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By W. J. Taylor

FURNACE-MEN who have not taken advantage of the use of dynamite in certain blast-furnace troubles, as explained by Mr. Witherbee in his valuable papers read before the Institute some years since, cannot appreciate the quick relief and great advantage that may be derived at times from its judicious employment. Before giving my experience in the use of high explosives in blastfurnace troubles of certain kinds, I will record a method I have used with marked success in " blowing down." Had I not understood, however, the use of powder, I would have " salamandered " effectually the first time I tried it. Early in my straight-furnace experiments, last summer, at the Chester, N. J., Furnace, I wanted to blow down to within 3 or 4 feet of the tuyeres. To do this with a down-comer not lined, and without putting in any limestone to keep the gases cool enough to do no harm, was not an easy task. We could keep the bell and hopper cool by filling them with water, say 12 inches deep; but before we got the stock down 15 or 20 feet the pyrometer in the gas-flue on top mas up to 1300°, and the clowncomer was red-hot, with the heat still rising. In this emergency my assistant, Mr. N. M. Langdon, urged the trial of a plan lie had often advocated, viz., the introduction of water in some way under the bell in the proper quantity, in order that its evaporation might absorb and reduce the heat of the escaping gases to a point where it would not do any harm. He thought the bell

Jan 1, 1885

By Howard R. Hughes

In drilling for water and oil to reasonable depths through the generally soft yielding clay and sand formation of the Coastal Plain of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the rotating method of drilling was adopted, principally on account of the easy and quick penetration, and the low cost of the drilling plant. In favorable ground, free of heavy gravel and rock strata, as much as 1,600 ft. has been drilled in less than 36 hr., although such performances were of course rare. Hydraulic rotary drilling, or, as it is now called, rotary drilling, was used in the above States as early as 1880. The plant consisted of an ordinary derrick, a 25-h.p. boiler, a small hoist, a steam pump, and a water swivel with hose attachment, and an ordinary flat diamond-pointed bit. The successful drilling in of a phenomenal oil well by this process on Spindletop, near Beaumont, Texas, on Jan. 10, 1901, and the ascertained impracticability of drilling subsequent wells in the same locality by other methods (owing principally to heavy quicksand under pressure from below), brought rotary drilling into great prominence, practically to the exclusion of any other process throughout the Coastal Plain, and later on elsewhere. The method, as its name implies, involves the rotation of a pipe by means of machinery placed on the derrick floor. A drill bit attached to the lower end cuts a clearance for the drill pipe, with much the same motion and effect as an auger. Water forced through the drill pipe by means of a pump, and escaping through the bit, removes the cuttings and returns to the surface outside the drill pipe. In this manner the hole is kept open, permitting the drill stem to rotate freely. The pressure of the column of muddy water holds up the walls of the hole until it has been cased. Practically all the wells of the Gulf coast region, numbering nearly 10,000, have been drilled with this system. During the last five years its use has been extended to many other States and countries.

Jan 1, 1915

The Iron and Steel Committee of the American Institute, of mining and Metallurgical Engineers held a joint session with the American Foundrymen's Association during the Annual Meeting of the Institute in February, 1928, for the purpose of discussing blast-furnace operations and the character of pig iron and castings. Dr. Richard Moldenke presided. H.. H. Sweetser, who was named on the program as the presiding officer of the session, was unable to be present, but sent a letter in which he said: " The meeting we had here last year and the meeting held in Chicago last June showed a desire on the part of blast-furnace men and users of pig iron to get the facts regarding the influence on castings made from pig iron produced in blast furnaces under varying conditions of temperature, mixture and local furnace operations. It has been my hope that at this Round Table we might he able to formulate a series of tests that, would give us the desired information. "Several independent blast-furnace investigations have. been, and still are being, carried on in different sections of the country. The furnaces investigated include a southern furnace, a middle-west furnace, a western furnace and a Chicago district furnace. The results so far show distinct characteristics for each of the four furnaces. It is possible that a furnace in the eastern part of the United States would be different from all the others. "It is hoped that a plan of action can be worked out at your meeting today whereby the IT. S. Bureau of Mines will be able, to carry on more extensive work in connection with the research departments of the different iron and steel companies and the big consumers of pig iron. "No one group can get all of the, information but if the different investigations can be coordinated it will he possible for us to (Iran. conclusions regarding the effects of varying conditions in blast-furnace practice on the pig iron produced and the castings made there from." DISCUSSION R. Moldenke, Watehung, N. J.—I was across the -water this summer and saw some of those interested in an investigation of this kind. 'I'hey told me that in Germany, where they had a joint committee of blast-furnace operators and foundry-

