressure of five to ten pounds per square inch, 
 and at the rate of three and one-quarter to six tons for 
 each ton of iron made. 
 
 The oxygen of the blast coming into direct contact 
 with the incandescent carbon of the fuel, gassification of 
 the carbon rapidly follows, so rapidly indeed that each 
 atom of carbon takes from the air the smallest amount 
 of oxygen necessary for gassification. That is, one atom 
 of oxygen for each atom of carbon. This action is not 
 
PIG IRON. 15 
 
 confined to the oxygen of the air ; it extends to any 
 other oxygen available. 
 
 Next above the zone of gassification is the zone of 
 fusion, in which chiefly occurs the reduction of the solids, 
 excepting ash of the fuel, to liquids. Above the zone 
 of fusion is the zone of reduction and carbon impregna- 
 tion. This should occupy a very large part of the body 
 of the furnace. 
 
 Thus, the furnace is divided into three zones, which, 
 however, have no definite limits, but insensibly merge 
 one into the other. Nor is it to be understood that the 
 offices attributed to these zones severally is confined 
 within them. 
 
 Perhaps nine-tenths of the carbon is volatilized in 
 the zone of gassification and the balance in the zone of 
 reduction, to which is added the oxygen from the ore 
 and the carbonic acid from the limestone, chiefly in the 
 zone of reduction, the furnace producing gas throughout 
 its entire height. 
 
 Nor is fusion confined to the so-called zone of fusion, 
 but may and does frequently extend well into the zone 
 of gassification, and it is known that reduction is not 
 completed and the last of the oxygen does not leave the 
 ore until it is well into the zone of fusion. 
 
 The gasses leave the zone of combustion, that is 
 gassification at a temperature of 3,500 to 4,000 Fah. 
 As they ascend the heat is transferred to the descending 
 materials to such an extent that the gasses pass out of 
 
1 6 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 the top of the furnace with only 300 to 500 Fah. As 
 the escaping gas weighs much more than the materials 
 charged, and as their specific heat does not materially 
 differ, the gas itself could impart sufficient sensible heat 
 to raise the stock to the hearth temperature were the 
 absorptions and generations of heat due to intervening 
 chemical reactions equal. 
 
 As it is, however, it will be seen how perfectly a 
 furnace acts as a regenerator, and how small a heat-waste 
 there may be in a furnace well conducted. Beginning at 
 the zone of gassification and ascending through the 
 furnace we find the descending materials always just a 
 little lower in temperature than the ascending column of 
 gas at each successive stage ; presenting by far the most 
 favorable conditions for heat transfer, where the succes- 
 sive lowering of the gas temperature is met by still 
 cooler materials to further reduce the waste, and even 
 in the most rapid furnace-driving this valuable conser- 
 vation of heat is not over-hastened for the best and 
 ultimate economy, for at least several hours must elapse 
 while each particle of the stock is descending to the 
 hearth. 
 
 Following the ores as they enter the furnace, they are 
 first dried and heated by meeting the hot gases. As 
 soon as they have reached a sufficient temperature the 
 ore begins to part with its oxygen to the carbonic oxide 
 forming carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is also eliminated 
 from the limestone, and sometimes from the ores, and 
 
PIG IRON. 17 
 
 many associations and desociations occur not necessary 
 to trace in this article. 
 
 As the descending ore becomes hotter the action 
 becomes more rapid until the most favorable temperature 
 for reduction by the gases is reached and passed, when 
 it proceeds more slowly and is supposed to be finally 
 completed by contact with intensely hot solid carbon. 
 That which was ore no longer exists as ore. Its two 
 constituents, which, in chemical union, made it oxide of 
 iron, have been separated, the oxygen expelled from the 
 top of the furnace while the iron in minute particles, 
 having taken up about 4 per cent, of its own weight of 
 carbon, is found changed from oxide of iron to carbide of 
 iron, and is intermingled with the earths and other 
 material. It remains to separate the iron from the earths 
 and put it into form for convenient handling. To do this 
 the entire mass is fused and falls into the hearth. To 
 secure a fusion of its earths a process termed fluxing is 
 resorted to, based on the premise that no single earth, if 
 pure, will melt in the temperatures ordinarily found in 
 the blast furnace, which, while not strictly true, is suffi- 
 ciently so for present purposes. 
 
 The earths usually entering the furnace are either 
 acid or basic, these two having a strong affinity for each 
 other, and when brought together in proper proportions 
 and into the presence of the high heat found in the 
 fusing iron, readily liquify and fall with the liquid iron 
 into the hearth, where by the difference in their specific 
 
1 8 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 gravity, they separate, the slag floating on top of the 
 iron. 
 
 The space allotted to this article will not admit of an 
 extended review of methods in use for the control in 
 kind and quantity of the various impurities entering 
 into the pigs. 
 
 It is sufficient to say that nearly all of the phosphorus 
 entering the furnace is found in the iron leaving it, and 
 it is contrary to the theory of the blast furnace that any 
 of it can be eliminated. Its effect is to make the iron 
 cold-short. 
 
 By judicious fluxing and management a limited 
 amount of sulphur charged into the furnace may be 
 discharged with the slag, the iron absorbing but 
 traces of this objectionable alloy. The effect of this 
 sulphur upon the iron is to make it red-short, and every 
 effort of the manager should be directed toward its 
 elimination. 
 
 The percentage of silicon is controlled by the tem- 
 perature in the zone of combustion and the character of 
 the flux. 
 
 The intensity of the heat required to decompose 
 oxide of silicon is such that it is impossible to conceive 
 that silicon can be obtained anywhere in the blast furnace 
 except in the foci of intense heat near each blow pipe 
 (Bell), therefore, the oxide of silicon must be brought 
 into these foci. The ash of the fuel is so brought in 
 and being in part silica, it answers the requirement. 
 
PIG IRON. IQ 
 
 When the fuel is high in silica the production of silicon 
 is facilitated. 
 
 Likewise, by reason of inadequate fluxing or other 
 cause, portions of the silica of the ore and limestone may 
 find their way into these limited areas of intense heat 
 and contribute silicon. 
 
 Carbon, as has been stated, combines with iron as 
 the oxygen leaves it to the extent of about 4 per cent, 
 of its weight. 
 
 This has made blast furnacing possible, as the com- 
 bination is fused at a much lower temperature than mal- 
 leable iron and within that generated in the process, so 
 that a liquid manageable metal is produced which may 
 be drawn from the hearth and molded into merchantable 
 form. 
 
 Carbon exists in pig iron as graphitic and combined, 
 and the relative proportions of each will largely control 
 the grade. To produce iron high in graphite the furnace 
 must be in a healthy condition, so that the materials shall 
 descend evenly and regularly, and the reducing gas as 
 it ascends shall come in contact with and reduce all of 
 the ore before fusion. A comparatively light burden 
 favors the production of an increased percentage of the 
 reducing gas, and so favors perfect reduction and also 
 carbon deposition. 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 
 
 Before describing these constituents and their effects 
 we would call attention to Professor Turner's statement 
 concerning cast iron, which it will be well to remem- 
 ber: 
 
 First: Pure cast iron, i. e., iron and carbon only, 
 even if attainable, would not be the most suitable 
 material for use in the foundry. 
 
 Second: That cast iron containing excessive amounts 
 of other constituents is equally unsuitable for foundry 
 purposes. 
 
 Third: That the ill-effects of one constituent can, at 
 best, be only imperfectly neutralized by the addition of 
 another constituent. 
 
 Fourth : That there is a suitable proportion for each 
 constituent present in cast iron. This proportion depends 
 upon the character of the product which is desired, and 
 upon the proportion of other elements present. 
 
 Fifth : (More properly coming under head of Silicon) 
 That variations in the proportion of silicon afford a trust- 
 worthy and inexpensive means of producing a cast iron 
 of any required mechanical character which is possible 
 with the material employed. 
 
 (20) 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 21 
 
 CARBON IN CAST IRON. 
 
 Carbon assumes a greater number of aspects than 
 any of the elements we deal with in connection with 
 iron. We find it colorless and transparent in the 
 diamond ; opaque, black and partly metallic in graphite 
 or black lead; dull and porous in wood charcoal, and 
 under still other conditions in anthracite, coke and gas 
 carbon. Carbon exerts the most vital influence upon 
 the character of pig iron of all the elements. 
 
 The different proportions of carbon held in chemical 
 composition in iron determines whether the material is 
 crude or cast iron, steel, or bar or malleable iron ; cast 
 iron containing more than steel and steel more than 
 malleable iron, which last ought to be pure metal, a point 
 of perfection rarely reached. It is impossible to assign 
 the limits between these three forms of iron, or their 
 relative proportions of carbon, with entire precision, for 
 bar iron passes into steel by insensible gradations, and 
 steel and cast iron make such mutual transitions as to 
 render it difficult to define where the former commences 
 and the latter ceases to exist. In fact, some steels may 
 be called crude iron and some cast irons may be classed 
 among steels. Carbon affects the color,- strength, hard- 
 ness and fusibility of cast iron. It exists in pig iron in 
 two distinct forms, the combined and the graphitic or 
 free carbon, and upon the relative proportion of each in 
 a great measure depends the character of the metal. 
 
22 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 The " total carbon " is always equal to the combined, 
 plus the graphitic. Graphitic carbon occurs almost 
 exclusively in gray pig iron (foundry irons) in the form 
 of dark thin flakes, varying much in size and intersecting 
 the small particles of iron. Its influence is to make iron 
 softer and tougher, but weaker and less tenaceous than 
 if it existed in the form of combined carbon. Carbon 
 combines with iron up to about 4.63 per cent., and the 
 amount that will be taken up is dependent chiefly upon 
 the percentage of silicon, sulphur and manganese present- 
 silicon and sulphur lowering the amount of carbon, while 
 manganese raises the point of saturation. Phosphorus 
 does not seem to have any effect upon the carbon. Pro- 
 fessor Turner, of Mason College, Birmingham, England, 
 has shown that the strength of cast iron depends upon, 
 first, the amount of weakening impurities present, and 
 second, the proportion existing between the combined 
 and graphitic carbon in cast iron. He says that as the 
 tendency of combined carbon is to increase hardness 
 and brittleness, and that of graphitic to make the iron 
 soft, malleable and tough, too much of either form is a 
 disadvantage. 
 
 In the chapter on silicon, we will show that by 
 a judicious use. of silicon this proportion can be regu- 
 lated. 
 
 Cast iron, when free from manganese, can not hold 
 more than 4.50 per cent, of carbon, and 3.50 per cent, 
 is about as much as is ever present ; but as manganese 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 23 
 
 increases, carbon increases also, until we find it in Spiegel 
 as high as 6 per cent. This effect or capacity to hold 
 carbon is peculiar to manganese. 
 
 Castings of iron alone or of iron and carbon will 
 always be white and the carbon will always be combined. 
 The grayness of cast iron depends upon the percentage 
 of silicon present. White iron may result from the fol- 
 lowing four conditions : first, chilling ; second, high 
 sulphur ; third, low silicon ; fourth, high manganese. 
 
24 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 SILICON IN CAST IRON. 
 
 Next to carbon, silicon is the commonest and most 
 abundant constituent of cast iron. 
 
 We have just seen under carbon upon what the 
 strength of cast iron depends, and since strength is the 
 thing most desired, irons having an excess of weakening 
 impurities will not find a market, and what we wish to 
 provide, therefore, is the proper proportion between the 
 combined and the graphitic carbon. Professor Turner, 
 as has also Mr. W. J. Keep, of Detroit, demonstrated 
 that by a judicious use of silicon, this proportioning can 
 be accomplished exactly according to the wish of the 
 founder ; an increase of silicon changing combined to 
 graphitic, and vice versa. According to Professor Turner, 
 when the founder understands its use, he may soften and 
 toughen or harden and strengthen his iron to suit his 
 requirements. He is careful, however, to advise against 
 the free use of silicon without first understanding when 
 it is needed, for in an iron where the carbon is already 
 graphitic, more silicon may weaken it and make it brittle. 
 It is only within the last five or six years that the useful- 
 ness of silicon has been known or recognized. By its 
 use, pig iron and scrap, which, when used alone, are 
 totally unfit for foundry purposes, may be converted into 
 merchantable material. 
 
 Silicon has been known as a softening agent, and pig 
 irons that have this element in considerable quantities 
 have been designated as " softeners" 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 25 
 
 For years foundrymen demanded the softeners made 
 in Scotland and from the lean ores of Ohio and Kentucky, 
 and it has only recently become generally known that this 
 softening quality is due to silicon. When this quality in 
 silicon became known, the demand for high silicon in- 
 creased largely. In 1887, foreign irons containing as high 
 as 10 per cent, silicon were imported into the United 
 States. These high silicon irons varying from 7 to 14 
 per cent, silicon, go under the name otferro silicon. This 
 demand led to the production of ferro-silicon in this 
 country, and the result of comparison made with 
 foreign irons shows the American softener to be the 
 better. 
 
 Iron absorbs silicon greedily, uniting with it in all pro- 
 portions up to at least 30 per cent., and apparently the 
 more readily the higher the temperature, absorbing it 
 even at a red heat when imbedded in sand. In general, 
 silicon diminishes the power of iron to combine with 
 carbon, not only when molten, but more especially at a 
 white heat, thus favoring the formation of graphite dur- 
 ing slow cooling. It increases the fusibility and fluidity 
 of iron, lessens the formation of blow holes and reduces 
 shrinkage. It is thought, by the majority, to increase 
 tensile strength slightly. 
 
 Pure iron, if it could be made, unlike most of 
 the metals, would have no commercial value, and 
 would be so pliable and inelastic as to possess but little 
 strength. 
 
26 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 The effect of silicon on iron is to change the combined 
 carbon into graphitic carbon, or we may express it by 
 saying that it changes white iron to gray iron, the color 
 of the iron varying from gray to black, depending upon 
 the amount of graphite it contains. 
 
 A solid casting could not be made with simple iron 
 and carbon, for the carbon would be entirely in the com- 
 bined state, and the casting would be white, hard and 
 brittle. 
 
 Cast iron, therefore, which contains enough silicon to 
 take out the brittleness, and to allow it to make a solid 
 casting, is the strongest composition ordinarily found in 
 natural cast iron. Professor Keep's tests show that a 
 solid casting having its carbon combined, is stronger 
 than one in which the carbon is more graphitic, and he 
 states that " for strength, therefore, we must endeavor to 
 obtain, instead of a perfectly uniform distribution of 
 graphite, a concentration in uniformly distributed minute 
 pockets, around which the iron holding combined carbon 
 may form a lace work ; if strength be more important 
 than softness, we will leave the greatest possible quantity 
 of carbon in the combined state that will not cause the 
 iron to be brittle." 
 
 The strongest castings are obtained from irons that 
 will produce sound castings with the least amount of 
 silicon. 
 
 It should be remembered that when just enough sili- 
 con is obtained to produce a sound casting, any addi- 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. p 27 
 
 tional amount of silicon to such iron will decrease the 
 strength and cause brittleness. 
 
 Silicon by causing carbon to crystallize out as graphite, 
 lessens shrinkage, and shrinkage would be prevented 
 entirely by the swelling out of the graphite, if it was 
 not prevented by the mass of iron about it. It is best 
 always to use irons that contain the proper amount of 
 silicon for the desired quality of casting, for the graphite 
 separates more easily and the shrinkage is less where 
 the pig iron receives its silicon while in the blast furnace, 
 than where the percentage is made up by adding special 
 ferro-silicon. 
 
 From 2 per cent, to 5 per cent, of silicon, depending 
 upon other ingredients present, will change all the com- 
 bined carbon that can be changed. The change to the 
 graphitic reduces hardness and makes the iron soft so 
 that it can be drilled and filed. 
 
 When the carbon has become graphitic, the further 
 addition of silicon hardens cast iron. This, however, is 
 produced entirely through its influence on the carbon and 
 not by direct influence of the silicon. We quote from 
 Professor Keep on this subject : " We have seen, how- 
 ever, that a white iron which will invariably give porous 
 and brittle castings can be made solid and strong by the 
 addition of silicon ; that a further addition of silicon will 
 turn the iron gray, and that as the grayness increases, 
 the iron will grow weaker ; that excessive silicon will 
 again lighten the grain and cause a hard and brittle as 
 
28 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 well as a very weak iron ; that the only softening and 
 shrinkage lessening influence of silicon is exerted during 
 the time when graphite is being produced, and that sili- 
 con of itself is not a softener, or a lessener of shrinkage, 
 but through its influence on carbon, and only during a 
 certain stage does it produce these effects." 
 
 By its action on the carbon, silicon reduces the chill- 
 ing capacity of iron. 
 
 The loss of silicon from remelting is very slight. 
 
 Foundry irons contain from i to 5 per cent, of silicon, 
 ferro-silicon 5 to 14 per cent, and castings from i to 3 
 per cent. 
 
 It must not be taken from the apparently broad 
 assertion of Professor Turner, or from any of the fore- 
 going, that the founder has in silicon a remedy for all 
 the ills that iron is heir to. The statements are perfectly 
 reliable and proven, but a given percentage of silicon in 
 iron at the present state of general blast furnace practice 
 will not always produce like results. Each of the irons 
 a founder uses will have peculiar tendencies given them 
 in the blast furnace, which will exert their influence when 
 the iron is remelted. 
 
 The percentages of manganese, phosphorus and 
 sulphur must be known to regulate the proper propor- 
 tion of silicon, and only by great care and attention to the 
 composition of his mixture can the foundryman expect 
 to overcome the difficulties that occur daily in the melt- 
 ing of pig iron. 
 
CONSTITUENTS OK IRON. 29 
 
 PHOSPHORUS IN CAST IRON. 
 
 Pig iron derives its phosphorus chiefly from the phos- 
 phates existing in the ore or in the flux. No element of 
 itself weakens cast iron so much as phosphorus when 
 present in any considerable quantity, and for this reason 
 particular attention should be given to the analysis of 
 all irons. It is not an unmixed evil, however, for when 
 present in quantities ranging from i ^ per cent, and 
 less, it has some beneficial effects, for while it can not 
 be said that it really makes iron more fluid, it prolongs 
 the period of fluidity. Its tendency is to render the 
 metal very limpid so that it will take an extremely fine 
 and sharp casting from the most delicate patterns. The 
 famous Berlin castings of reproductions in iron of ancient 
 armor and other ornamental objects are obtained by 
 using iron rich in phosphorus, but it possesses the dis- 
 advantage of rendering the metal brittle and unfit for 
 many practical uses. Were it not for its weakening 
 effect it would not be necessary to keep the phosphorus 
 in foundry mixture at less than i to i % per cent Mr. 
 Keep, in a series of tests, demonstrates that phosphorus 
 is a lessener of shrinkage, and as phosphorus does not 
 influence carbon, it must be due to direct action of 
 phosphorus. All high phosphorus irons have low 
 shrinkage. 
 
 In the blast furnace phosphorus is not effectively 
 volatilized, for any which volatilizes immediately re-con- 
 
3O THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 denses. Hence, in the blast furnace and in the cupola 
 all the phosphorus passes into the metal. Hence, the 
 watchfulness necessary to see that pig iron does not con- 
 tain an excess of this element. Bloxam calls phosphorus 
 the "hereditary disease," because of the great difficulty 
 of removing it from iron. 
 
 It is only eliminated by intense heat as in the pud- 
 dling furnace, where about 90 per cent, can be elimin- 
 ated, and in the Basic process, where 96 to 99 per cent, 
 may be removed. 
 
 Phosphorus causes iron to be what is known as 
 "cold-short," that is, brittle when cold. Howe says: 
 ''Phosphorus probably has little effect on the tensile 
 strength under gently applied load ; but phosphoric iron 
 is readily broken by jerky, shock-like or vibratory 
 stresses, sometimes when quite trifling it is treacher- 
 ous. It sometimes affects iron but slightly, sometimes 
 under apparently like conditions profoundly it is 
 capricious." 
 
 It must not be expected that a given percentage of 
 phosphorus will behave at all times in the same way, 
 for other elements may be present in such a way as to 
 entirely change the results. 
 
 The percentage of phosphorus varies in pig iron from 
 a trace to i ^ per cent. Unless great fluidity is desired 
 and strength is not a consideration, the percentage of 
 phosphorus in pig iron for foundry work should be 0.8 
 per cent, and less. 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 31 
 
 MANGANESE IN CAST IRON. 
 
 Manganese is seldom absent in pig iron, the percent- 
 age depending upon the ore used and the temperature 
 of the furnace. Both in its physical and chemical 
 characters it resembles iron very closely. It is generally 
 produced in the blast furnace, and is combined with iron 
 and small percentages of silicon, phosphorus and sul- 
 phur. The metal itself has not been applied to any 
 useful purpose, and is of value, commercially, only when 
 combined with iron. It has been made to replace iron 
 to the extent of 85 per cent. If the silicon is under 
 0.50 per cent, the product will be white. Pig iron con- 
 taining manganese from about 5 to 30 per cent., with the 
 remainder mostly iron and silicon not high enough to 
 make the product gray, the alloy is called spiegeleisen, 
 and the fracture, as its name indicates, will show flat 
 reflecting surfaces. 
 
 With manganese 50 per cent, and over, the iron alloy 
 is called ferro manganese. The bulk of the ferro man- 
 ganese used is imported from England and Germany, 
 and contains 80 per cent, manganese. 
 
 We quote the following from Howe's Metallurgy of 
 Steel : "There appears to be no limit to the extent to 
 which manganese can combine with iron ; the higher the 
 percentage of manganese in the alloy, the higher is the 
 temperature in the blast furnace necessary for its pro- 
 duction. Manganese is reduced from its oxides by car- 
 
32 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 bon at a white heat, and the more readily the more 
 metallic iron is present to combine with it. 
 
 " It is easily removed from iron by oxidation, being 
 oxidized even by silicon ; and partly in this way, partly in 
 others, it restrains the oxidation, of the iron while 
 sometimes restraining, sometimes permitting, the oxida- 
 tion of the other elements combined with it. Its presence 
 increases the power of carbon to combine with iron at 
 high temperature (say 1400 C.) and restrains its sep- 
 aration as graphite at lower ones." 
 
 Manganese assists in the prevention of blow-holes. 
 It bodily removes sulphur from cast iron and thus pre- 
 vents hot-shortness. It does not counteract cold-short- 
 ness caused by phosphorus. In a number of tests 
 Mr. Keep shows that manganese increases the shrink- 
 age of cast iron, and he states that " a high shrinkage 
 caused by manganese is independent of carbon and can 
 not be taken out without removing the manganese. As 
 shrinkage varies with the size of the casting and pro- 
 duces internal stress within the casting, this question is 
 of vital importance to the foundryman. The less shrink- 
 age in the iron, the less the danger from cracks." 
 
 Hardness is another important consideration with the 
 founder. An increase of i per cent, of manganese has 
 increased the hardness 40 per cent. Mr. Keep's tests 
 show that manganese does not increase chill. If, how- 
 ever, a hard chill is required, manganese gives it by 
 adding hardness to the whole casting. This hardness is 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 33 
 
 due to the hardness of manganese itself and not because 
 more of the carbon has taken the combined form. In 
 trying to make soft castings with low shrinkage, avoid 
 manganese. The amount of manganese varies in pig 
 iron from a trace to 2 per cent. On account of its 
 tendency to make iron hard and brittle, it can only be 
 tolerated in very strong castings, and even then the per- 
 centage should be under 0.75 per cent., and should not 
 exceed 0.5 percent, in foundry irons. Much of the man- 
 ganese that is present in a pig iron will escape in the 
 slag during remelting in the cupola, and in so doing 
 benefit the iron by carrying off sulphur which has been 
 brought in with the fuel. 
 
34 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 SULPHUR IN CAST IRON. 
 
 Sulphur is without doubt the most deleterious sub- 
 stance found in pig iron. The other elements all 
 produce effects which may be beneficial for certain pur- 
 poses, but sulphur is the enemy dreaded by all, on 
 account of its affinity for iron, combining with it at a 
 low temperature. Sulphur unites with iron, probably in 
 all proportions, up to 53.3 per cent., being readily 
 absorbed from many sources. It causes iron to be 
 what is known as " red-short," that is, brittle when 
 hot. It makes iron hard and white, though this may 
 be accounted for partly by its causing iron to retain 
 its carbon in the combined state. It increases the 
 fusibility of cast iron, but makes it thick and sluggish 
 when molten, and gives rise to blow holes during its 
 solidification. 
 
 The presence of sulphur in pig iron and in the cast- 
 ings is due mainly to its absorption from the fuel. For 
 this reason close attention should be given the analysis 
 of the fuel used, which, in the case of foundries, is coke. 
 Coke, with sulphur over 0.75 to 0.90 per cent., is not fit 
 for foundry purposes. 
 
 Fortunately, sulphur is easily removed by the use of 
 lime, manganese, or fluor spar. Manganese will coun- 
 teract the red-shortness caused by sulphur and in some 
 cases actually removes sulphur from iron ; sometimes by 
 forming some compound rich in sulphur and manganese, 
 
CONSTITUENTS OF IRON. 35 
 
 which liquidates or separates by gravity, and, perhaps, 
 sometimes by carrying oxygen to the sulphur. 
 
 Silicon expels sulphur from iron to a certain limited 
 extent, but not enough to be of importance commer- 
 cially. Lime is, perhaps, more generally used than any 
 alkali for removing sulphur. Not a few use fluor spar, 
 and this is found to be an excellent desulphurizing agent 
 when its use is understood. 
 
NUMBERING OF IRON. 
 
 The present mode of selling pig iron is by the 
 appearance of the fracture of the pig metal when broken, 
 and the producing districts have different classifications 
 for their metal. Some of these districts have three or 
 four grades only, while others have as many as eight or 
 ten, and we have the card of a charcoal iron company 
 that designates fourteen grades. 
 
 This multiplicity of grades and the variations of the 
 grading in different sections of the country will always 
 be confusing, and must soon lead to the sale and pur- 
 chase of pig iron by analysis. We give further reasons 
 for the change to this basis in the chapter devoted to the 
 subject of grading. 
 
 For all practical purposes we can resolve the numer- 
 ous classifications to about the following grades : 
 
 ANTHRACITE AND COKE. 
 
 Nos. i , 2 and 3 Foundry ; Grey Forge ; Mottled and 
 White. 
 
 CHARCOAL. 
 
 Nos. i, 2, 3 and 5 Foundry; and Nos. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
 6 and 7 Car-wheel. 
 
 Besides these, we have in the South the soft and 
 
 (36) 
 
NUMBERING OF IRON 37 
 
 silvery irons, and in Ohio the silicized irons containing 
 from 4 to 10 per cent, of silicon, both used to soften 
 other irons and make them run fluid. In addition we 
 have the low phosphorus and sulphur irons used in the 
 open hearth and Bessemer process for making steel, and 
 the low silicon and high phosphorus irons used in the 
 basic process. 
 
 The carbon in pig iron is what enables the eye to dis- 
 tinguish the different grades ; the softest, grayest iron 
 having almost all the carbon in the graphitic or uncom- 
 bined state, while the hard and white irons have it nearly 
 or wholly combined. 
 
 As we have already seen, the color, strength, hard- 
 ness, etc., of cast iron depend upon the relative propor- 
 tions of these two forms of carbon, varied, of course, by 
 the influence of silicon, sulphur, manganese and phos- 
 phorus, which are always present to a greater or less 
 extent. 
 
 ANTHRACITE AND COKE IRONS. 
 
 No. I Foundry is the darkest of the numbers as 
 well as the softest, as it contains the most graphitic 
 carbon. It is used exclusively in the foundry. In 
 appearance the fracture is dark in color, rough, open 
 grain; tensile strength and elastic limit low; turns soft 
 and tough. 
 
 No. 2 Foundry is more generally used in the foundry 
 than any other grade. The grain is not so open and 
 large as No. i Foundry, but the iron is harder and 
 
38 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 stronger, although less tough and more brittle. These 
 two grades, especially No. i Foundry, become very liquid 
 when melted, and will run into castings of the frailest 
 and finest structure. The high numbers do not become 
 so liquid when melted as Nos. i and 2. Graphitic car- 
 bon and silicon are both less in No. 2 than in No. i. 
 
 No. 3 Foundry is used for both mill and foundry pur- 
 poses. It is much stronger than Nos. i and 2, the grain 
 being closer and more compact. It turns hard, is less 
 tough and more brittle than No. 2. The strength for 
 tension seems to reach its limit in this grade. It is less 
 liquid than Nos. i and 2 and is, therefore, better adapted 
 to heavy castings. The percentages of graphitic carbon 
 and silicon are smaller and combined carbon larger than 
 in No. 2. 
 
 Grey Forge iron is midway between No. 3 Foundry 
 and Mottled, and is used principally in rolling mills. It 
 turns hard and is weaker than No. 3, color lighter and 
 verging into a white background ; grain very close. 
 Graphitic carbon and silicon in smaller proportion than 
 in No. 3, and combined carbon in larger. 
 
 Mottled: Except in the case of heavy castings requir- 
 ing great strength and closeness of grain, where it is 
 mixed with other irons, Mottled iron is used exclusively 
 for puddling purposes. Turns with great difficulty, less 
 tough and more brittle than Grey Forge. Graphitic 
 carbon and silicon lower than in Grey Forge and com- 
 bined carbon higher. 
 
NUMBERING OF IRON. 39 
 
 White: It is only when a furnace is working badly 
 that this grade is produced. It has a smooth, white 
 fracture, no grain and is used exclusively in a rolling- 
 mill; tensile strength and elastic limit very low; too 
 hard to turn or drill, as the carbon in this grade is about 
 all in the combined state. 
 
 No. i Soft, in grain is similar to i and 2 Foundry, 
 lighter in color, quite soft and fluid with fair strength. 
 
 No. 2 Soft, runs between a 2 and 3 Foundry, except 
 that it is light in color and is higher in both graphitic 
 carbon and silicon. These irons, together with silvery 
 irons, which are light in color and high in graphitic car- 
 bon and silicon, are used, as the name would indicate, 
 for mixing with stronger and closer grained iron to make 
 them soft and run fluid. 
 
 CHARCOAL IRONS. 
 
 Foundry irons made from charcoal are considerably 
 stronger, and, because of the fuel, are much freer from 
 impurities than irons made from coke or coal. The grain 
 of charcoal irons of the same numbers as coke runs 
 closer. They are used in foundries where great strength 
 is required in castings. 
 
 CAR WHEEL IRONS. 
 
 No. i is the softest grade, of which very little is used. 
 It will not chill, and is used for ordinary castings. 
 
 No. 2 is produced in considerable quantities. It is 
 
4<D THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 closer in grain, is generally free from chill, is used for 
 making malleable castings from furnaces and in remelt- 
 ing old wheels for a softener. 
 
 No. 3 is a harder iron and chills from one-quarter to 
 three-quarters of an inch ; is much used with softer irons 
 in manufacturing car wheels. 
 
 No. 4 is a still harder iron and will chill from rhree- 
 quarters to one and one-quarter inches. This grade is 
 used almost entirely for car wheel purposes. 
 
 No. 5 is about half white in the pig, and will chill from 
 one and one-quarter to one and three-quarter inches. 
 
 Nos. 6 and 7 are white iron. 
 
 Nos. 5, 6 and 7 are mixed with softer irons in car 
 wheel mixtures, and are also used in making chilled rolls. 
 
 There does not seem to be any standard governing 
 furnaces, so far as the analysis of the different grades are 
 concerned. This is accounted for by the variations of 
 the constituents in iron ores as well as the character of 
 fuel used, which make it impossible to establish an 
 analysis that would be accepted by all furnaces as a 
 standard. 
 
 It would be possible to regulate the graphitic carbon 
 and the silicon, which the grades should contain, but not 
 the other impurities. 
 
NUMBERING OF IRON. 
 
 We give analyses showing about the average pro- 
 portions of the elements found in the several grades : 
 
 ANALYSES. 
 
 
 No. i 
 F'dry. 
 
 No. 2 
 F'dry. 
 
 No. 3 
 F'dry. 
 
 Grey 
 Forge. 
 
 Mot- 
 tled. 
 
 White. 
 
 Soil. 
 
 Sil- 
 very. 
 
 
 Q2 4.6 
 
 0^ O4 
 
 Q-l q? 
 
 04 OI 
 
 0^ 08 
 
 04 64 
 
 QI 08 
 
 00 68 
 
 Graphitic Carbon . 
 Combined Carbon . 
 Silicon 
 
 3-54 
 .14 
 2.80 
 
 3.01 
 .28 
 2 zz 
 
 2.50 
 
 75 
 
 I.QS 
 
 2.00 
 
 1.80 
 
 I.OO 
 
 1.90 
 1-95 
 
 9 1 
 
 3.65 
 
 .AO 
 
 3-65 
 05 
 *.4O 
 
 3.00 
 .06 
 
 5-25 
 
 Phosphorus .... 
 
 75 
 
 OI 
 
 .70 
 02 
 
 .30 
 
 02 
 
 .65 
 
 02 
 
 50 
 02 
 
 25 
 IO 
 
 50 
 O2 
 
 75 
 
 OI 
 
 Manganese .... 
 
 3 
 
 .40 
 
 55 
 
 .52 
 
 74 
 
 .96 
 
 .40 
 
 25 
 
 The Lake Superior and other Northern irons having 
 a tendency to red-shortness, and the Southern irons 
 having a tendency to cold-shortness, has resulted in the 
 mixing of the irons from the different sections to- very 
 great advantage. 
 
GRADING OF IRON. 
 
 SHOULD IT BE BY ANALYSIS OR FRACTURE? 
 
 We have just seen in the chapter on the " Numbering- 
 of Iron" that pig iron is graded according to the fracture, 
 and how confusing and unsatisfactory this system is. 
 This custom of grading has been in vogue so long that 
 many have grown to think it is the only way to determine 
 the character of the iron ; but while the eye is a fair 
 guide in fixing the grade, it is not possible to tell the 
 percentages of the impurities in the iron from the 
 appearance of the fracture, consequently the system is 
 deceptive. 
 
 On the other hand if iron is graded by analysis, the 
 amount of the percentages is determined accurately, and 
 if the effect of these elements is known, the foundryman 
 is enabled to select only such iron as will benefit his 
 mixture. 
 
 There are a great many foundrymen that will not 
 believe chemical knowledge can be of any advantage to 
 them in making a selection of irons for their mixtures. 
 The knowledge can surely do no harm, but will, on the 
 contrary, accomplish results that would have been impos- 
 sible with simply a knowledge of the fractures. 
 (42) 
 
GRADING OF IRON. 43 
 
 We do not believe any property of iron can be 
 determined by its fracture except the condition of the 
 carbon, whether it be in the graphitic or combined state. 
 Sulphur and phosphorus, and even manganese could be 
 present in such quantities as to injure the iron for many 
 uses, and yet there is nothing in the fracture to indicate 
 it. Since then these injurious elements which so greatly 
 affect the quality or character of their product can not be 
 detected by the appearance of the fracture, why insist 
 upon a system in vogue hundreds of years ago when the 
 effects of the elements were unknown, and iron was con- 
 sidered a simple element, and which is the cause often of 
 inferior castings and heavy loss ? 
 
 All furnacemen know that the fracture can not always 
 be relied on, and that, frequently, iron graded under the 
 present system as No. 2, or even No. 3 Foundry, will 
 run as soft on remelting as a No. i, but no foundryman 
 could be persuaded to accept it for a No. i from appear- 
 ance of fracture. One furnaceman interviewed on this 
 subject, said, " we can make pig iron that by fracture is 
 as beautiful a No. i as any one cares to see, yet on a 
 remelt in a cupola it will run nearly white, like a No. 5." 
 
 It will be seen, therefore, that no one can tell how pig 
 iron is going to melt from the appearance of the fracture 
 of that pig iron. 
 
 The furnacemen are much in advance of the foundry- 
 men and other consumers of pig iron in the chemistry 
 of iron. They have learned that pure iron, like pure 
 
44 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 gold, is always the same thing physically and chemically, 
 no matter from what source it comes, and that its differ- 
 ent characteristics are imparted to it by and dependent 
 upon the percentages of these elements in combination 
 with it. Through study and the discussion of the 
 chemistry of iron, the furnacemen have in the last 
 few years made great improvement in their practice and 
 in the uniformity of their product. To inquiry made of 
 some thirty manufacturers of pig iron as to whether they 
 could make pig iron of such uniformity as would enable 
 ihem to sell by analysis rather than by fracture, only 
 affirmative answers were received and the hope 
 expressed that this basis would soon be adopted. Some 
 furnaces have already adopted it with satisfactory results. 
 There is no reason why a chemist should not tell the 
 physical qualities of pig iron from an analysis as easily 
 and accurately as the naturalist can tell the genus of an 
 animal from an examination of a single bone. 
 
 Among the founders, however, little attention has 
 been paid to the chemistry of iron, but when they have 
 once seen the great advantage to them of this basis 
 of grading, we do not hesitate to say that iron will be 
 purchased on no other basis than that of analysis. There 
 is still much for the chemist to solve before many of the 
 apparent inconsistencies of analysis will be fully under- 
 stood ; but with a better knowledge on the part of the 
 founder of the effect of the elements on his mixture, will 
 come the demand for iron having a guaranteed per- 
 
GRADING OF IRON. 45 
 
 centage of certain elements for the required work. The 
 success of the steel industry is largely due to the 
 scientific attention bestowed upon the chemistry of steel 
 and its manufacture has been carried, on this account, to 
 a fine degree of perfection. There is no reason why 
 iron should not reach the same perfection and be sold by 
 analysis as steel is. 
 