By W. S. Ayres

I. Introduction. This cavern was discovered Oct. 32,1904, by Mr. Charles 8. Deutschman, in company with whom I made, May 29 to June 3,1905, at the request of Mr. Howard Douglas, Superintendent of the Canadian National Parks, the first exploration of it for the Canadian government. The results were stated in a paper, orally presented, with lantern-views from my photographs, at the British Columbia Meeting of the Institute, Victoria, B. C., July 5, 1905.* The present paper embodies also the results of a second examination, made Oct. 25 to 29, 1905. The accompanging map, Fig. 1, will serve as a guide to the following description. 11. Location. The cavern is situated at snow-line, at the head-waters of Cougar creek, on the west slopes of the Selkirks, about 2 miles north from Ross Peak water-tank, and 5.5 miles west from Glacier station, on the main line of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was then reached by an arduous climb from the water-tank, up the ravine of Cougar creek, for 8,000 ft. (2,000 ft. of altitude) over rock- and snow-slides, and through a thick tangle of alders. But an easy and very picturesque trail has, during the past summer, been opened by the government from Glacier station, which is also a hotel of the railway company. Figs. 3, 3 and 4 represent views, not heretofore published, of the grand scenery of this region, so rapidly becoming the object of attraction to thousands of tourists from all parts of the world. These views, as well as those shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7, 8

Jan 1, 1908

By C. D. Woodward

ThE subject of elcctric signals for the despatching of mining cagey through shafts has received cousiderable attention recently from various mining companies. The Anaconda Copper Mining Co. has found it necessary to develop a system that is rcliable, safe and simple in operation, and easy to repair. The movement of all mine cages or skips is under the direction of a station tender, who rides on the cages when men or supplies are being lowered or raised; when ore is hoisted, he is stationed at a skip pocket for loading and despatching the skips. For the station tender's use, two signal systems are installed in cach hoisting compartment, and he is the only employee authorized to use them. One system is known as the "AC " or station bells, as it is operated from the 110-volt, 60-cycle, power service; the other system, called the "DC" or shaft bells, takes its energy from closed-circuit primary batteries. As a supplemcnt to the two main signals, a buzzer system is installed The general arrangement is similar to the main signal, except that there is a mine buzzer at each station. When a signal switch connected into the buzzer system is pulled down, all buzzers arc operated, thus notifying the station tender that he is wanted at seine particular level. Placed on the station posts, and within easy reach of the men on the cages are the signal pull switches for the main signals. The station, or "AC," pull switches are furnished with a short rope as shown in Fig. I, while the shaft, or "DC," pull switches are equipped with ropes that extend down the shaft past the next station. To avoid all confusion in the use of the three signal systems, a standard arrangement has been adopted in all mines for the location of the pull switches. Fig 2 illustrates the position of the pull switch at the various mine stations for the main signal systems, but it does not show the buzzer pull switch; this is fixed to the roof timbers about 25 ft. back from the shaft. If the skip pockets are a considerable distance below the station, a pull switch for each main shaft compartment is connected to the "AC" system and placed at this point. However, if the distance is short, a light cord is attached to the station pull switches and dropped down to the skip pocket.

Jan 1, 1923

By C. D. Woodward

ThE subject of elcctric signals for the despatching of mining cagey through shafts has received cousiderable attention recently from various mining companies. The Anaconda Copper Mining Co. has found it necessary to develop a system that is rcliable, safe and simple in operation, and easy to repair. The movement of all mine cages or skips is under the direction of a station tender, who rides on the cages when men or supplies are being lowered or raised; when ore is hoisted, he is stationed at a skip pocket for loading and despatching the skips. For the station tender's use, two signal systems are installed in cach hoisting compartment, and he is the only employee authorized to use them. One system is known as the "AC " or station bells, as it is operated from the 110-volt, 60-cycle, power service; the other system, called the "DC" or shaft bells, takes its energy from closed-circuit primary batteries. As a supplemcnt to the two main signals, a buzzer system is installed The general arrangement is similar to the main signal, except that there is a mine buzzer at each station. When a signal switch connected into the buzzer system is pulled down, all buzzers arc operated, thus notifying the station tender that he is wanted at seine particular level. Placed on the station posts, and within easy reach of the men on the cages are the signal pull switches for the main signals. The station, or "AC," pull switches are furnished with a short rope as shown in Fig. I, while the shaft, or "DC," pull switches are equipped with ropes that extend down the shaft past the next station. To avoid all confusion in the use of the three signal systems, a standard arrangement has been adopted in all mines for the location of the pull switches. Fig 2 illustrates the position of the pull switch at the various mine stations for the main signal systems, but it does not show the buzzer pull switch; this is fixed to the roof timbers about 25 ft. back from the shaft. If the skip pockets are a considerable distance below the station, a pull switch for each main shaft compartment is connected to the "AC" system and placed at this point. However, if the distance is short, a light cord is attached to the station pull switches and dropped down to the skip pocket.

Jan 1, 1923

By David White

Jan 1, 1925

By C. H. Green

Recently two papers on the structure of eutectics were read before thc British Institute of Metals, one by F. L. Bradyl and the other by A. Portevin. 2 In the preparation of photomicrographs of laboratory specimens as illustrations for student work, and in connection with various researches, the writer has been working along the same line for some time and, therefore, was much interested in the results given, especially those of Portevin. He has correlated the information on the subject and has outlined a broad scientific basis for future work along this line. It is largely with the idea of adding something by way of illustration to the work already done that this paper is written. The eutectic is generally understood to mean the alloy having the lowest melting point of any alloy of the system, and in which the melt becomes supersaturated with reference to the two or more phases which separate out simultaneously or alternately. From the surface pattern, the eutectic means a structure with no primary crystals. It is not always easy to get the exact eutectic composition in making any alloy; in fact, a slight range in composition may be expected and some of the coarser particles may be richer in either of the composing metals. Even when chemical analysis shows the right composition, differences in density of the pure metals may cause segregation, or supercooling resulting from different crystallizing properties may give a surface pattern the appearance of being on one side of the eutectic point. However, the alloys on either side of the eutectic composition, showing primary crystals of one of the phases and the effect of the proeutectic form on the surface pattern of the eutectic make a very interesting study, which is slightly touched upon in this paper. The phases, or microconstituents, of a eutectic may be pure metals (Pb-Sb, Tl-Au), solid solutions (Cd-Zn), a pure metal and a solid solution (Ag-Sn), or a pure metal or solid solution with an intermetallic compound (Sb-Mg, Sb-Cu, As-Cu, Bi-Te, etc.).

Jan 1, 1925

By Henry Wurtz

Jan 1, 1880

By James Humes

The active mines in the Park City district at the present time are the Silver King Coalition, Daly-Judge, Daly West, and Silver King Consolidated. Several other companies, such as the Daly, American Flag, Ontario, etc., are doing considerable development work. In the Silver King Coalition mines the ore is a replacement of a dark siliceous limestone bed, varying in .thickness from 18 in. to several feet. In places the ore has reached a thickness of 25 ft. This limestone bed lies within 100 ft. of the underlying Weber quartzite. There are other lime beds, similar in appearance to this one, in the Park City formation, which is approximately 700 ft. thick; but not one of them has been found to contain any traces of ore. Directly under and in contact with the ore-bearing bed is another, composed of gray lime well studded with dark concretionary nodules; and this one is an unfailing indication of the proximity of the ore-bearing bed. These ore deposits make out from or have connection with some one of the ore-bearing fissures, which were undoubtedly the channels for the circulation of mineral-bearing solutions. It is therefore proper to run prospecting drifts in the fissures, although they seldom contain much ore. As a general rule, drifting in the fissures is not costly. Mining and mucking cost from $2.50 to $4 per foot, and very little timber is required. There are instances, as in the Daly fissure in the Daly-Judge mine, where the expense of keeping drifts open in the fissure is so great that it has proved economical to make the drifts in the foot-wall rock and run crosscuts into the fissure at short intervals. In the Park City mines it is not easy to determine beforehand the best method fir extracting the ore from a newly discovered ore shoot in the bedded deposits. While we may get one dimension from the drift run in the fissure, that will not give us a correct idea as to the other dimensions of the orebody. The fissures here referred to have a N. 35" E.