 We feel that the time is not far distant when all iron 
 must be sold on basis of analysis. It means a common 
 language for both producer and consumer in discussing 
 the qualities or characteristics of an iron. The founder 
 having obtained a mixture suited to his purpose and 
 knowing its constituents, has only to indicate his neces- 
 sities to have his order filled with a degree of satisfaction 
 not known or possible under the present system, because 
 in the matter of fracture no two furnaces grade exactly 
 alike, and as previously stated, the iron may run much 
 softer or harder than the grade under which the fracture 
 would indicate it should be classed. By analysis the 
 grading can be guaranteed, and only in this way can 
 perfect uniformity be attained. 
 
HOW TO REDUCE COST OF 
 MIXTURE. 
 
 The author can do no more than offer a suggestion 
 on this subject. His experience and investigation do 
 not warrant the laying down of any rules or suggesting 
 any formulas that would bring about this result. 
 
 The character of work differs so much in foundries 
 that what would be suitable for one might not be for 
 another; and while the mixture would answer several 
 purposes, in the one case it might be an economical one 
 and in the others a very expensive mixture. 
 
 It is certain, however, that the foundryman who is 
 ignorant of the ingredients of his mixture can not hope 
 to accomplish much in the direction of cheapening his 
 product. We do not look for a fine composition in 
 literature from a man ignorant of the alphabet, or a fine 
 painting from one who does not know how to draw or 
 mix his colors ; no more can we expect the best material 
 at the minimum cost from a man that is not master of 
 his tools, which, with the foundryman, are the constitu- 
 ents of his mixture. 
 
 We do not argue that the foundryman must take a 
 course in chemistry ; this is not necessary or always prac- 
 
 (46) 
 
HOW TO REDUCE COST OF MIXTURE. 47 
 
 ticable. The information to be gathered from the articles 
 in this book on the ^constituents of iron" are sufficient to 
 show the necessity for attention and study of the subject 
 either from text-books or from publications of reliable 
 authorities. A knowledge of the effects of the elements 
 that enter into his mixture and practical experience 
 with them, will soon enable the founder to leave the 
 traditional mixture for one better suited to his require- 
 ments in every particular. 
 
 Perhaps he thinks the quantities of injurious 
 elements are so small they can not affect much, either 
 way, the quality of his casting. We need only to point 
 him to the very small quantity of plumbago (carbon) that 
 will change iron into steel, as the best evidence of how 
 profoundly certain elements affect the properties of 
 metals. Such changes may cause the material to be very 
 useful or entirely worthless. 
 
 We suggest that when a casting is made that 
 answers all requirements as to strength, etc., that an 
 analysis be made both of the casting and the mixture 
 from which it is made. The former will show the per- 
 centages of the ingredients that combine to give him the 
 casting of the qualities desired ; and the latter will show 
 what elements are necessary and the impurities permis- 
 sible in the pig iron to produce the casting. 
 
 It is only when the proper percentages are known 
 and the effects of the different elements understood, that 
 a foundryman can begin to experiment successfully. By 
 
48 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 carefully studying the analyses of the various brands of 
 pig iron offered from different sections of the country, it 
 will no doubt be found that the same result can be accom- 
 plished by a combination of irons of the lower and less 
 expensive grades. The object which a founder has to 
 keep in view is to use the cheapest metal consistent with 
 obtaining in the casting the requisite properties for the 
 purpose to which it is to be employed. 
 
 We would advise the foundryman to study his 
 requirement ; learn for himself what elements he needs 
 to give strength, softness, fluidity, etc., to his iron. 
 He will then not be dependent upon the " salesman 
 with a mixture" who, to have him buy his iron, will 
 cause him to try iron not suited to his necessities, 
 often resulting in the loss of hundreds of dollars. 
 A little knowledge on the part of the foundryman will 
 enable him to avoid all this, and to tell before trying an 
 iron whether it is suited to his work, or will do what is 
 claimed for it. 
 
 Constant watchfulness, however, is necessary at all 
 times, for because of the present mode of grading iron 
 and the irregularity of blast furnace product in some 
 sections, the producer of pig iron does not always deliver 
 material of exactly uniform character, and the slightest 
 variation of some of the ingredients may be sufficient to 
 change entirely the nature of the castings. 
 
STEEL. 
 
 Mr. Swank, in his " Iron in All Ages," speaking of 
 Huntsman's invention for making steel, says : " There 
 have been many other improvements in the manufacture 
 of steel, and more recently there has been a very great 
 relative increase in its production and use as compared 
 with iron, until it has become a hackneyed expression 
 that this is the Age of Steel. While this is true in the 
 sense that steel is replacing iron, it is well to remember 
 that the ancients made steel of excellent quality and 
 that the art of manufacturing it was never lost and has 
 never been neglected. The swords of Damascus and 
 the blades of Toledo bear witness to the skill in the 
 manufacture of steel which existed at an early day in 
 both Asia and Europe. German steel was widely cele- 
 brated for its excellence during the middle ages, and 
 steel of the same name and made by the same process 
 still occupies an honorable place among metallurgical 
 products. Even Huntsman's invention of the art of 
 making the finest quality of steel in crucibles, while 
 meritorious in itself, was but the reproduction and ampli- 
 fication in a modern age of a process for manufacturing 
 steel of equal quality which was known to the people of 
 India thousands of years ago." 
 
 (49) 
 
50 THE A I? C OF IRON. 
 
 Because of the wonderfully rapid growth and import- 
 ance of this industry, we think a brief description of the 
 principal methods of manufacturing steel entirely appro- 
 priate. Some of the processes are intricate and elab- 
 orate, and we can only attempt here an outline of them. 
 Besides those we shall describe there are a number of 
 other so-called steel processes, but, as a rule, they are 
 untried, and some systems that may in the near future 
 be of practical benefit are not yet worked out. 
 
 The oldest system of making steel is the Crucible 
 System. By this process most all of the fine grade of steel 
 is made. It consists in cutting up Swedish iron or other 
 low phosphorus irons into small pieces and putting them 
 into covered crucibles, which crucibles are placed in a 
 furnace and permitted to remain there a longer or shorter 
 time, according to the quality of steel to be made. 
 Succeeding this is the Open Hearth System, which con- 
 sists of an open hearth furnace, with a circular bottom, 
 ranging in capacity from five to thirty tons. In these 
 open hearth furnaces, as a rule, the process of making 
 steel consists in melting down primarily a certain pro- 
 portion of good Bessemer pig iron, low in phosphorus, 
 to form what is called a bath. Into this melted pig iron, 
 or bath, after the iron is thoroughly melted, is thrown 
 scrap steel of various kinds, owing to the quality of steel 
 that is to be made. This system covers a very broad 
 range of steel making, running from the commonest 
 agricultural steel to the finest boiler plates. By some it 
 
STEEL. 5 1 
 
 is believed that the open hearth system will entirely 
 supersede the crucible, but crucible steel is still superior 
 to that produced in other ways. 
 
 The great output of steel, however, is made by the 
 different pneumatic processes known as the Bessemer 
 and the Clapp- Griffith and some other modifications of 
 that system. The Clapp-Griffith process is nothing 
 more or less than the Bessemer process applied to shal- 
 lower vessels on a smaller scale. The Bessemer system 
 consists in melting Bessemer pig iron under .10 in phos- 
 phorus in a cupola and running it into a large vessel 
 known as the Bessemer Converter. This converter is 
 so arranged at the bottom that tuyeres, containing a large 
 number of small holes, are placed in the bottom of it and 
 through these tuyeres blast pressure is forced up through 
 the iron in the converter until the proper amount of 
 carbon is burned out of the iron. The proper amount 
 of carbon for the desired quality of steel is then restored 
 by the introduction of spiegeleisen and ferro-manganese 
 into the Bessemer converter. A peculiarity of the proc- 
 ess consists in the entire absence of any fuel whatever 
 in converting the already melted cast iron into steel, the 
 carbon and silicon in the iron combining with the oxygen 
 of the atmospheric blast to produce an intensely high 
 temperature. The Bessemer process derives its name 
 from Sir Henry Bessemer, of England, who is generally 
 accredited as being the inventor. He began his experi 
 ments in 1854, secured his patents in 1856, but it was 
 
52 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 not until 1858 that complete success was achieved by 
 him in the conversion of cast iron into cast steel, and his 
 success at this time was due to the assistance of Robert 
 F. Mushet. For, although Mr. Bessemer had discov- 
 ered that melted cast iron could be decarbonized and 
 desiliconized and rendered malleable by blowing cold 
 air through it at a high pressure, he had been unable to 
 retain or restore the small amount of carbon necessary 
 to produce steel. Mr. Mushet overcame the difficulty 
 by adding to the cast iron that has been decarbonized 
 and desiliconized, from i to 5 per cent, of a melted triple 
 compound of iron, carbon and manganese ; spiegeleisen 
 being the cheapest form of the compound. Mr. Besse- 
 mer's prosperity dated from Mushet's discovery, and he 
 realized something over $5,000,00x3, while Mr. Mushet 
 died as he lived a poor man. Mr. Wm. Kelly, who 
 died in Louisville in 1888, claimed to have discovered 
 this process before Mr. Bessemer, and the Commissioner 
 of Patents conceded the justness of his claim. He began 
 his experiments in 1847 at Eddyville, Ky., but failed to 
 apply for patents until 1857, a few months after Sir Henry 
 Bessemer obtained two patents in this country. In 1866 
 the American patents of Kelly, Bessemer, and Mushet 
 were consolidated, and the growth of the industry in 
 this country dated from that time. The process just 
 described is known as the Acid Bessemer process. 
 
 The Basic Bessemer process is important in that 
 it permits of the use of iron high in phosphorus. The 
 
STEEL. 53 
 
 credit for the discovery of the method of eliminating 
 phosphorus is due to two English chemists, Sidney G. 
 Thomas and Percy C. Gilchrist. The process consists 
 in lining the Bessemer converter with dolomite limestone. 
 The phosphorus is eliminated by the action of this dolo- 
 mite lining. 
 
 We do not attempt a description of many so-called 
 processes for making steel. Many of them are impracti- 
 cable in competition, in a commercial sense, with the 
 processes just described. 
 
 Great difficulty was experienced at the beginning of 
 the Bessemer steel industry of this country, in obtaining 
 suitable pig iron and lining material for the converters, 
 many failures occurring in using iron that was not suited 
 for conversion into steel. All difficulties have long been 
 overcome, and this industry has been brought to a higher 
 degree of perfection in the United States than it has 
 attained in any other country. The United States is 
 now not only independent of other countries for its 
 supply of Bessemer pig iron, but it is also the largest 
 producer of Bessemer pig iron in the world. 
 
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF METALS 
 DEFINED. 
 
 W. C. ROBERTS-AUSTEN. 
 
 Density: The density of a metal depends on the 
 intimacy of the contact between the molecules. It is 
 dependent, therefore, on the crystalline structure, and is 
 influenced by the temperature of casting, by the rate of 
 cooling, by the mechanical treatment, and by the purity 
 of the metal. The density of a metal is augmented by 
 wire-drawing, hammering, and any other physical method 
 of treatment in which a compressing stress is employed. 
 Pressure on all sides of a piece of metal increases its 
 density. 
 
 Malleability: This is the property of permanently 
 extending in all directions, without rupture, by pressure 
 produced by slow stress or impact. The malleability of a 
 metal is dependent on its purity. Relative malleability 
 may be determined by the degree of thinness of the 
 sheets that can be produced by beating or rolling the 
 metals, without annealing. 
 
 Ductility: This is the property that enables metals 
 to be drawn into wire. 
 
 Tenacity: This is the property possessed by metals, 
 in varying degrees, of resisting the separation of their 
 molecules by the action of a tensile stress. 
 
 (54) 
 
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF METALS DEFINED. 55 
 
 Toughness is the property of resisting the separation 
 of the molecules after the limit of elasticity has been 
 passed. 
 
 Hardness is the resistance offered by the molecules 
 of a substance to their separation by the penetrating 
 action of another substance. 
 
 Brittleness is the sudden interruption of molecular 
 cohesion when the substance is subjected to the action 
 of* some extraneous force, such as a blow or a change of 
 temperature. It is largely influenced by the purity of 
 the metal. 
 
 Elasticity is the power a body possesses of resuming 
 its original form after the removal of an external force 
 which has produced a change in that form. The point 
 at which the elasticity and the applied stress exactly 
 counterbalance each other, is termed the Limit of Elas- 
 ticity. If the applied stress were then removed, the 
 material acted upon would resume its original form. If, 
 however, the stress were increased, the change in form 
 would become permanent, and permanent set would be 
 effected. Within the limit of elasticity a uniform rod of 
 metal lengthens or shortens equally under equal addi- 
 tions of stress. If this were the case beyond that limit, 
 it is obvious that there would be some stress that would 
 stretch the bar to twice the original length, or shorten it 
 to zero. This stress, expressed in pounds or tons for a 
 bar of one inch square cross section, is termed the 
 Modulus of Elasticity. In measuring the strength of 
 
56 THE A 13 C OK IRON. 
 
 iron or steel two points have usually to be determined 
 the limit of elasticity, and the ultimate tensile strengtJi or 
 maximum stress the material can sustain without rupture. 
 
 TABLE OF SHRINKAGES OF CASTINGS. 
 
 OVERMANN. 
 
 The following table gives the shrinkages of various 
 kinds of castings : 
 
 In locomotive cylinders T V inch in a foot. 
 
 In pipes ^ inch in a foot. 
 
 Girders, beams, etc % inch in 15 inches. 
 
 Engine beams, connecting-rods . . . . y% inch in 16 inches. 
 
 In large cylinders, say 70 inches diame- 
 ter, 10 feet stroke, the contraction of 
 
 diameter is about $ inch at top. 
 
 Contraction of diameter is about . . }4 inch at bottom. 
 
 Shrinkage of length is yi inch in 16 inches. 
 
 In thin brass ^ inch in 9 inches. 
 
 In thick brass ^ inch in 10 inches. 
 
 In zinc ^ inch in 12 inches. 
 
 In lead (according to purity) . . . ^ to -^ inch in 12 inches. 
 
 In copper " " " & to ^ * nch * n I2 inches. 
 
 In tin " " " ... ^ to 7 \ inch in 12 inches. 
 
 In silver about ^ inch in 12 inches. 
 
 The above values vary slightly with the shape of the 
 pattern, the amount of ramming, the fluidity and heat of 
 the metal at pouring time, and also with the nature of 
 the mould, whether of dry or green sand, or loam. The 
 practice of a foundry varies somewhat from that of 
 another establishment. The only agreement is in the 
 averages. 
 
WEIGHTS OF CASTINGS FROM PATTERNS. 
 
 WEIGHTS OF CASTINGS FROM PATTERNS. 
 
 OVERMAN N. 
 
 57 
 
 If it be desired to make an approximate guess of 
 the weight of a casting from the pattern at hand, the 
 latter may be weighed, and the corresponding weight of 
 the casting will be found in the following tables. It is 
 evident that account should be taken of the core prints, 
 and battens, and other extraneous parts on the pattern, 
 and that their weights should be deducted. 
 
 The first table is from Rose's " Pattern Maker's As- 
 sistant," and probably agrees with American practice 
 and woods used for patterns. The second table is of 
 European origin, and discrepancies may be accounted 
 for by the difference of densities of the materials. Eu- 
 ropean woods are generally more dense than the corre- 
 sponding ones of America. 
 
 WILL WEIGH WHEN CAST IN 
 
 A PATTERN WEIGHING ONE POUND, 
 MADE OF 
 
 [ 
 
 N 
 
 1 
 
 f 
 
 if 
 
 Gun Metal 
 
 Mahogany Nassau 
 
 Ibs. 
 10.7 
 
 12 Q 
 
 Ibs. 
 10.4 
 
 12 7 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 12.8 
 
 JC -1 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 12.2 
 14.6 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 12-5 
 
 1C. 
 
 
 8 <; 
 
 8 2 
 
 IO I 
 
 q 7 
 
 q o 
 
 pine red .. 
 
 
 12 I 
 
 
 14 2 
 
 14 6 
 
 " white 
 
 16 7 
 
 16 i 
 
 IQ 8 
 
 
 10 *\ 
 
 " yellow 
 
 
 i -i 6 
 
 16 7 
 
 16 
 
 16 ; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 
 \ 
 
 VILL V 
 
 rEIGH 
 
 WHEN 
 
 CAST I 
 
 w 
 
 A PATTERN WEIGHING ONE 
 POUND, MADE OF 
 
 Cast-iron . 
 
 
 
 9 
 1 
 
 j 
 
 I 
 
 Bell or 
 gun metal 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 TC 8 
 
 1 6 7 
 
 16 i 
 
 
 
 Oak 
 
 
 15.0 
 
 
 10.3 
 
 
 J 3-5 
 8 6 
 
 Beech 
 
 9- 
 
 
 10.4 
 
 10.3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 16 * 
 
 
 Pear 
 
 
 
 
 ii 8 
 
 
 Q 8 
 
 Birch. 
 
 
 
 
 12 2 
 
 12 Q 
 
 IO 2 
 
 Alder ... 
 
 12 8 
 
 
 
 
 je e 
 
 12 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 2 
 
 II 2 
 
 
 &1 
 
 
 
 o 08 
 
 
 O 8l 
 
 Tin with X to % of lead .... 
 I^ead 
 
 0.89 
 064 
 
 I. 
 
 O 72 
 
 1.03 
 O 74 
 
 1.03 
 
 O 74 
 
 1. 12 
 
 o 78 
 
 0.85 
 
 o 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 TABLE 
 
 Showing the tenacities and resistances to compression 
 of various simple metals and alloys. 
 
 METALS AND ALLOYS. 
 
 Tenacity. 
 A bar of one inch square 
 section, will be torn 
 asunder by 
 
 Resistance to Compres- 
 sion. One square inch 
 will be crushed by 
 
 Resistance 
 to 
 Torsion . 
 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 Pounds. 
 
 
 Copper, Wrought . . 
 Malleable Iron .... 
 j^ead 
 
 33,ooo 
 56,000 to 70,000 
 i 824 
 
 
 4-3 
 
 IO.O 
 I O 
 
 Steel 
 
 
 2OO OOO to 250 OOO 
 
 16 to 19 
 
 Tin 
 
 
 
 i 4 
 
 Zinc . . 
 
 
 
 
 Common Brass .... 
 
 17,900 
 
 10,300 
 
 4-6 
 
TO MEND CASTINGS. 59 
 
 TO MEND CASTINGS. 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 To MEND HOLES IN CASTINGS. Sulphur in powder, 
 i part ; sal-ammoniac in powder, 2 parts ; fine iron bor- 
 ings, 80 parts. Make into a thick paste and fill the holes. 
 
 NOTE. These ingredients can be kept separate, and 
 mixed when required. 
 