Jan 1, 1915

By A. C. Veatch

Jan 1, 1921

By Virgil R. D. Kirkham

NoRth America has for many years led the world in phosphate production, but with development of African deposits and their marketing conditions with respect to European countries, this leadership will shortly pass to Africa. Algeria, Egypt, Tunis, and Morocco have large phosphate reserves and a correspondingly large production because of easy mining and a ready European market, which was developed during the war. An increase in home consumption is destined to develop for the eastern American fields, and the countries of the Pacific will provide a market for the western producers. New processes indicate a decrease in fertilizer costs, which will encourage a more widespread domestic use and assure better marketing conditions. The African deposits, although benefited by a water haul, have the disadvantage of being isolated from a source of acid so that the crude rock is shipped from Africa to its destination, whereas in the United States the chief product shipped is acidulated rock or various types of superphosphatic fertilizers, The principal types of phosphate deposits used in the manufacture of fertilizers are guanos, apatite, phosphatic marl, phosphatic limestone, phosphatic shale, and phosphate rock which is also known as phosphorite. Some of these deposits are found on each of the continents; Table 1 gives their occurrence, age, location, character, extent, etc. Most of the information found in this table represents a compilation of information published elsewhere in a different form and widely scattered.

Jan 1, 1925

By G. B. Pryde, R. M. Magraw

In laying out a new mine, provision should be made for the ultimate recovery of as much coal in any given bed as is consistent with safety and economic mining. Though each mining district, if not each individual mine, has problems that make the adoption of any hard and fast rule impossible, certain basic principles are adapted to practically all conditions. One of the most vital is the provision for barrier pillars of ample dimensions to protect all haulage and permanent airways during the life of the property. Where conditions permit, room or butt entries should be driven on the strike or slightly to the rise, and rooms turned at right angles to these entries. The width of rooms and room pillars is governed by conditions prevailing in the mines under consideration. A safe rule is: In advancing, extract not more than 25 to 35 per cent. of the entire seam; in exceptionally thick seams, considerably less than 25 per cent. should be taken. Rooms usually vary in length from 250 to 350 ft. (76 to 106 m.) with a barrier pillar of not less than 80 ft. between the last crosscut. in rooms and the back entry of the level above. All entries, rooms, and entry-and-room crosscuts should be driven .on sights and room crosscuts should be driven at, right angles to the direction of the rooms. In mines under excessively heavy cover or where roof conditions are bad, rooms should be driven narrow and a barrier pillar left at every fifth to tenth room. This barrier should be of such dimensions that one or more rooms, with pillars of usual dimensions, may be turned through it when the barrier is no longer required. Two of the advantages of such a barrier are the protection of the panel against peaking of roof load during pillar extraction and the easy closing of the entry in case of fire. Where economic conditions permit, it is preferable to follow the retreating panel system of mining. In the case of coal that outcrops, and even in cases where no outcrop is exposed, it is preferable to commence pillar extracting on the high side of the mine. Where the retreating