 Sulphur, 2 parts ; fine black-lead, i part. Melt the 
 sulphur in an iron pan ; then add the lead ; stir well and 
 pour out. When cool, break into small pieces. A suf- 
 ficient quantity being placed on the part to be mended 
 can be soldered with a hot iron. 
 
 To FILL HOLES IN CASTINGS. Lead, 9 parts ; anti- 
 mony, 2; and bismuth, i. Melt together and pour in. 
 (Expands in cooling.) 
 
 TESTS TO DETERMINE SULPHUR IN COKE. 
 
 i st. Dip in water and allow to dry in air. Sulphur 
 will show in rough spots like iron pyrites. 
 
 2nd. Nearly every foundry uses sulphuric acid or 
 oil of vitriol (same thing) in the wood pattern shop. 
 Pour a little of it on a piece of coke, and if it is high in 
 sulphur the odor will be very perceptible. 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 IRON ORES. 
 
 The United States Geological Survey divides the 
 iron ores into the following classes : 
 
 Red Hematite: Those ores in which the iron is found 
 as an anhydrous sesquioxide, including " specular," 
 "fossil," "micaceous," "martite," "slate iron ores," etc. 
 They range in color from light red to steel gray, and are 
 recognized by a red streak on a test plate. 
 
 Brown Hematite : Includes all those ores in which 
 the iron is found as a hydrated sesquioxide, the color 
 ranging from yellow to dark brown and black. This class 
 includes "bog ore," "limonite," " turgite," "goethite," 
 etc., and is recognized by a brown streak on a test plate. 
 
 Magnetite: Includes all those ores in which the iron 
 occurs principally as magnetic oxide of iron, viz. : Fe 3 O 4 . 
 These ores are magnetic and give a black streak. 
 
 Carbonate: Comprises ores in which the protoxide of 
 iron is associated with a large percentage of carbonic 
 acid, and includes "black band," "spathic," "siderite," 
 and "clay iron stones." They are generally light gray 
 to brown, sometimes dark brownish red, according to 
 the extent to which they are weathered. 
 
 The largest amount of iron ore mined in any year 
 was reached in 1890, when the output was 16,036,043 
 
 long tons. In addition to this home production there 
 
 (60) 
 
STATISTICS. 6 1 
 
 was imported in 1890, 1,246,830 tons and in 1891,912,864 
 tons. The importation came principally from Spain, 
 Cuba and Italy ; these countries supplying about 40, 30 
 and 10 per cent., respectively, of the total importation. 
 
 The following groupings of ore-producing mines are 
 made by the Census Bureau for the production of 1889, 
 showing in a marked way the comparatively small areas 
 contributing the great bulk of the supply for that year. 
 The four districts or ranges embraced in the Lake 
 Superior region are none of them of great extent 
 geographically, and if a circle was struck from a center 
 in Lake Superior with a radius of one hundred and 
 thirty-five miles all of the iron ore producing territory of 
 the Lake Superior region would be embraced within one- 
 half of the circle and most of the deposits would be 
 near the periphery. The output of this section was 
 7,519,614 long tons. A parallelogram sixty miles in 
 length and twenty miles in width would embrace all of 
 the producing mines in the Lake Champlain district of 
 Northern New York, whose output in 1889 aggregated 
 779,850 long tons. A single locality, namely, Cornwall, 
 in Lebanon county, Pa., contributed 769,020 long tons 
 in 1889. A circle of fifty miles radius, embracing por- 
 tions of Eastern Alabama and Western Georgia, included 
 mines which in 1889 produced 1,545,066 long tons. 
 
 By way of comparison we give the production of the 
 different characters of ore mined during the last three 
 years, and for the years 1890 and 1891 give the produc- 
 tion of these varieties by States in the order of their 
 precedence as iron-ore producers. The tables are made 
 up from statistics prepared by Mr. John Birkinbine, 
 special agent for Census Bureau. 
 
62 
 
 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 Productions of Various Kinds of Iron Ore in 1890 
 By States. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Red 
 
 Hematite. 
 
 Brown 
 Hematite. 
 
 Magnetite. 
 
 Carbonate. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Michigan 
 
 6,426,077 
 
 402,274 
 
 313,305 
 
 
 7,141,656 
 i 8o7 8is 
 
 Pennsylvania . . . 
 New York .... 
 
 M3.745 
 196,035 
 
 78A 257 
 
 415,779 
 30,968 
 
 l64 7O8 
 
 765,318 
 945,071 
 
 36,780 
 8l,3I9 
 
 1.361,622 
 
 1,253,393 
 048 06*; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CA-l Cg-i 
 
 
 
 
 48Q 8O8 
 
 
 jqir 808 
 
 Tennessee .... 
 
 278,076 
 
 187,619 
 
 
 
 465,695 
 
 
 69 271 
 
 174. 8l7 
 
 
 
 244 088 
 
 
 ISQ 44O 
 
 
 
 
 181 690 
 
 Ohio 
 
 
 
 
 l69 O88 
 
 169 088 
 
 
 IA 608 
 
 
 
 
 
 Montana, Oregon, 
 NewMexico,Utah 
 
 3,632 
 
 48,000 
 is68q 
 
 30,000 
 
 
 81,632 
 77 68"? 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 26 O58 
 
 
 
 26 O58 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 North Carolina . . 
 
 
 
 22,873 
 
 
 22,873 
 
 Texas 
 
 
 22 OOO 
 
 
 
 22 OOO 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 2 5OO 
 
 
 
 2 SOO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 2 S7O 8l8 
 
 
 1 6 036 043 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Percentage of Total 
 
 65-65 
 
 15.96 
 
 16.03 
 
 2-36 
 
 100 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 Productions of Various Kinds of Iron Ore in 1891 
 By States. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Red 
 Hematite. 
 
 Brown 
 Hematite. 
 
 Magnetite. 
 
 Carbonate. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Michigan . . 
 
 C Ajie vji 
 
 457 5O7 
 
 224 12^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 T oSfi R-sn 
 
 Pennsylvania . . . 
 New York .... 
 
 162,683 
 
 I537 2 3 
 
 363,894 
 
 5^ 152 
 
 727,299 
 
 782 72Q 
 
 19,052 
 27 612 
 
 1,272,928 
 
 
 045 IOS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1,274 
 
 6^1 74.2 
 
 2 ^OO 
 
 
 945, IO 5 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 527,705 
 
 61 776 
 
 
 
 rgQ ,IT 
 
 
 196,88-; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3,850 
 
 ^ 840 
 
 517 Q22 
 
 
 543,923 
 
 
 45 027 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6,940 
 
 
 4 74Q 
 
 
 2 5, 755 
 
 
 QQ rig 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 106,949 
 
 
 
 45 III 
 
 
 IQ Q78 
 
 fir ogn 
 
 Texas 
 
 
 
 51,000 
 
 . . - - 
 
 
 51,000 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 ^8 776 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 IQ 021 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 29 018 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 8,536 
 
 4,OOO 
 
 
 
 12 5^6 
 
 Utah 
 
 4 OOO 
 
 8 ooo 
 
 
 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 6,200 
 
 
 
 6 200 
 
 Idaho 
 
 
 400 
 
 
 
 400 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total . . 
 
 
 
 
 189 108 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Percentage of Total 
 
 63.92 
 
 18.90 
 
 15-88 
 
 1.30 
 
 IOO 
 
64 THE ABC OF IRON. 
 
 Total Production of Iron Ore 1889, 189O and 1891. 
 
 
 
 1891. 
 
 
 1890. 
 
 
 1889. 
 
 STATES AND TERRITORIES. 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 ? 
 K 
 
 PRODUCTION. 
 Long Tons. 
 
 1 
 
 PRODUCTION. 
 
 Long Tons. 
 
 I 
 
 PRODUCTION. 
 Long Tons. 
 
 Michigan 
 
 I 
 
 6,127,001 
 I 986 8y> 
 
 i 
 
 7,141,656 
 
 I 
 
 5,856,169 
 
 
 
 I 272 Q28 
 
 
 1 361 622 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 i 017 216 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 86,1 ;o8 
 
 Virginia 
 
 fi 
 
 658 016 
 
 7 
 
 e*-l cg-I 
 
 
 408 i=wt 
 
 
 
 ego 481 
 
 
 Q48 Q6 1 ? 
 
 fS 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 
 
 Q 
 
 JQC go8 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 2CO 755 
 
 IO 
 
 244 088 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 I IO Q42 
 
 
 114 275 
 
 J7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 l8l 690 
 
 IO 
 
 26c 718 
 
 Ohio 
 
 
 
 
 1 60 088 
 
 
 
 Montana, Oregon, New Mex- 
 
 
 
 
 81 632 
 
 
 86 405 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 
 Ac 080 
 
 
 77 68 5 
 
 
 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 J7 
 
 47 5O2 
 
 ] 7 
 
 12 Q^ 
 
 16 
 
 46 242 
 
 
 Tfl 
 
 V7 ^7Q 
 
 T6 
 
 35 ^57 
 
 TS 
 
 2Q ^80 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 IQ 
 
 ^O Q2^ 
 
 iS 
 
 26 058 
 
 ^ ! 
 
 2Q 6CK> 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 2O 
 
 19 2IO 
 
 20 
 
 22 873 
 
 ">2 
 
 10 125 
 
 
 21 
 
 6 2OO 
 
 IQ 
 
 25 116 
 
 19 
 
 13 101 
 
 Idaho 
 
 22 
 
 4OO 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 21 
 
 12 ^IQ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 IA 51 8 OAI 
 
 
 
 
 J 4 59 T *7& 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 PRICES OF LAKE SUPERIOR IRON ORE. 
 
 With the exception of the Lake Superior district the 
 iron ores mined are about all consumed by furnaces in 
 the State producing them. The great bulk of the 
 Superior ores go to supply Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania 
 and Eastern States, which require large quantities in 
 addition to their own production. We give below the 
 prices at which Lake Superior iron ore has been sold 
 during the last seven years for season contracts, delivered 
 at Cleveland and neighboring ports on Lake Erie. 
 
 GRADES. 
 
 1886. 
 
 1887. 
 
 1888. 
 
 1889. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1891. 
 
 1892. 
 
 Republic and Champion 
 No i ... 
 
 46 2c, 
 
 $7 OO 
 
 tc ne 
 
 *C CQ 
 
 $6 TO 
 
 
 
 Cleveland and Lake Supe- 
 rior specular No. i . . . 
 Chapin and Menominee 
 No i 
 
 5-50 
 
 52e 
 
 6. 5 o 
 
 5-25 
 A 7C 
 
 5-00 
 A CO 
 
 6.00 
 
 5.00 
 
 5.00 
 
 Soft hematites, No. i non- 
 
 A CQ 
 
 
 
 
 A. SO 
 
 
 
 Gogebic, Marquette, and 
 Menominee No. i Besse- 
 mer hematites 
 
 5.00 
 
 6.00 
 
 4-75 
 
 5-OO 
 
 6.00 
 
 A 7C 
 
 A <CO 
 
 Minnesota No. i Bessemer 
 Minnesota hard Bessemer 
 hematite (Chandler) 
 
 5-75 
 
 6.75 
 
 5-75 
 
 5-50 
 
 6.50 
 
 5-5o 
 
 5-65 
 A 8; 
 
 Lake Superior and Lake 
 Angeline extra low-phos- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
66 THE ABC OF IRON. 
 
 PIG IRON. 
 
 Sixty years ago the American blast furnace which 
 would make four tons of pig iron in a day, or twenty-eight 
 tons in a week, was doing good work. This year the 
 maximum production of the world has been reached by 
 Furnace I of the Edgar Thompson Steel Company, at 
 Braddock, Pa., which made in January 12,706 gross tons, 
 a daily average of 410 tons; best week 3,005 tons, best 
 day 5 1 1 tons. 
 
 Nor has the growth of the industry been less remark- 
 able than the individual capacities of the furnaces. In 
 1866 the United States had reached the production of 
 Great Britian in 1835 J tnat ^ s to sav sne was tnen thirty- 
 one years behind the latter country. At the end of 1884, 
 she was but twenty-one years behind England. The 
 prophecy was made by the Census Bureau in 1880, that, 
 allowing for the same rate of increase for both coun- 
 tries, the United States will be fifteen years behind 
 England in 1900, and will reach and surpass her in 
 1950, the production of pig iron in each country for 
 that year, as determined from the equation of their 
 respective curves, being a little over 30,000,000. 
 
 To the astonishment of the world, the United States 
 recorded a growth unparalleled, and in 1890 surpassed 
 England sixty years in advance of this prediction, pro- 
 ducing 33 ^ per cent, of the world's production. When 
 it comes to consumption, we far out-strip any other, or 
 any other two nations of the earth. We use probably 
 
STATISTICS. 67 
 
 as much iron as England, France and Germany taken 
 together. Those countries depend largely on the export 
 trade for their chief business. 
 
 Concerning the future, Hon. Abram S. Hewitt esti- 
 mates that in 1900 the world will require 35,000,000 
 gross tons of iron, of which the United States must 
 supply 45 per cent. Mr. Edward Atkinson estimates 
 that if this accelerating demand should continue for the 
 next eleven years, the supply must be 100 per cent, in 
 excess of that which now prevails. In other words, the 
 supply in 1900 will be 50,000,000 gross tons. 
 
 We consume more iron and steel per capita than 
 any other country, our average consumption of these 
 products being about three hundred and twenty pounds 
 for every man, woman and child in the United States. 
 
 It would occupy too much space to enumerate the 
 great diversity of uses to which iron and steel are put. 
 As a means of power and force we see them in all 
 stages, from the powerful engines and locomotives to 
 the delicate hair spring of a watch ; in domestic use in 
 the furnaces and cooking utensils in every household ; 
 in art as displayed in the elaborate decorations and 
 ornaments now used for beautifying our residences and 
 public buildings. 
 
 The following statistics, compiled by the American 
 Iron and Steel Association, will prove interesting as 
 showing the extent of this industry : 
 
68 
 
 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 BLAST FURNACE CAPACITY. 
 
 SUMMARY BY STATES. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Furnaces Completed 
 January, 1892. 
 
 Annual Capacity of Completed Furnaces, 
 January, 1892, in net tons. 
 
 Anthracite . 
 
 C 
 
 ? 
 
 B 
 | 
 
 o 
 
 a 1 
 
 p 
 
 1 
 
 Anthracite . 
 
 1 
 
 c 
 
 1 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 rf 
 
 g 
 
 ! 2 
 . % 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 6,000 
 
 19,500 
 41,500 
 67,500 
 
 6,000 
 19,500 
 41,500 
 753,500 
 274,345 
 6,662,748 
 463,200 
 677,000 
 184,000 
 280,000 
 448,000 
 6,000 
 107,000 
 1,618,000 
 58,000 
 2,176,500 
 30,000 
 1,365,000 
 436,000 
 
 293>5 
 50,000 
 222,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 Massachusetts 
 Connecticut . 
 New York . . 
 New Jersey . 
 Pennsylvania 
 Maryland . . 
 Virginia . . 
 West Virginia 
 Kentucky . . 
 Tennessee . . 
 NorthCarolina 
 Georgia . . 
 Alabama . . 
 
 25 
 15 
 
 124 
 
 3 
 
 80 
 5 
 19 
 4 
 7 
 13 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 38 
 
 4 
 9 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 8 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 6 
 
 4 
 15 
 4 
 
 12 
 23 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 9 
 37 
 15 
 219 
 
 13 
 33 
 4 
 10 
 
 19 
 i 
 6 
 53 
 4 
 
 72 
 2 
 20 
 
 23 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 565,000 
 274,345 
 2,742,848 
 
 121,000 
 
 3,858,200 
 409,000 
 625,OOO 
 184,000 
 227,OOO 
 392,000 
 
 6,000 
 60,000 
 1,407,000 
 
 61,700 
 54,200 
 52,000 
 
 53,000 
 56,000 
 
 47,000 
 
 211,000 
 
 58,000 
 
 53,000 
 
 436,000 
 116,500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ohio .... 
 Indiana . . . 
 Illinois . . . 
 
 
 60 
 2 
 20 
 
 
 2,123,500 
 30,000 
 1,365,000 
 
 
 
 Wisconsin . . 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 177,000 
 
 
 Missouri . . 
 Colorado . . 
 
 
 5 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 3 
 
 
 175,000 
 100,000 
 
 47,000 
 
 15,000 
 10,000 
 
 
 
 Washington . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 569 
 
 
 
 Total . . . 
 
 I6 4 
 
 267 
 
 138 
 
 3.582,193 
 
 11,309,700 
 
 1,404,900 
 
 16,296,793 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 6 9 
 
 ROLLING MILLS, STEEL WORKS, ETC. 
 
 SUMMARY BY STATES. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 ?i 
 
 nS 
 "W 
 
 II 
 
 ' 3 
 0. 
 
 
 Cut-nail Machines . 
 
 Steel Works. 
 
 1 Forges and 
 Bloomaries. 
 
 OH and Steel Roll- 
 ing Mills. . . . . 
 
 "i 
 
 Clapp-Griffiths . 
 
 93 
 
 I 
 
 W 
 2 
 
 a 
 
 sr 
 
 Crucible 
 
 Mflinp 
 
 I 
 
 14 
 
 I 
 8 
 
 23 
 20 
 
 211 
 
 9 
 6 
 8 
 
 7 
 8 
 5 
 
 I 
 13 
 
 8 
 19 
 19 
 192 
 9 
 6 
 8 
 
 7 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 326 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ;; 
 
 New Hampshire .... 
 Massachusetts 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 - 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 193 
 1,555 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 3 
 38 
 
 3 
 4 
 6 
 
 24 
 
 * . 
 
 9 
 3 
 14 
 
 New York 
 
 
 18 
 
 3 
 
 i. 
 
 
 
 146 
 856 
 126 
 "5 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 2 
 I 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 77 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ohio 
 
 59 
 18 
 26 
 4 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 56 
 
 16 
 23 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 1,215 
 366 
 
 398 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 8 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 i 
 i 
 
 IO 
 
 I 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Missouri 
 Iowa . . . 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 50 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colorado . . . 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 2 
 I 
 
 27 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 California . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 96 
 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 7i 
 
 45 
 
 30 
 
 
 Total 
 
 460 
 
 425 
 
 5,546 
 
 46 
 
 
 "Excludes all steel works that contain no hot-rolling trains of rolls. 
 
7O THE A B C OF IRON? 
 
 PRODUCTION OF PIG IRON BY STATES. 
 
 States Net tons. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1891. 
 
 States Net tons. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1891. 
 
 Pennsylvania . 
 
 4,945,i69 
 
 4,426,673 
 
 Kentucky . . 
 
 53,604 
 
 50,225 
 
 Ohio .... 
 
 1,289,170 
 
 1,159,215 
 
 Missouri . . . 
 
 100,550 
 
 V2 7T.6 
 
 Alabama . . . 
 
 914,940 
 
 891,154 
 
 Connecticut . 
 
 22,552 
 
 24,428 
 
 Illinois. . . . 
 
 785,239 
 
 749,506 
 
 Texas .... 
 
 10,865 
 
 20,902 
 
 New York . . 
 
 369,381 
 
 352,925 
 
 Colorado . . . 
 
 23,588 
 
 20,290 
 
 Virginia . . . 
 
 327,912 
 
 330,727 
 
 Oregon .... 
 
 12,305 
 
 10,411 
 
 Tennessee . . 
 
 299,741 
 
 326,747 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 5,53i 
 
 10,069 
 
 Michigan. . . 
 
 258,461 
 
 238,722 
 
 Indiana . . . 
 
 16,398 
 
 8,657 
 
 Wisconsin . . 
 
 246,237 
 
 220,819 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 3,i8i 
 
 3,603 
 
 
 
 138 206 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey . . 
 
 177,788 
 
 103,589 
 
 oft fi-17 
 
 Maine .... 
 
 1,200 
 
 
 Georgia . . . 
 
 I 44,97 
 32,687 
 
 90,037 
 55,841 
 
 Total .... 
 
 10,307,028 
 
 9,273,455 
 
 SUMMARY IRON AND STEEL PRODUCTION. 
 
 Net Tons of 2,000 pounds, except nails. 
 
 1889. 
 
 1890. 
 
 1891. 
 
 Pig iron, including spiegeleisen .... 
 
 8,516,079 
 
 c 82-* 
 
 10,307,028 
 
 9,273,455 
 
 
 * 281 820 
 
 4 I^I,S^S 
 
 3,637,107 
 
 Bessemer steel rails 
 Open-hearth steel ingots 
 
 1,691,264 
 
 419,488 
 
 2,091,978 
 574,820 
 AOl8 
 
 1,448,219 
 649,323 
 
 6 <;8o 
 
 
 8/1 060 
 
 
 Si 2Q7 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pig, scrap, and ore blooms 
 Kegs of iron and steel cut nails .... 
 
 36,260 
 5,810,758 
 
 30,783 
 5,640,946 
 
 29,219 
 
 5,002,176 
 
 4 114,385 
 
 Iron and steel wire rods . . . . 
 
 
 
 601 ooo 
 
 All rolled iron and steel, except rails . 
 
 4,160,491 
 
 4,634,076 
 
 4,573,841 
 
STATISTICS. 7 1 
 
 Total Production of all Kinds of Steel from 1 86O to 
 1891, in Gross Tons. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Gross Tons. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Gross Tons. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Gross Tons. 
 
 i860 .... 
 
 11,838 
 
 1872 .... 
 
 I 42,9S4 
 
 1882 .... 
 
 1,736,692 
 
 I86 3 .... 
 
 8,075 
 
 I8 73 . . . . 
 
 198,796 
 
 I88 3 .... 
 
 1,673,535 
 
 1864 .. . 
 
 9,258 
 
 1874. 
 
 215,727 
 
 1884 .... 
 
 1,550,879 
 
 I86 5 .... 
 
 13,627 
 
 1875. . . . 
 
 389,799 
 
 1885 .... 
 
 I,7II,92O 
 
 !866 .... 
 
 16,940 
 
 1876 .... 
 
 533,191 
 
 1886 .... 
 
 2,562,503 
 
 I86 7 .... 
 
 19,643 
 
 1877 .... 
 
 569,618 
 
 1887 .... 
 
 3,339,071 
 
 1868 .... 
 
 26,786 
 
 1878 .... 
 
 731,977 
 
 1888 .... 
 
 2,899,440 
 
 1869 .... 
 
 31,250 
 
 1879 
 
 935,273 
 
 1889 .... 
 
 3,385,732 
 
 1870 .... 
 
 68,750 
 
 1880 .... 
 
 1,247,335 
 
 1890 .... 
 
 4,277,071 
 
 1871 .... 
 
 73,214 
 
 1881 ... 
 
 1,588,314 
 
 1891 . . . ' 
 
 3,904,240 
 
 Production of Steel by the Different Processes. 
 
 Years. 
 
 ^Bessemer. 
 Net tons. 
 
 Open- 
 Hearth. 
 Net tons. 
 
 Crucible. 
 Net tons. 
 
 Miscel- 
 laneous. 
 Net tons. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Net tons. 
 
 Gross tons. 
 
 1885 .... 
 
 1,701,762 
 
 149,381 
 
 64,5" 
 
 1,696 
 
 1,917,350 
 
 I,7II,92O 
 
 1886 .... 
 
 2,541,493 
 
 245,250 
 
 80,609 
 
 2,651 
 
 2,870,003 
 
 2,562,503 
 
 1887 .... 
 
 3,288,357 
 
 360,717 
 
 84,421 
 
 6,265 
 
 3,739,760 
 
 3,339,071 
 
 1888 .... 
 
 2,812,500 
 
 352,036 
 
 78,713 
 
 4,124 
 
 3,247,373 
 
 2,899,440 
 
 1889 .... 
 
 3,281,829 
 
 419,488 
 
 84,969 
 
 5,734 
 
 3,792,020 
 
 3,385,732 
 
 1890 .... 
 
 4,131,535 
 
 574,820 
 
 79,716 
 
 4,248 
 
 4,790,319 
 
 4,277,071 
 
 1891 .... 
 
 3,637,107 
 
 649,323 
 
 81,297 
 
 5,022 
 
 4,372,749 
 
 3,904,240 
 
 * Bessemer column includes Clapp-Griffiths and Robert-Bessemer productions, these 
 being simply a modification of the Bessemer process. 
 
THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 STEEL RAIL PRODUCTION. 
 
 Since 1874 our total production of Bessemer steel 
 rails by Bessemer steel works and by rolling mills from 
 purchased material has been as follows, in net tons : 
 
 Years Net tons. 
 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Illinois. 
 
 Other States. 
 
 Total. 
 
 l8?d. 
 
 
 48 280 
 
 
 
 1875 
 1876 . 
 
 112,843 
 
 2QT. 750 
 
 Ill.lSg 
 
 66,831 
 
 74 QO8 
 
 290,863 
 
 l8?7 . 
 
 
 80 ^IQ 
 
 
 
 T 878 
 
 
 l*<i 78e 
 
 08 ^2O 
 
 
 1879 
 1880 
 
 368,187 
 
 197,881 
 
 117,896 
 
 683,694 
 
 1881 
 
 688 276 
 
 
 
 
 !882 
 
 
 
 
 
 1883 
 1884 . . 
 
 819,544 
 
 231,355 
 
 235,655 
 
 1,286,554 
 
 1885 
 1886 
 
 736,522 
 
 308,242 
 
 29,843 
 
 1,074,607 
 
 1887 . , . ' . . 
 
 i 276 SA. s 
 
 728 526 
 
 248 76l 
 
 
 1888 
 
 
 A88 6^Q 
 
 
 
 1880 . 
 
 
 
 27 860 
 
 
 l8OO 
 
 
 r87 C77 
 
 
 
 1801 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 73 
 
 Average Monthly Prices of Iron and Steel. 
 
 
 
 >3 
 
 
 
 ro 
 
 w 
 
 ~2 
 
 *S? 
 
 > 
 
 o 
 
 
 5- 
 
 1? 
 
 r*- & 
 
 Es 
 
 as (A 
 
 B? 
 
 a 
 
 a> ~ 
 
 w 
 
 MONTHS. 
 
 I 
 
 III 
 
 t^ 
 
 So 1 
 
 S3 
 ft 
 
 y forge pig ire 
 te ore, at Pitt 
 burgh. 
 
 semer pig iro 
 .t Pittsburgh. 
 
 :1 rails, at mi: 
 Pennsylvanu 
 
 refined bar in 
 n store, Phil 
 delphia. 
 
 muck bar ire 
 t Pittsburgh. 
 
 sails (base pri< 
 t Pittsburgh. 
 
 
 P 
 
 ? % 
 
 3 
 
 t|> B 
 
 a 
 
 ' tT 
 
 3 
 
 B 
 
 5. 
 
 January, 1889 
 
 $23-50 
 
 $18.00 
 
 $15.50 
 
 $15.50 
 
 $16.75 
 
 $27.50 
 
 2.00C. 
 
 75C- 
 
 $1.90 
 
 February . . 
 
 23.50 
 
 18.00 
 
 15-25 
 
 14-75 
 
 16.35 
 
 27.50 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 -7oc. 
 
 1.90 
 
 March . . . 
 
 23-50 
 
 18.00 
 
 I5.25 
 
 15-00 
 
 16.50 
 
 27.50 
 
 i.Soc. 
 
 -6 5 c. 
 
 1.90 
 
 Mly ' ' ' ' ' 
 
 23.50 
 
 '7-35 
 
 15.00 
 
 T/l *7C 
 
 14.25 
 
 16.25 
 16 oo 
 
 27-50 
 
 i.Soc. 
 
 65c. 
 
 1.90 
 i 8s 
 
 June .... 
 
 22.75 
 22.50 
 
 17-25 
 
 1 4-75 
 14.90 
 
 14.00 
 
 16.00 
 
 27OO 
 
 27.50 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 i6oc! 
 
 1.05 
 
 i.8 5 
 
 Tulv 
 
 
 
 
 
 lf\ 1 C 
 
 
 
 T nor 
 
 T no 
 
 
 22.75 
 
 *7*5 
 
 I5-OO 
 
 I 4- I 5 
 
 1O< 35 
 
 
 
 I.OOC. 
 
 i.yu 
 
 August . . . 
 
 23.50 
 
 I7-50 
 
 15.25 
 
 14.90 
 
 17-50 
 
 28.00 
 
 I.95C. 
 
 I-72C. 
 
 1.90 
 
 September . 
 
 25.00 
 
 I7-50 
 
 15.25 
 
 
 18.00 
 
 29.50 
 
 I.95C. 
 
 75C- 
 
 i-95 
 
 October . . . 
 
 26.00 
 
 I7-50 
 
 15.60 
 
 16.60 
 
 20.75 
 
 32.00 
 
 2.OOC. 
 
 i.Soc. 
 
 2.25 
 
 November . . 
 
 26.50 
 
 18.50 
 
 16.75 
 
 17-25 
 
 21.75 
 
 34.00 
 
 2.05C. 
 
 i.Soc. 
 
 2.25 
 
 December . . 
 
 27.25 
 
 19.25 
 
 17.25 
 
 18.25 
 
 23-75 
 
 35-00 
 
 2.I5C. 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 2.30 
 
 January, 1890 
 
 27.50 
 
 19.90 
 
 17.90 
 
 18.00 
 
 23.60 
 
 35-25 
 
 2.2OC. 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 2.40 
 
 February . . 
 
 27.25 
 
 19.50 
 
 17.38 
 
 18.00 
 
 22.55 
 
 35-00 
 
 2.2OC. 
 
 .goc. 
 
 2-35 
 
 March . . . 
 
 
 
 17.00 
 
 17 OO 
 
 
 
 2 IOC 
 
 Q~p 
 
 > 25 
 
 April .... 
 
 23-85 
 
 18-25 
 
 16.10 
 
 -i /.mj 
 
 17^5 
 
 33-50 
 
 2. IOC. 
 
 .850. 
 
 2.00 
 
 May 
 
 23-25 
 
 18.00 
 
 15-65 
 
 15.25 
 
 17.55 
 
 3 T -35 
 
 2. IOC. 
 
 75c. 
 
 1-90 
 
 June .... 
 
 24.50 
 
 18.00 
 
 15-50 
 
 I5.25 
 
 19.00 
 
 3L50 
 
 2.00C. 
 
 .8oc. 
 
 i-95 
 
 July 
 
 25.00 
 
 18.00 
 
 15-25 
 
 I5.25 
 
 18.62 
 
 
 I.90C. 
 
 .Soc. 
 
 1.90 
 
 August . . . 
 
 25.00 
 
 18.00 
 
 15.10 
 
 I5.25 
 
 18.10 
 
 31.25 
 
 I-95C. 
 
 8 5 c. 
 
 1-85 
 
 September . 
 
 25.50 
 
 18.00 
 
 15.00 
 
 15.25 
 
 18.00 
 
 3 .50 
 
 2.00C. 
 
 8 5 c. 
 
 1.85 
 
 October . . . 
 
 25.50 
 
 18.00 
 
 15.00 
 
 15.00 
 
 17.35 
 
 30.00 
 
 2.OOC. 
 
 -8 5 c. 
 
 1.85 
 
 November . . 
 
 25.10 
 
 18.00 
 
 15.00 
 
 15.00 
 
 17.00 
 
 29.00 
 
 2.OOC. 
 
 -8 5 c. 
 
 i. So 
 
 December . . 
 
 24.5 
 
 18.00 
 
 15.00 
 
 H-75 
 
 16.60 
 
 28.50 
 
 2.00C. 
 
 
 1.80 
 
 January, 1891 
 
 23.50 
 
 I7-50 
 
 14.50 
 
 14-25 
 
 15-95 
 
 29.00 
 
 2.OOC. 
 
 ISoc! 
 
 1.65 
 
 February . . 
 
 23.35 
 
 I7-50 
 
 14.50 
 
 14.50 
 
 16.25 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.9oc. 
 
 75C. 
 
 1.65 
 
 March . . . 
 
 22.50 
 
 I7-50 
 
 14-75 
 
 15.00 
 
 16.50 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 75C. 
 
 1.65 
 
 April .... 
 
 22.50 
 
 I7-50 
 
 14-75 
 
 14.12 
 
 16.10 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 .yoc. 
 
 1.60 
 
 Mav 
 
 22 OO 
 
 
 1A 7C 
 
 
 16. so 
 
 
 
 7OP 
 
 
 "* j 
 June .... 
 
 21.00 
 
 I7-50 
 
 L *T* / O 
 
 14-75 
 
 14.00 
 
 16.25 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 . /VA,. 
 
 70C. 
 
 1-55 
 
 Tulv . 
 
 21 OO 
 
 
 14 60 
 
 14 oo 
 
 16.25 
 
 
 
 
 
 August . . . 
 
 21.50 
 
 I7-50 
 
 14-50 
 
 14.00 
 
 16.00 
 
 30.00 
 
 1.900.' 
 
 7<x ' 
 
 1-55 
 
 September . 
 
 22.00 
 
 I7-50 
 
 M-35 
 
 14.00 
 
 15.60 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 7oc. 
 
 
 October . . . 
 
 22.00 
 
 17-75 
 
 x 4-35 
 
 13-85 
 
 I5-50 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.Ssc. 
 
 .70C. 
 
 i. 60 
 
 November. . 
 
 21-75 
 
 1750 
 
 14-25 
 
 13-50 
 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.8 5 c. 
 
 .68c. 
 
 i-55 
 
 December . . 
 
 21.50 
 
 I7-50 
 
 14-25 
 
 13-50 
 
 15-35 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 .68c. 
 
 i-55 
 
 January, 1892 
 
 21.00 
 
 17-5 
 
 14-25 
 
 13-50 
 
 I5-65 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.Ssc. 
 
 7oc. 
 
 i-55 
 
 February . . 
 
 20.50 
 
 17.00 
 
 14-25 
 
 13-25 
 
 15-25 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.Ssc. 
 
 .68c. 
 
 i-55 
 
 March . . . 
 
 20.25 
 
 16.50 
 
 14.00 
 
 13.00 
 
 14-75 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.Ssc. 
 
 .62C. 
 
 1.50 
 
 April .... 
 
 2O.OO 
 
 16 oo 
 
 14.00 
 
 13.00 
 
 14.50 
 
 30.00 
 
 i.goc. 
 
 .6oc. 
 
 1-50 
 
74 
 
 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 World's Production of Iron and Steel. 
 
 
 Pi 
 
 G IRON. 
 
 
 5TEEL. 
 
 COUNTRIES. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 United States 
 
 1800 
 
 
 1800 
 
 
 
 1890 
 
 
 1800 
 
 
 Germany and Luxemburg .... 
 
 1890 
 1800 
 
 4,637,239 
 
 1890 
 1800 
 
 2,161,821 
 
 
 1800 
 
 7&I 7^8 
 
 1890 
 
 
 Austria and Hungary 
 Russia, including Siberia .... 
 Sweden 
 
 1890 
 1890 
 1890 
 1888 
 
 925,308 
 745,872 
 456,102 
 
 1890 
 1889 
 1890 
 
 1888 
 
 440,605 
 
 263,719 
 169,286 
 28 64^ 
 
 Italy . 
 
 1889 
 
 
 1889 
 
 
 Canada . . . . . . 
 
 1891 
 
 
 1889 
 
 24 887 
 
 Other countries, including Cuba . 
 
 1891 
 
 '80,000 
 
 1890 
 
 5,000 
 
 Total 
 
 
 26 968 468 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Percentage of United States . . . 
 
 
 34-i 
 
 
 35-2 
 
 World's Production of Iron Ore and Coal. 
 
 COUNTRIES. 
 
 IRON ORE. 
 
 COAL. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 United States 
 
 1890 
 1890 
 890 
 88 7 
 889 
 
 889 
 1890 
 1890 
 
 18,000,000 
 13,780,767 
 11,409,625 
 2,579,465 
 202,431 
 2,2OO,OOO 
 
 I ,433,5I3 
 941,241 
 4,500,000 
 173,489 
 68,313 
 
 2,000,000 
 
 1889 
 1890 
 1890 
 1890 
 1890 
 1889 
 1889 
 1890 
 1888 
 1889 
 1890 
 1890 
 
 126,097,779 
 181,614,288 
 89,051,527 
 25,836,953 
 20,343,495 
 25,326,417 
 6,228,000 
 258,000 
 1,203,119 
 390,320 
 2,783,626 
 11,200,000 
 
 Great Britain 
 Germany and Luxemburg .... 
 
 
 
 Russia, including Siberia .... 
 Sweden 
 
 
 Italy 
 
 Canada 
 
 Other countries, including Cuba . 
 Total 
 
 
 57,288,844 
 
 
 490,333,524 
 
 Percentage of United States . . . 
 
 . . . 
 
 31-4 
 
 
 25-7 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 75 
 
 5 * 
 
 m jT 
 
 3 I 
 
 o\ -~ 
 
 ft ' I '$'$ t 8 { f '& 
 
 * 
 
 ft & ( i I ( -s & $ 
 
 $ 35 {? ff * S J? '15 
 
 s ? s 5 : s : I 
 
 5? 3- 
 
 S S 
 
 I 
 * ? 
 
 s a; ; 55 ' s: a 
 
 3O_ t^. 00^ O^ O W 
 
 s I. I t & 
 
 * I 
 
 S% I 
 * ^ 5 
 
 I S ? S I 
 
 S 8- - ^ I * 
 
 .2 a g 
 
 .* 2-- " ' " ' a ~ a ' * ' v 
 
 Si* : i H11 : ':S 
 
 |*| = * B' .1? .S.g! 
 
 I 1 I I 
 
 3 * 3 tf) 
 
 E a B 9 
 
 1 1 { 
 
 X < <X H U) 
 
THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 GRAND SUMMARY. 
 
 IRON AND STEEL WORKS. 
 
 January, 
 
 Number of completed Blast Furnaces 267 Bituminous, 164 An- 
 thracite and Coke, and 138 Charcoal : total 
 
 Number of Blast Furnaces building 10 Bituminous and i Char- 
 coal: total 
 
 Annual capacity of completed Blast Furnaces, net tons 
 
 Annual capacity of the Bituminous Furnaces, net tons 
 
 Annual capacity of the Anthracite Furnaces, net tons 
 
 Annual capacity of the Charcoal Furnaces, net tons 
 
 Number of completed Rolling Mills and Steel Works 
 
 Number of Rolling Mills and Steel Works building 
 
 Number of Single Puddling Furnaces (a double furnace count- 
 ing as two single ones) 
 
 Number of Heating Furnaces 
 
 Number of Trains of Rolls 
 
 Annual Capacity of completed Rolling Mills, net tons 
 
 Number of Rolling Mills having Cut-nail Factories 
 
 Number of Cut-nail Machines 
 
 Number of Cut-nail Factories building 
 
 Number of Cut-nail Machines to be used in the new Factories . 
 
 Number of Wire-nail Works 
 
 Number of completed standard Bessemer Steel Works 
 
 Number of Bessemer Steel Works building 
 
 Number of completed standard Bessemer Converters 
 
 Annual capacity (built and building) in ingots, net tons . . . . 
 
 Number of completed Clapp-Griffiths Steel Works 
 
 Number of Clapp-Griffiths Converters 
 
 Annual capacity in ingots, net tons 
 
 Number of completed Robert-Bessemer Steel Works 
 
 Number of Robert-Bessemer Steel Works building 
 
 Number of Robert-Bessemer Converters 6 completed and 2 
 partly built 
 
 Number of completed Open-Hearth Steel Works 
 
 Number of Open-Hearth Steel Works building 4 building and 
 i standing nearly completed 
 
 Number of Open-Hearth Furnaces 164 completed, 7 building, 
 and 7 standing nearly completed 
 
 Annual capacity (built and building) in ingots, net tons . . . . 
 
 Number of completed Crucible Steel Works 
 
 Number of Crucible Steel Works building . . . . 
 
 Number of Steel-melting Pots which can be used at each heat 
 
 Annual capacity in ingots, net tons .... 
 
 Number of Forges making wrought iron from ore 
 
 Annual capacity in blooms and billets, net tons .... . . 
 
 Number of pig and scrap iron Bloomaries 
 
 Annual capacity in blooms, net tons 
 
 569 
 
 '6,296,793 
 11,309,700 
 3-582,193 
 1,404,900 
 460 
 
 5,120 
 
 2,913 
 1,592 
 
 11,831,294 
 
 65 
 
 5,546 
 
 95 
 
 6,560,000 
 5 
 9 
 
 170,000 
 4 
 
 164 
 
 1,550,000 
 45 
 I 
 
 2,934 
 105,000 
 
 36,000 
 
 575 
 
 27 
 
 13,168,233 
 8,223,500 
 3,723,333 
 1,221,400 
 445 
 
 4,9'4 
 
 2,733 
 
 i, 5'0 
 
 9,215,000 
 
 75 
 
 6,c66 
 i 
 
 100 
 37 
 41 
 
 5,600,000 
 8 
 14 
 
 116 
 
 1,200,000 
 43 
 3 
 
 3,378 
 
 111,500 
 
 23 
 
 45, 
 
 27 
 
 44,000 
 
STATISTICS. 77 
 
 RAILROADS. 
 
 The railroads are the largest factors in the consump- 
 tion of iron and steel products. They annually consume 
 in rails, bridges, cars and locomotives about one-half of 
 the world's total production of iron and steel. We have 
 built more miles of railroad than the whole of Europe, 
 and have used in their construction as many rails, and in 
 their equipment fully as many railroad cars and loco- 
 motives. At the close of 1889 the United States had 
 twenty-five miles of railroad to every ten thousand of 
 population, while Europe had a little more than four 
 miles to the same population. 
 
 The following statistics are taken from the twenty- 
 fifth annual number of " Poor's Manual of Railroads:" 
 
 MILEAGE OF UNITED STATES, 189!. 
 
 Mileage of railroads '67,845.56 
 
 Second tracks, sidings, etc 46,683.39 
 
 Total track 214,528.95 
 
 Steel rails in track 174,775-14 
 
 Iron rails in track 39,753-8i 
 
 ROLLING STOCK. 
 
 Locomotive engines 33,5^3 
 
 Cars Passenger 23,083 
 
 Baggage, mail, etc 7>3 68 
 
 Freight 1,110,286 
 
 Total revenue cars 1,140,737 
 
78 THE A 13 C OF IRON. 
 
 MILEAGE. 
 
 Miles of railroad operated 164,261.91 
 
 Revenue train mileage 
 
 Passenger 320,712,013 
 
 Freight 493.54i.969 
 
 Mixed 19.948,394 
 
 Total 831,203,376 
 
 Passengers carried 556,015,802 
 
 Passenger mileage I3.3 l6 ,9 2 5,239 
 
 Tons of freight moved 704,398,609 
 
 Freight mileage 81,210,154,523 
 
 Statement Showing Assets and Liabilities of the 
 Railroads of the United States. 
 
 ASSETS. 
 
 Cost of railroad equipment $8,927,571,592 
 
 Real estate, stocks, bonds and other investments 1,588,590,522 
 
 Other assets 233,862,243 
 
 Current accounts 241,399,182 
 
 $10,991,423,539 
 LIABILITIES. 
 
 Capital stock $ 4>75i>75.498 
 
 Bonds and debt 5,178,821,989 
 
 Unfunded debt 345,102,632 
 
 Current accounts 374,051,161 
 
 Total liabilities $10,649,726,280 
 
 Bxcess assets over liabilities 341,697,259 
 
 $10,991,423,539 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 79 
 
 RAILROAD MILEAGE-1830-1891 
 
 POOR'S MANUAL. 
 
 Prior to 1827 all the railroads built were composed 
 of wooden rails and constructed only for carrying heavy 
 material very short distances. In 1827 the Baltimore & 
 Ohio Railroad was chartered by the Maryland Legis- 
 lature, and this was the first railroad opened for convey- 
 ing passengers. It was opened for travel from Baltimore 
 to Ellicott's Mills, a distance of thirteen miles, on May 
 
 24, 1830, and completed to Washington City August 
 
 25, 1834- 
 
 Years. 
 
 Miles in 
 Operation. 
 
 Net 
 Increase. 
 
 Years. 
 
 Miles in 
 Operation. 
 
 Net 
 Increase. 
 
 1830 .... 
 
 
 
 T 86i 
 
 ,T 2 86 
 
 660 
 
 1831 
 
 T Q,~ 
 
 95 
 
 72 
 
 1862 
 1 86* 
 
 32,120 
 
 834 
 
 jgi-1 
 
 229 
 
 *8o 
 
 J 34 
 
 1864 
 
 33> X 7 
 
 IT QO8 
 
 7*8 
 
 1834 
 
 ;|l 
 
 2" 
 633 
 1,098 
 
 253 
 465 
 
 
 35,o85 
 36,801 
 
 1,177 
 1,716 
 
 j8*7 
 
 I 4-Q7 
 
 224 
 
 868 
 
 4.2 22Q 
 
 
 18^8 . 
 
 I QI^ 
 
 416 
 
 869 . 
 
 46 844 
 
 4 6lS 
 
 
 
 tsq 
 
 870 
 
 
 6 078 
 
 1840 
 
 2 818 
 
 ,5oy 
 
 erg 
 
 1871 . 
 
 
 
 184.1 
 
 5 C7C 
 
 717 
 
 1872 . 
 
 w,jy.5 
 66 171 
 
 c 878 
 
 1842 
 
 
 
 1877 
 
 7O 268 
 
 
 1841 . 
 
 4l85 
 
 ICQ 
 
 1874 
 
 72 *8<; 
 
 2 117 
 
 1844 . . 
 
 4-577 
 
 IQ2 
 
 1875 
 
 
 I 711 
 
 1845 . . 
 
 4 6^ 
 
 256 
 
 1876 .... 
 
 76 808 
 
 2 712 
 
 isli . 
 
 4 Q^O 
 
 
 X 877 
 
 7Q 088 
 
 2 280 
 
 1847 . . 
 1848 . . 
 
 5,598 
 
 c 006 
 
 668 
 
 1878 
 1879 
 
 1?:76 7 
 
 86 584 
 
 2,679 
 
 4 817 
 
 
 7 *6s 
 
 I *6q 
 
 1880 .... 
 
 
 6 712 
 
 1850 ..... 
 
 9 02 1 
 
 I 6<;6 
 
 1881 . . 
 
 
 9 847 
 
 1851 
 
 10 982 
 
 i 061 
 
 1882 . . . 
 
 
 ii 560 
 
 1852 
 
 12 908 
 
 i,yui 
 
 1883 . . . 
 
 
 6 74* 
 
 iSs*. . 
 
 It: -j(x) 
 
 
 x884 
 
 
 * Q24 
 
 1854 
 1855 .... 
 
 16,720 
 
 1 8 *74 
 
 1,360 
 I 6^4 
 
 1885 ... . 
 1886 
 
 128,361 
 
 2,982 
 
 8 018 
 
 1856 
 1857 
 
 22,016 
 24 SO* 
 
 i>"0^ 
 
 3,642 
 
 M87 
 
 
 149-257 
 
 12,878 
 6016 
 
 1858 . 
 
 26 968 
 
 2 46<5 
 
 1880 
 
 161 319 
 
 5146 
 
 1859 
 1860 
 
 28,789 
 30,626 
 
 1,821 
 1,837 
 
 1890 ... 
 1891 ... 
 
 166,817 
 171,079 
 
 5,498 
 4,262 
 
THE A 13 C OF IRON. 
 
 RAILROAD MILEAGE BY STATES. 
 
 The number of miles of railroad in each State and 
 Territory of the United States at the close of 1891 is 
 shown in the following table : 
 
 States. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 States. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Maine 
 
 1,383.26 
 i 144 88 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 1,880.01 
 6 I?8 45 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Texas . .... 
 
 8 812 67 
 
 
 
 
 889087 
 
 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 2,132.41 
 
 
 
 
 8 QIQ 08 
 
 Indian Country j 
 
 1,272 08 
 
 Delaware 
 
 320.12 
 
 I,26Q AA 
 
 Oklahoma Ter.J ' 
 
 8.4^6 5i 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 2O66 
 
 
 c 670 88 
 
 
 8, 167 63 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 
 
 
 North Dakota 
 
 
 
 
 South Dakota . . . 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 10 189 38 
 
 
 
 
 c ngc gi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 West Virginia .... 
 
 1,547.11 
 
 
 1,503.52 
 
 North Carolina .... 
 
 3.205.46 
 
 Washington 
 
 Nevada 
 
 2,309.23 
 
 Q22 l8 
 
 
 4,870. 2 5 
 
 Arizona Territory . . . 
 
 1,097.57 
 
 
 256687 
 
 
 i ^5 66 
 
 
 2 062 45 
 
 Idaho ...-. 
 
 Q5Q68 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 2,996.20 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MississioDi . 
 
 2,440.10 
 
 Total. . 
 
 170,601.18 
 
STATISTICS. 
 
 8l 
 
 The Manual for the same year gives the proportion 
 of railroad track in th'e United States which had been 
 laid with steel rails and iron rails from 1880 to the end 
 of 1891, as follows : 
 
 Years. 
 
 Miles of 
 steel rails. 
 
 Miles of 
 iron rails. 
 
 Total miles. 
 
 Per cent, 
 steel of total. 
 
 1880 . . . 
 
 ^680 
 
 81 067 
 
 
 
 1881 .... 
 
 
 8l 47^ 
 
 
 
 1882 
 
 66691 
 
 
 
 
 l88l. . 
 
 78,4.0! 
 
 7O 602 
 
 I4Q l8^ 
 
 
 1884 . 
 
 
 66 254 
 
 
 576 
 
 i88; 
 
 
 
 
 
 1886 
 1887 
 
 105,724 
 125 45Q 
 
 62,324 
 
 cq S 88 
 
 168,048 
 185 O47 
 
 62.9 
 67.7 
 
 1888 
 
 1^8 5l6 
 
 52 Q8 1 
 
 
 72 * 
 
 1880. . 
 
 
 
 
 
 l8OO 
 
 167 606 
 
 
 
 80/1 
 
 l8qi 
 
 
 
 
 STM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 In the above figures all tracks are included. In the 
 period covered by the table the mileage of iron rails had 
 decreased 50 per cent., while that of steel rails had 
 increased nearly 400 per cent. Over 80 per cent, of our 
 tracks is laid with steel rails. 
 
82 THE ABC OF IKON. 
 
 HISTORY OF IRON IN ALL AGES. 
 
 Mr. Swank has very kindly given the author permission to extract from 
 his work on the above subject interesting data concerning the early his- 
 tory and uses of iron, and we will conclude this work with a chapter under 
 this head. Mr. Swank's book of over five hundred pages is so replete 
 with the most interesting history of the processes, places, and persons 
 identified with the iron industry, that the extracts, necessarily limited, give 
 but little idea of the scope and detail of this most valuable contribution 
 to iron literature. The work is almost indispensable to one who would 
 familiarize himself with the inception and progress of the iron industry in 
 this country. It not only preserves in chronological order a record of the 
 beginning of the iron industry in every country, and in every section of 
 our own country, but gives an individual history of all persons in any way 
 intimately associated with its development. 
 
EARLY HISTORY AND MANUFACT- 
 URE OF IRON. 
 
 The use of iron can be traced to the earliest ages of 
 antiquity. Copper and bronze, or brass, may have been 
 used at as early a period as iron, and for many centuries 
 after their use began they undoubtedly superseded iron 
 to a large extent, but the common theory that there was 
 a copper or a bronze age before iron was either known 
 or used is discredited by Old Testament history, by the 
 earlier as well as the later literature of the ancient Greeks, 
 and by the discoveries of modern antiquarians. 
 
 In his inaugural address as President of the Iron and 
 Steel Institute, delivered in May, 1885, Dr. John Percy, 
 the eminent English metallurgist, briefly considered the 
 question whether iron was or was not used before bronze. 
 He said : ''It has always appeared to me reasonable to 
 infer from metallurgical considerations that the age of 
 iron would have preceded the age of bronze. The prim- 
 itive method, not yet wholly extinct, of extracting iron 
 from its ores is a much simpler process than that of pro- 
 ducing bronze, and it indicates a much less advanced 
 state of the metallurgic arts. In the case of iron all 
 that is necessary is to heat the ore strongly in contact 
 with charcoal ; whereas, in the case of bronze, which is 
 
 (S3) 
 
84 THE ABC OF IRON. 
 
 an alloy of copper and tin, both copper and tin have to 
 be obtained by smelting their respective ores separately, 
 to be subsequently melted together in due proportions, 
 and the resulting alloy to be cast into moulds, requiring 
 considerable skill in their preparation." 
 
 Iron was doubtless first used in Western Asia, the 
 birth-place of the human race, and in the northern parts 
 of Africa which are near to Asia. Most authorities 
 admit that Tubal Cain, who was born in the seventh 
 generation from Adam, was the inventor of the foundry. 
 Geology tells us that castings may have been made 
 before the times of Tubal Cain, but the evidence of 
 bronze castings before the days of Tubal Cain are not 
 plentiful and frequently are mere conjecture. He is 
 described in the fourth chapter of Genesis as "an in- 
 structor of every artificer in brass and iron," and in the 
 revised version as "the forger of every cutting instru- 
 ment of brass and iron." 
 
 The Egyptians, whose civilization is the most ancient 
 of which we have any exact knowledge, were at an early 
 period familiar with both the use and the manufacture of 
 iron, although very little ore has ever been found within 
 the boundaries of Egypt itself. Herodotus tells us that 
 iron tools were used in the construction of the pyramids. 
 In the sepulchres at Thebes and Memphis, cities of such 
 great antiquity that their origin is lost in obscurity, 
 butchers are represented as using tools the colors of 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 85 
 
 which lead antiquarians to conclude that they were made 
 of iron and steel. 
 
 The reference to iron in Deuteronomy iv, 20, appar- 
 ently indicates that in the time of Moses the Egyptians 
 were engaged in the manufacture of iron, and that the 
 Israelites were at least as familiar with the art as their 
 task-masters. " But the Lord hath taken you and 
 brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of 
 Egypt." 
 
 A small piece of very pure iron was found under the 
 obelisk which was removed 'from Alexandria to New 
 York in 1880 by Commander Gorringe, of the United 
 States Navy. This obelisk was erected by Thothmes 
 the Third at Heliopolis about sixteen hundred years 
 before Christ, and removed to Alexandria twenty-two 
 years before the Christian era. The iron found under 
 it was therefore at least nineteen hundred years old. 
 
 Iron is frequently mentioned in the story of the 
 wanderings of the children of Israel. Canaan, the land 
 of promise, is described by Moses, in Deuteronomy 
 viii, 9, as "a land whose stones are iron." Iron is said 
 to be still made in small quantities in the Lebanon Mount- 
 ains. The manufacture was diversified, for we read of 
 chariots of iron, agricultural implements and tools of 
 iron. Axes, saws, and hammers of iron are men- 
 tioned during the reign of David. Isaiah speaks of har- 
 rows of iron, and in the tenth chapter, thirty-fourth verse 
 
86 THE A 13 C OF IRON. 
 
 clearly refers to axes, when he says, " and he shall cut 
 down the thickets of the forest wfth iron." 
 
 The great strength of iron is frequently referred to 
 in the Old Testament. In Psalms ii, 9, we read : 
 " Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron," and in 
 Psalm cvii, 10, we read of those who sit in darkness as 
 " being bound in affliction and iron." Daniel says that 
 " iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things." 
 
 In the Koran of Mohammed, fifty-seventh chapter, 
 is found this sentence : " And we sent them down iron, 
 wherein is mighty strength for war." The legend 
 embodied in the note of the commentator to the first 
 phrase is curious. It runs as follows : " That is, we 
 taught them to dig iron from the mines. Al-Zamakshari 
 adds that Adam is said to have brought down with him 
 from the Paradise five things made of iron, viz.: an anvil, 
 a pair of tongs, two hammers, a greater and a lesser, 
 and a needle/' 
 
 Steel also was made before the Christian era. Day 
 says that in the British Museum are iron and steel tools, 
 probably three thousand years old. Ages ago the city 
 of Damascus manufactured its famous swords from 
 Indian and Persian steel. Swords are still made at 
 Damascus, but of inferior quality. The cutlers of India, 
 however, now make the best of swords from native steel. 
 George Thompson told Wendell Phillips that he saw a 
 man in Calcutta throw a handful of floss silk into the 
 air which a Hindoo cut into pieces with his sabre. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 87 
 
 We have given references that are conclusive as to 
 the early use of iron, but it is worthy of note, as afford- 
 ing additional proof, that the mythologies of both Greece 
 and Egypt attribute the invention of manufacturing iron 
 to the gods, thus showing the great antiquity of the art 
 in both these countries. 
 
 The poems of Homer, written about eight hundred 
 years before Christ, make frequent mention of iron. The 
 art of hardening and tempering steel is fully described 
 in the reference to the plunging of the fire-brand of 
 Ulysses into the eye of Polyphemus, an act which is 
 likened to that of the smith who "plunges the loud hiss- 
 ing axe into cold water to temper it, for hence is the 
 strength of iron." 
 
 We follow the author on down through the Grecian 
 period, viewing with wonder their proficiency in the use 
 and skill in the manufacture of iron and steel and the art 
 of metallurgy. After the lapse of twenty-five centuries, 
 from this little island of Elba where the Greeks got all 
 their ores when Rome was founded, we are receiving 
 many cargoes annually. We can not linger with the 
 author in his description of the battering-ram, the grap- 
 pling-irons and the javelins of the Romans. 
 
 After the fall of Rome, Spain revived the iron indus- 
 try, their Catalan forges lighting up the forests of the 
 Pyrenees in every direction. These Catalan forges have 
 been introduced into every civilized country of modern 
 times, and still exist in almost their original simplicity in 
 
88 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 the mountains of both Spain and France, and even in 
 the Southern States of our own country. 
 
 The modern blast furnace is supposed to have origi- 
 nated in the Rhine provinces about the beginning of the 
 fourteenth century, but whether in France, Germany or 
 Belgium, is not known. It is claimed by Landrin that 
 there were many blast furnaces in France about 1450. 
 Alexander states that in the latter half of the sixteenth 
 century there was a blast furnace in the Hartz Mount- 
 ains in Germany, which was twenty-four feet high and 
 six feet wide at the boshes, built by Hanssien a Voight- 
 lander. 
 
 Blast furnaces were not introduced into England 
 until the beginning of the fifteenth century. Prior to 
 this, all iron made there was produced in Catalan forges 
 or high bloomaries directly from the ore and was, there- 
 fore, when finished, wrought or bar iron. John Ray, the 
 naturalist, in 1672, describes in two papers appended to 
 his "Collection of English Words," the blast furnaces 
 and forges as they existed in England in his day. He 
 got his account from One of the chief iron masters of 
 Sussex, Walter Burrell, Esq., of Cuckfield, deceased. 
 
 THE MANNER OF THE IRON WORK AT THE FURNACE- 
 "The iron mine (ore) lies sometimes deeper, sometimes shallower, in 
 the earth, from four to forty (feet) and upward. There are several sorts of 
 mine some hard, some gentle, some rich, some coarser. The iron masters 
 always mix different sorts of mine together, otherwise they will not melt 
 to advantage. When the mine is brought in, they take small-coal (char- 
 coal) and lay a row of it, and upon that a row of mine, and so alternately 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 89 
 
 S. S. S., one above another, and, setting the coals on fire, therewith burn 
 the mine. The use of this burning is to modify it, that so it may be broke 
 in small pieces ; otherwise if it should be put into the furnace as it comes 
 out of the earth it would not melt, but come away whole. Care also must 
 be taken that it be not too much burned, for then it will loop, i. e., melt and 
 run together in a mass. After it is burnt they beat it into small pieces 
 with an iron sledge, and then put it into the furnace (which is before 
 charged with coals), casting it upon the top of the coals, where it melts 
 and falls into the hearth, in the space of about twelve hours, more or less, 
 and then it runs into a sow. 
 
 The hearth, or bottom of the furnace, is made of sand stone, and the 
 sides round, to the height of a yard, or thereabout; the rest of the fur- 
 nace is lined up to the top with brick. When they begin upon a new 
 furnace they put fire for a day or two before they begin to blow. Then 
 they blow gently and increase by degrees 'till they come to the height in 
 ten weeks or more. Every six days they call a Founday, in which space 
 they make eight tun of iron, if you divide the whole sum of iron made by 
 the foundays ; for at first they make less in a founday, at last more. 
 
 The hearth, by the force of the fire, continually blown, grows wider and 
 wider, so that at first it contains so much as will make a sow of six or seven 
 hundred pounds weight ; at last it will contain so much as will make a sow 
 of two thousand pounds. The lesser pieces, of one thousand pounds or 
 under, they call pigs. 
 
 Of twenty-four loads of coal they expect eight tuns of sow ; to every 
 load of coals, which consist of eleven quarters, they put a load of mine, 
 which contains eighteen bushels. A hearth ordinarily, if made of good 
 stone, will last forty foundays ; that is, forty weeks, during which time the 
 fire is never let go out. They never blow twice upon one hearth, though 
 they go upon it not above five or six foundays. The cinder, like scum, 
 swims upon the melted metal in the hearth, and is let out once or twice 
 before a sow is cast. 
 
 THE MANNER OF WORKING THE IRON AT THE FORGE OR HAMMER. 
 
 In every forge or hammer there are two fires at least ; the one they call 
 \\izfinery, the other the chafery. At the finery, by the working of the ham- 
 mer, they bring it into blooms and anconies, thus : 
 
 The sow they, at first, roll into the fire, and melt off a piece of about 
 three-fourths of a hundred weight, which, so soon as it is broken off, is 
 
90 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 called a loop. This loop they take out with their shingling tongs, and beat 
 it with iron sledges upon an iron plate near the fire, so that it may not fall 
 in pieces, but be in a capacity to be carried under the hammer. Under 
 which they, then removing it, and drawing a little water, beat it with the 
 hammer very gently, which forces cinder and dross out of the matter ; 
 afterwards, by degrees, drawing more water, they beat it thicker and 
 stronger 'till they bring it to a bloom, which is a four-square mass of about 
 two feet long. This operation they call sh ingling the loop. This done, they 
 immediately return it to the finery again, and, after two or three heats and 
 workings, they bring it to an ancony, the figure whereof is, in the middle, 
 a bar about three feet long, of that shape they intend the whole bar to be 
 made of it ; at both ends a square piece left rough to be wrought at the 
 chafery. 
 
 Note. At the finery three load of the biggest coals go to make one tun 
 of iron. At the chafery they only draw out the two ends suitable to what 
 was drawn out at the finery in the middle, and so finish the bar. 
 
 Note. I. One load of the smaller coals will draw out one tun of iron at 
 the chafery. 2. They expect that one man and a boy at the finer}' should 
 make two tuns of iron in a week; two men at the chafery should take up 
 i. e., make or work, five or six tun in a week. 3. If into the hearth where 
 they work the iron sows (whether in the chafery or finery) you cast upon 
 the iron a piece of brass it will hinder the metal from working, causing it 
 to spatter about, so that it cannot be brought into a solid piece. 
 
 The English blast furnaces and refinery forges which 
 have been described were counterparts of Continental 
 furnaces and forges of the same period. The erection 
 of the first coke blast furnace on the Continent of Europe 
 was commenced in 1823, at Seraing, in Belgium, by John 
 Cockerill, an Englishman by birth but a Belgian citizen, 
 and completed in 1826, when it was successfully blown 
 in. Other coke furnaces in Belgium and elsewhere on 
 the continent soon followed. In 1769 an attempt to 
 smelt iron ores by means of coke was made at Juslen- 
 ville, near Spa, in Belgium, but without success. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 9 1 
 
 One of the coke furnaces of the Hoerde iron works 
 in Germany is said to have been continuously in blast 
 from July 3, 1855, to May 29, 1874, or almost nineteen 
 years. 
 
 The manufacture of pig iron with mineral fuel was 
 greatly facilitated by the invention of a cylindrical cast- 
 iron bellows by John Smeaton, in 1760,^0 take the place 
 of wooden or leather bellows, and by the improvements 
 made in the steam engine by James Watts, about 1 769 ; 
 both these valuable accessions to blast furnace machinery 
 being used for the first time, through the influence of 
 Dr. Roebuck, at the Carron iron works in Scotland. 
 The effect of their introduction was to greatly increase 
 the blast and consequently to increase the production 
 of iron. The blast, however, continued to be cold at all 
 the furnaces, both coke and charcoal, and so remained 
 until 1828, when James Beaumont Neilson, of Scotland, 
 invented the hot blast, which is now in general use in all 
 iron-making countries. The origin of the rolling mill 
 for rolling iron into bars, or plates, is not free from 
 doubt. In 1783, Henry Cort, of Gosport, England, 
 obtained a patent for rolling iron into bars with grooved 
 iron rolls, and in the following year he obtained a patent 
 for converting pig iron into malleable iron by means of a 
 puddling furnace. 
 
 We find, however, that John Payne and Major Han- 
 bury rolled sheet iron as early as 1728 at Pontypool, and 
 patents were granted to other Englishmen before Cort's 
 
Q2 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 day. To the important improvements made by Cort, 
 however, the iron trade of Great Britain is greatly 
 indebted. With mineral fuel, powerful blowing engines, 
 the puddling furnace, and grooved rolls Great Britain 
 rapidly passed to the front of all iron-making nations. 
 
 Steel was largely made in England as early as 1609, 
 and most probably in cementation furnaces, the product 
 being known as blister steel and shear steel. The man- 
 ufacture of steel by cementation, however, did not orig- 
 inate in England, but on the continent. In the year 
 mentioned, John Hawes held the site of the Abbey of 
 Robertsbridge in Sussex, upon which were eight steel 
 " furnaces." The invention of crucible cast steel origi- 
 nated with Benjamin Huntsman, an English clock- 
 maker, at Sheffield, in 1740, and not only Sheffield, the 
 principal seat of its manufacture and of the manufacture 
 of all kinds of cutlery, but all England as well was 
 greatly profited by his discovery. 
 
 Percy says of the cementation process, by which 
 until in late years most of the steel of Europe and 
 America was produced : " This is an old process, but 
 little is known of its history. According to Beckmann, 
 there is no allusion to it in the writings of the ancients." 
 Laudrin says: "Germany is also the first country where 
 it was proposed to cement iron. Thence this art came 
 to France, and was introduced at New Castle-on-Tyne, 
 long before it was known at Sheffield, the present center 
 of that fabrication." The word cementation is derived 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 93 
 
 from the former use with charcoal of chemical composi- 
 tions called cements, which were, however, not needed. 
 
 We have, in the preceding pages, traced the early 
 uses and history of iron in the Old World, and will now 
 review briefly its progress in this country. 
 
 In no other part of the American continent has the 
 manufacture of iron ever risen to the dignity of a great 
 national industry, and only in Canada of all the political 
 divisions of North or South America outside of the 
 United States has a serious effort been made to develop 
 native iron resources. Indeed it is only in the northern 
 latitudes in both hemispheres that iron is made in large 
 or even noticeable quantities. This fact is only in part 
 due to geological reasons. Climate and race tendencies 
 have had much to do with the development of the 
 metallurgical and all other productive industries in the 
 belt of the earth's surface above alluded to, and which 
 may well be called the iron-making belt. 
 
 Foster, in his Pre-historic Races of the United States 
 of America, says that " no implement of iron has been 
 found in connection with the ancient civilization of 
 America. " He fully establishes the fact that the mound- 
 builders manufactured copper into various domestic and 
 war-like implements, but adds that the Indians of North 
 America did not use copper in any form, although those 
 of Central and South America did. 
 
 Prescott, the historian of the Conquest of Mexico 
 and Peru, says that the native inhabitants of these 
 
94 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 countries, who were at the time of the conquest the 
 most advanced in all the arts of civilization of the 
 immediate predecessors of the white race in North and 
 South America, were unacquainted with the use of iron, 
 copper serving them as a substitute. 
 
 Our North American Indians were certainly unac- 
 quainted with the use of iron when the Spaniards, the 
 English, the Dutch, and other Europeans first landed on 
 the Atlantic coast. Stone was used, instead of metal, 
 for their tools. The Rev. Dr. Joseph Dodridge ex- 
 pressed the opinion that "at the discovery of America, 
 the Indians knew nothing of the use of iron. Any 
 people who have ever been in the habit of using iron 
 will be sure to leave some indelible traces of its use 
 behind them ; but the aborigines of this country have 
 left none." 
 
 Professor Putnam, of Harvard University, the arch- 
 aeologist, found in the ancient mounds of Ohio masses of 
 meteoric iron and various implements and ornaments 
 made by hammering pieces of meteoric iron. This 
 native iron the ancient people of Ohio used the same as 
 they did native silver or native gold, simply as a malleable 
 metal. None of the peoples, he is confident, understood 
 smelting iron or in any way manufacturing it from iron 
 ore. And it was only after contact with Europeans that 
 the Indian tribes obtained iron in various forms, and in 
 due time learned to heat it and shape it as a blacksmith 
 would do. 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 95 
 
 To North Carolina belongs the distinction of first 
 giving to Europeans the information that iron ore 
 existed within the limits of the United States. The 
 discovery was made in 1585 by the expedition fitted out 
 by Sir Walter Raleigh and commanded by Ralph Lane, 
 which made, on Roanoke Island, in that year, the first 
 attempt to plant an English settlement on the Atlantic 
 coast. Lane and his men explored the country along 
 the Roanoke and on both sides from Elizabeth river to 
 the Neuse. Thomas Harriot, the historian of the 
 colony and the servant of Sir Walter, says that "in two 
 places of the countrey specially, one about foure score 
 and the other six score miles from the fort or place 
 where wee dwelt, wee founde neere the water side the 
 ground to be rockie, which, by the triall of a minerall 
 man was founde to hold iron richly. It is founde in 
 manie places of the countrey else ; I know nothing to the 
 contrarie but that it maie be allowed for a good mar- 
 chantable commoditie, considering there the small 
 charge for the labour and feeding of the men ; the 
 infinite store of wood ; the want of wood and deere- 
 nesse thereof in England ; and the necessity of ballast- 
 ing of shippes." 
 
 No attempt was made to utilize this discovery, as the 
 colonists were in search of gold and not iron. In 1586 
 they quarreled with the Indians and returned to Eng- 
 land. Iron ore was not mined in North Carolina, nor 
 
96 THE A B C OF IRON. 
 
 was iron made within her boundaries until after many 
 other colonies had commenced to make iron. 
 
 The first iron made from American ore was in the 
 year 1608, and the ore came from Virginia. The vessel 
 containing same sailed from Jamestown, and reached 
 England May 2Oth. The ore was smelted and seven- 
 teen tons sold at 4 per ton to the East India Com- 
 pany. 
 
 The first attempt to make iron in this country was 
 by the Virginia Company in 1619. The enterprise was 
 located on Falling creek, a tributary of the James river, 
 which it enters about seven miles below Richmond. 
 The work of establishing the plant was deterred by the 
 death of three of the master workmen, when, in 1621, 
 John Berkley was sent over with his son and twenty 
 experienced workmen. Before their completion, in 
 March, 1622, in an Indian massacre Berkley and all his 
 men were slain and the works destroyed. In 1624 the 
 charter of the Virginia Company was revoked, and thus 
 disastrously ended the first attempt of Europeans to 
 make iron in America. 
 
 The first successful iron works were established in 
 the province of Massachusetts Bay, not far from Lynn, 
 between 1643 an( ^ J 645- The place was at that time 
 called Hammersmith, after a place of that name in Eng- 
 land, from which place several of the principal workmen 
 came. Joseph Jenks prepared molds for the first cast- 
 ings that were made at Lynn. " A small iron pot, 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 97 
 
 capable of containing about one quart," was the first 
 article cast at the furnace. This first iron utensil cast 
 in this country is now in the possession of Messrs. 
 Llewellyn and Arthur Lewis, of Lynn, who are the lineal 
 descendants of Thomas Hudson, the first owner of the 
 lands on Saugus river, on which the iron works were 
 built, and who obtained possession of the pot imme- 
 diately after it was cast. 
 
 With the exception of the blast furnace, which was 
 slowly developed from the high bloomary, and of the 
 cementation process for producing steel, which doubtless 
 originated during the period when the blast furnace was 
 developed, no important improvements in the manufact- 
 ure of iron and steel occurred from the revival of the 
 iron industry in Europe about the beginning of the 
 eighth century until we reach the series of improvements 
 and inventions in the eighteenth century, a period of a 
 thousand years. 
 
 It is about one hundred years since Henry Cort 
 prominently brought the rolling mill and the puddling 
 furnace to the attention of the iron-making world, and 
 scarcely a hundred and fifty years since coke was first 
 successfully used in the blast furnace, and steel was first 
 made in England in crucibles. 
 
 Since Huntsman's invention, which still gives us our 
 best steel, there have been many other improvements in 
 the manufacture of steel, and more recently there has 
 
98 THE ABC OF IRON. 
 
 been a very great relative increase in its production and 
 use as compared with iron, until it has become a 
 hackneyed expression that this is the Age of Steel. 
 While this is true in the sense that steel is replacing 
 iron, it is well to remember that the ancients made steel 
 of excellent quality, and that the art of manufacturing it 
 was never lost, and has never been neglected. The 
 swords of Damascus, and the blades of Toledo bear 
 witness to the skill in the manufacture of steel which 
 existed at an early day in both Asia and Europe. 
 German steel was widely celebrated for its excellence 
 during the middle ages, and steel of the same name, 
 and made by the same process, still occupies an hon- 
 orable place among the metallurgical products. Even 
 Huntsman's invention of the art of making the finest 
 quality of steel in crucibles, while meritorious in itself, 
 was but the reproduction and amplification in a modern 
 age of a process for manufacturing steel of equal quality 
 which was known to the people of India thousands of 
 years ago. 
 
 The ancient and the early European processes for 
 the manufacture of both iron and steel do not compare 
 unfavorably with those of modern times in the quality of 
 the products they yielded. Modern processes excel 
 those which they have replaced more in the uniformity 
 and quantity of their products than in their quality. 
 
 In the present age, mechanical skill of the highest 
 
EARLY HISTORY OF IRON. 99 
 
 order unites with the subtle operations of the chemist 
 to produce iron and steel in such quantities, and with 
 such uniformity of product, as to amaze the student of 
 history, the political economist, the practical statesman, 
 and the man of all wisdom. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Iron What Is It ? 7 
 
 Pig Iron An account of Blast Furnace Process .... 1 1 
 
 Constituents of Iron 20 
 
 Carbon in Cast Iron , 21 
 
 Silicon in Cast Iron 24 
 
 Phosphorus in Cast Iron 29 
 
 Manganese in Cast Iron 31 
 
 Sulphur in Cast Iron 35 
 
 Numbering of Iron 37 
 
 Analyses 4] 
 
 Grading of Iron 43 
 
 How to Reduce Cost of Mixture 46 
 
 Steel Description of Several Processes 49 
 
 Physical Properties of Metals Defined 55 
 
 Shrinkage of Castings 56 
 
 Weights of Castings from Patterns 57 
 
 Table of Tenacities and Resistances 58 
 
 Formula for Mending Castings 59 
 
 Test for Sulphur in Coke 59 
 
 Iron Ores How Classified 61 
 
 vStatistics 62-65 
 
 Pig Iron Growth of Manufacture 66 
 
 Consumption per Capita 67 
 
 Blast Furnace Capacity 68 
 
 Production by States 70 
 
 (100) 
 
PAGE. 
 
 Steel Production 70 
 
 " Production of each Variety 71 
 
 Steel Rail Production 72 
 
 Iron and Steel World's Production 74 
 
 Iron Ore World's Production 74 
 
 Coal World's Production 74 
 
 Production of Leading Articles in Iron and Steel .... 75 
 
 Grand Summary 77 
 
 Railroads Mileage 77 
 
 Rolling Stock 77 
 
 ;' Assets and Liabilities 78 
 
 Mileage by Years 79 
 
 Mileage by States So 
 
 Miles of Iron and Steel Rails 81 
 
 Early History and Manufacture of Iron 83-99 
 
 (101) 
 
CLASSIFIED BUSINESS DIRECTORY. 
 
 IRON ORE. 
 
 PICKANDS, BROWN & CO 1 16 
 
 PICKANDS, MATHER & CO 116 
 
 COKE. 
 
 L. E. OVERMAN & CO -. 115 
 
 COKE AND COAL. 
 
 L. E. OVERMAN & CO 115 
 
 GEO. H. HULL & CO 107 
 
 E. B. BLANDY 118 
 
 COPPER. 
 
 CRAMER BURT. . , 105 
 
 STEEL. 
 
 E. B. BLANDY 1 18 
 
 IRON AND STEEL FOUNDERS. 
 
 THE CONGDON BRAKE SHOE CO 108 
 
 FOUNDRY SUPPLIES. 
 
 S. OBERMAYER & CO 109 
 
 MILLINGTON WHITE SAND CO 104 
 
 CHICAGO FOUNDRY SUPPLY CO :... 113 
 
 DETROIT FOUNDRY EQUIPMENT CO.... in 
 
 F. B. STEVENS 116 
 
 (102) 
 
CUPOLAS, CRANES, ETC. 
 
 DETROIT FOUNDRY EQUIPMENT CO. ... 1 1 1 
 
 FOUNDRY PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE IRON AGE 114 
 
 THE FOUNDRY no 
 
 HISTORY OF IRON IN ALL AGES 112 
 
 PIG IRON. 
 
 CRAMER & BURT 105 
 
 PICKANDS, BROWN & CO 1 16 
 
 GEO.-H. HULL & CO 107 
 
 FOSTER, BACKMAN & HAWES . .op. Title Page. 
 
 E. B. BLANDY 118 
 
 PiCKANDS, MATHER & CO 116 
 
 DUNHAM, KEEDY & CO 104 
 
 IROOUOIS FURNACE CO op. Title Page. 
 
 GAYLORD IRON CO 108 
 
 PENINSULAR IRON CO 113 
 
 OHIO IRON AND STEEL CO 106 
 
 PINE LAKE IRON CO 104 
 
 F. B. STEVENS 116 
 
 BLAST FURNACES. 
 
 OHIO IRON AND STEEL CO 106 
 
 IROQUOIS FURNACE CO op. Title Page. 
 
 PENINSULAR IRON CO 113 
 
 GAYLORD IRON CO 108 
 
 PINE LAKE IRON CO 104 
 
 (103) 
 
PINE LAKE IRON COMPANY, 
 "Champion" 
 
 LflKE SUPERIOR CHflRCOflL PIQ IRON, 
 
 No. 655 THE ROOKERY, 
 
 R. M. CHERRIE, President. /^l_ll^A<~r> II I 
 
 H. C. DOLPH, Treasurer. OMIUALlU, ILL. 
 
 A. H. DUNHAM. D. V. Ki:i:m. 
 
 DUNHAM, KEEDY & CO,, 
 JPig Iron, 
 
 939 Rookery, CHICAGO. 
 
 TELEPHONE 695. 
 
 MILLINGTON WHITE SAND CO, 
 
 SAND FOR OFFICE: 
 
 126 WASHINGTON STREET, 
 ROOM 43, 
 
 FURNACES, 
 
 [ocoM A o S T r E "o CHICAGO. 
 
 PLASTERERS' SAND. 
 
 MINE AT MILLINGTON, KENDALL COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 
 
 (104) 
 
AMBROSE CRAMKR. CHARLES S. BURT. 
 
 PHENIX BUILDING, 
 CLARK AND JACKSON STREETS, 
 
 Chicago, 111. 
 
 / 
 
 Pig Iron, 
 
 Ingot Copper, 
 
 Sheet Copper, 
 Spelter, 
 
 Iron Ores, 
 
 Wire t^ope 
 
 (05) 
 
THOS. H. WELLS, President. 
 JOHN C. WICK, Vice-President. 
 
 F. H. WICK, Treasurer. 
 
 R. BENTLEY, Sec'y and Gen'l Mgr, 
 
 MARY FURNACE 
 
 THE 
 
 Ohio Iron & Steel Co. 
 
 LOWELL VILLE, OHIO, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF PIC IRON. 
 
 SPECIALTY: 
 
 AMERICAN SCOTCH FOUNDRY IRON. 
 BRAND, MARY OHIO SCOTCH. 
 
 THE OHIO IRON & STEEL CO, 
 
 Believing the trade will be interested in 
 the great progress made in producing in 
 the United States a Foundry Iron in every 
 respect equal to the Imported Scotch, we 
 give herewith comparative analyses of four 
 well-known brands of Imported Scotch and 
 our No. i Mary Ohio Scotch Foundry Iron. 
 We challenge comparison of these analy- 
 ses. Many inferior Irons are to-day being 
 put on the market and called "Ohio Scotch" 
 Foundry, and in many cases have been sold 
 to our customers with intent to deceive. 
 
 Please ask for "Mary Ohio Scotch," and 
 see that you get it ; and demand an analy- 
 sis with every order, if you are in doubt. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 THE OHIO IRON & STEEL CO., 
 
 NO. 1 M 
 
 Metallic Iron 
 Silicon .... 
 Graphite . . 
 Combined Car 
 
 ARY ( 
 
 HIO SCOTCH 
 
 92.01 
 3-15 
 2.97 
 
 .25 
 
 bon . . 
 
 
 
 Phosphorus . 
 Sulphur 
 
 
 
 
 425 
 
 .018 
 
 
 
 
 
 1. 20 
 
 
 
 
 
 100.023 
 
 IMPORTED 
 
 SCOTCH. 
 
 
 Colt- 
 
 OU-nw 
 
 Cum- 
 
 loam 
 
 Metallic Iron 
 
 9'-34 
 
 800 
 
 90-65 
 
 92.177 
 
 Silicon . . . 
 
 2-93 
 
 2 021 
 
 2-93 
 
 1.68 
 
 Graphite . . 
 
 3-M 
 
 2.147 
 
 290 
 
 2.99 
 
 Comb. Carbon 
 
 . .40 
 
 
 .76 
 
 75 
 
 Phosphorus . 
 
 . .628 
 
 1. 121 
 
 1. 12 
 
 .642 
 
 Sulphur . . . 
 
 . .048 
 
 C37 
 
 03 
 
 .021 
 
 Manganese . 
 
 . 1.08 
 
 J-9>5 
 
 I-5I 
 
 1.74 
 
 Copper . . . 
 Titanium . . 
 
 
 
 $ 
 
 
 
 99.566 
 
 99.921 
 
 IOO.OO IOO.OO 
 
 A < : i : ;v i .-* s 
 
 Piekands, Brown & Co., Chicago, 111. 
 
 Piekands, fflathep & Co., Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
 N. S. BaFtlett & Co., Boston and Nem York. 
 
 (106) 
 
PIG ifrofl. COK;E 
 
 m 
 GEO, H, HULL S Co,, 
 
 LOUISVILLE, KY. 
 
 BRANCHES: 
 
 44 WALL STREET, 201 EAST GERMAN STREET, 
 
 NEW YORK. BALTIMORE. 
 
 22 LACLEDE BUILDING, 556 THE ROOKERY, 
 
 ST. LOUIS. CHICAGO. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED. 
 
 \Ve are specially prepared to help out found- 
 ers -who are having trouble with their mixtures. 
 
 Our aim is to furnish only material of su- 
 perior quality. 
 
 COAL,. 
 
 (107) 
 
GAYLORD IRON CO, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 Lal^e ^uperioi 1 Charcoal pig toon 
 
 Special attention given to the manufacture of Iron 
 for malleable purposes. 
 
 (108) 
 
THE LARGEST AND MOST RELIABLE FOUNDRY 
 SUPPLY HOUSE IN THE WORLD. 
 
 THE S OBERMAYER COMPANY, 
 
 , OHIO, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS 
 
 poundry pacings, 
 
 India Silver L eac * 
 
 and Plumbago, 
 
 AND GENERAL 
 
 FOUNDRY SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENTS, 
 
 Molders' Tools, Fire Brick, Cupola Blocks, Etc. 
 
 We keep in stock and MANUFACTURE everything needed in 
 Brass or Iron Foundry (except metal and fuel). 
 
 WRITE FOR CATALOGUE. No Charge for TRIAL Samples. 
 
 (109) 
 
THE FOUNDRY 
 
 A MONTHLY TRADE JOURNAL, 
 
 Published on the Tenth of each Month and Devoted to the Inter 
 ests of the whole 
 
 Foundry Business. 
 
 THE RECOGNIZED ORGAN OF THE 
 
 STOVE, BENCH, MACHINERY, STEEL, CAR AND 
 BRASS FOUNDRY INTERESTS. 
 
 On the mixing, melting and the most improved methods of molding and 
 
 pouring metals of all kinds, by the most able writers on Foundry 
 
 subjects, will be found, from time to time, in its columns. 
 
 Every Foundry Proprietor. Superintendent, Foreman, Holder, Melter 
 
 and Core-maker should take it if he desires to keep 
 
 abreast of the times. 
 
 Subscription Rates, $1.OO per year. 
 
 Single Copies, - 1O cents. 
 
 Clubs of eight or more may have "The Foundry" mailed to 
 their addresses for seventy-five cents per year. 
 
 THE POUCHY PUBLISHING COfflPflflY, 
 
 172 Griswold Street, DETROIT, MICH. 
 
 (no) 
 
DETROIT FODRDRY EHUIPH1ENT GO. 
 
 OFFICE AND WORKS : Cor. Michigan Ayenne and D. & B. C. R. R. 
 CHICAGO : 62 West Jacteon street. NEW YORK : 47|Cedar Street. 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 THE WHITING PATENT CUPOLA. 
 
 Am Established Success ! lit ust all over the Country I Made In Tuiehe Sizes ! 
 
 The Most Economical and Substantial Cupola Made , 
 
 Jib and Traveling. Hand and Power. 
 
 r^AorvEjs. 
 
 Geared, Hand and Reservoir Ladles of all Sizes and Capacities. 
 
 Tumblers. Trucks, Sand Sifters, Foundry Elevators, Etc. 
 
 Sole makers of WHITING'S PATENT CAR, WHEEL, FOUNDRY SYSTEM 
 and complete Foundry Outfits. Write for Estimates. 
 
 (in) 
 
MamlMHreoflroninflllflgBS, 
 
 AND PARTICULARLY IN THE UNITED STATES FROM COLONIAL TIMES TO 1891. 
 
 ALSO A SHORT HISTORY OP EARLY COAL MINING IN THE UNITED STATES, AND A FULL ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE INFLUENCES WHICH LONG DELAYED THE DEVELOPMENT OF ALL 
 
 AMERICAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, 
 
 JVJ. 
 
 Secretary and General Manager of The American Iron and Steel Association for Twenty Years, from 1872 to 1892. 
 
 In One Volume, Royal Octavo, 574 Pages, Large Type, Good Paper, Well Printed, 
 Best Cloth Binding, Gilt Title. 
 
 SECOND EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED. 
 
 Sold Only at the Office of the American Iron and Steel Association. 
 
 PRICE, SEVEN DOLLHRS HND FIFTY CENTS. 
 
 I now offer to Iron and Steel Manufacturers, the officers of Public 
 Libraries and others, a second edition of this work in a handsome volume 
 of 574 pages, including 132 pages of historical details not found in the 
 first edition. The whole book has been printed from new type. 
 
 It is respectfully suggested, in order to save correspondence, that 
 orders for the History be accompanied by checks or money orders, payable 
 to my order. The book will be forwarded promptly, encased in a paper 
 box. It will be sent at my cost for expressage or postage, and care will be 
 taken that it be received in good condition. It is now ready for delivery. 
 
 Address. JAMES M. SWANK, 
 
 No. 261 South Fourth Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
 
 (112) 
 
T. H. EATON, President. ROBERT I,EETE, Vice-Pres't. 
 
 SOLON HURT, Sec'v and Treas. 
 
 THE PEfllJiSUltflH IHOJI GO. 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 Charcoal Pig Iron 
 
 FOR CAR WHEEL, MALLEABLE & FOUNDRY USE, 
 
 FROM LAKE SUPERIOR ORES, 
 DETROIT, MICH. 
 
 Peerless Facing Mills. 
 
 Our manufactures are Peerless in all that this word implies. Specialists 
 
 and Experts in the manufacture of such materials as will aid in 
 
 producing the Finest, Brightest and Smoothest Castings. 
 
 PARTICULAR ATTENTION PAID TO STOVE PLATE AND RETURN FACINGS. 
 
 We are originators of the best STOVE PLATE FACINGS now In use. 
 
 DIRECT IMPORTERS AND REFINERS OF 
 
 Silver Leads, Graphite or Plumbago, 
 
 FOUNDRY FACINGS, BLACKINGS AND FOUNDRY SUPPLIES. 
 IRON AND BRASS FOUNDRIES COMPLETELY EQUIPPED. 
 
 No ('barer for Trial Sample-.. Send fur Illiislrnlril Catalogue and Fritr I.W. 
 
 THE CH1CRGO FOUNDRY SUPPLY CO., CHICRGO, ILL. 
 
 8 (H3) 
 
THE IRON AGE. 
 
 A Heviem of the Hardware, ip n and Metal Trades. 
 
 PUBLISHED WEEKLY, SEMI-MONTHLY AND MONTHLY. 
 
 The position of THE IRON AGE is indicated in these facts: 
 
 It has for thirty-eight years been a leader among trade journals, and 
 is the representative paper of the Iron and Steel, Hardware and Metal 
 interests. 
 
 It has grown from a four-page sheet, with few advertisements, until 
 its weekly issue contains from forty-five to sixty pages of reading matter, 
 and from one hundred to one hundred and fifty pages of advertisements. 
 
 Its editorial contents have kept pace with the progress of manufacture 
 and the needs of the trade, each issue having important illustrated articles, 
 special contributions, telegraph and cable advices, etc. 
 
 It circulates in all parts of the country and in foreign lands, having 
 a greater circulation at home and abroad than the combined circulation 
 of all of its competitors. 
 
 The reason for its great circulation is, that without regard to expense 
 the publisher endeavors to make the paper useful to its readers, adding 
 new features as the need or opportunity may suggest. 
 
 SUBSCRIPTION RATES. 
 
 Weekly Edition, issued every Thursday morning, $4.50 a Year. 
 
 Semi-Monthly Edition, first and third Thursdays, with the 
 Hardware Bulletin for the second, fourth and fifth 
 Thursdays, . 2.30 a Year. 
 
 Monthly Edition, first Thursday in the month, with the 
 Hardware Bulletin for the second, third, fourth and fifth 
 Thursdays, 1.15 a Year. 
 
 ("4) 
 
L. K. OVERMAN. W. J. COOK. 
 
 L.E. OVERMAN & CO., 
 
 138 JACKSON STREET, 
 
 PHEN.X BU.LD.NG. CHICAGO, 
 
 GENERAL SALES AGENTS FOR THE 
 
 McClure Coke Co. 
 
 PITTSBURGH, PA., 
 
 AND SHIPPERS OF THE HIGHEST GRADES OF 
 
 Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois 
 
 The product of the McClure Coke Co.'s ovens is exclusively from the 
 famous Connellsville vein of Coal, and is of the highest standard of 
 excellence for Foundry purposes (for which they burn 72-hour coke 
 only), and for Blast Furnace use. The makers of the highest grades of 
 iron and steel produced in the world are using the "McClure" Coke, 
 because of its evenness and reliability. We gladly quote delivered prices, 
 and will make every effort to fulfill the wishes of consumers of Coke, if 
 they will tell us of their wants. 
 
 L. E. OVERMAN < CO., 
 
 138 Jackson St., Phenix Building:. 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 ("5) 
 
ERE is a little girl who has just realized 
 that her doll is stuffed with saw-dust. 
 Many a man realizes the same fact too 
 late in life to recoup. To keep out of the 
 saw-dust of business worry and annoyance, 
 take care in buying. The sub- 
 scriber carries an extensive line 
 of Pig Iron suitable for any 
 mixture, Facings and Black- 
 ings of superior quality, Fire 
 Brick, Cupola Blocks, Mold- 
 ing Sand our own pits and a complete line of Shovels, Riddles 
 and Brushes. In short, we are in the Foundry Supply business. 
 
 F. B. STEVENS, 
 
 74 Griswold Street, 
 
 WAREHOUSE: HFTROIT MICH 
 
 1 1 and 1 3 Atwater Street West. ' ! ' ' 
 
 PICKANDS, BROWN & Co., 
 PIG IRON AND IRON ORE, 
 
 1007, 1009 AND 101 I ROOKERY BUILDING, 
 
 CHICAGO. 
 
 PICKANDS, MATHER & Co., 
 
 Western Reserve Building, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
 
 -%*-%> 
 
 WHEELER KURNACE COMPANY. 
 
 (116) 
 
When you 
 get this 
 
 Imprint on your Lithographing or Printing 
 
 We'll guarantee the work has been well done 
 
 It's good. 
 
 We are thoroughly equipped. Our work is as good as that 
 of the best houses in the United States. 
 
 When you need anything in our line Fine Lithographing, 
 Wood or Process Engraving, Printing, Binding, Electrotyping 
 let us give you an estimate. You will find our prices reason- 
 able, and our work FIRST CLASS. Our address is 334-338 
 West Green Street, Louisville, Ky. 
 
 (117) 
 
Pig Iron 
 
 Steel 
 
 STRUCTURAL 
 IRON AND STEEL 
 
 Blooms 
 
 E. B. BliflflDY, 
 
 201 
 
 EAST GERMAN ST., 
 
 Baltimore, - Md. 
 
 Billets 
 
 Correspondence Solicited for 
 All Kinds of IRON and STEEL PRODUCTS, 
 CAR WORKS and RAILROAD SUPPLIES. 
 
 Iron Ore 
 
 Coke 
 
 (118) 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
A 000 586 91 1