Jan 1, 1922

By Charles T. Malcomson

In the United States, improvements in methods of combustion have made possible the use of the smaller sizes of anthracite. This coal is now being reclaimed from the culm banks accumulated by the miners in the more prodigal years. To-day the freshly mined "slush" is segrega,ted and stored against the time when, through briquetting or some other means, it may be utilized as a commercial fuel. For many years Europe has achieved enviable results in the conservation of her small coal by briquetting. This profitable industry, first placed on a commercial basis in France in 1842, has grown to such magnitude that the production during 1913 exceeded 36,000,000 short tons. Briquets produced in Great Britain are used principally for steam purposes and the greater part of the output is either exported or taken by the Admiralty. On the Continent the briquets are sold in all branches of the coal trade. The French railways consume from 16 to 40 per cent. of their fuel in briquet form, and in Germany the lignite briquets (of which 20,000,000 tons were produced in 1913) are as familiar and interesting to the American traveler as the huge porcelain stoves in which they are burned. It is not strange, therefore, that aggressive and far-sighted promoters heralded this means of converting our ubiquitous coal waste into revenue. To the superficial student the briquetting process seemed so simple as to make success easy. It is for this reason principally that the path of the industry in America has been strewn with failures. The rash enthusiast had either not worked out the mechanical problems involved or had failed to grasp the local conditions under which the briquets must be made and sold. It may be confidently stated, however, that in spite of the many vicissitudes through which it has passed, coal briquetting is now an accomplished economic success in this country, and as a profitable adjunct to the coal industry it has come to stay. Several valuable contributions relating to coal briquetting are found in the Transactions. Charles Dorrance, Jr., has sketched briefly the history of the anthracite briquetting plants from the time of Loiseau's pioneer plant down to that of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Co. at Lans-ford. Since then this phase of the industry has remained practically at

Jan 1, 1915

By H. N. Eavenson

The eleven mines of the United States Coal and Coke Co. in the Pocahontas coal field are situated in McDowell County, W. Va., which is a mountainous region. The valleys rarely exceed 200 ft. (60 m.) in width, the hillsides slope from 25°to 33°, and the tops, from 600 to 900 ft. above the valleys, carry practically no level land. At least 80 per cent. of the area is covered with timber. All the workings are drift mines; and while the average grades of the seams worked are ample for drainage, local dips and swamps necessitate the use of a large number of local pumps or of numerous drainage ditches to keep the mines free from water during heavy rains. The water handled in any mine is not great, compared with the coal output, and usually causes little trouble except during extremely wet periods. In new workings, the water encountered, except in rare cases, is trifling; it is only after rib drawing has started and the surface has been broken that water troubles begin. The strata overlying the coal are sandstone, shales, and slates; as the soil is thin and sandy, it does not tend to puddle and stop the cracks, which remain open for a long time. As mining progresses and the robbed area increases, the broken area becomes larger, increasing the openings into the mined territory. The cover over the robbed portions of the mines varies from 30 to 750 ft. (9 to 228 m.). When the ground is saturated, considerable water finds its way into the mines the day after a heavy rainfall and for three or four days it tends to fill the low places, wash the tracks, etc. and unless from three to four times as many pumps are installed as are normally needed, considerable output is lost. In most cases the water will flow from the mines, and the obvious solution is to provide drainage ditches of ample size to carry the maximum flow expected, so that the inflow will have no opportunity to flood the working places. Laying out the drainage headings on the proper average grades was an easy matter but where blasting was necessary to provide uniform grades, as was frequently the case, it was important that the maximum flow to be expected and the size of ditches to be provided should be known so that only rock work necessary to provide proper drainage

Jan 1, 1922

By H. S. George

On one occasion when it seemed desirable to reveal under the microscope not only the metallic structure of an alloy, but certain small non-metallic inclusions that are ordinarily obliterated by etching, it was discovered that, by partly eclipsing the illuminating pencil of light rays, the residual light was thrown on the object from one side and the structure was brought out in relief. At the same time, the non-metallic inclusions were retained in clear view. In this first demonstration of lighting obliquely through the objective a card was thrust part way into the light beam between the arc iris and the light filter; the shadow of the card on the filter served to locate its position. Next several stiff-paper disks of various diameters were mounted on flexible wires; some plasticine on the other end of the wires made it easy to adjust and maintain a disk at any desired position in the light beam. To facilitate manipulation, an assortment of disks was mounted on a wheel, as shown in Fig. 1. The purpose of partly eclipsing the light beam was discussed in an earlier paper.' There it was pointed out that the usual methods of illuminating opaque objects for microscopic examination lend an unnatural appearance to the view, while the new method, which has been termed conical illumination, revels the true relationship of constituents by simulating natural lighting. In nature, all objects are lighted diffusely, or by light predominating from one direction, or by a combination of diffuse and directed light. Under these conditions, objects appear to have three dimensions—they possess relief. The kind of illumination known to metallographists as vertical or axial results in an unnatural appearance, as a large proportion of the illuminating rays are parallel to the line connecting the eye with the object, a condition almost never met in nature. Microconstituents

Jan 1, 1924

By J. S. Hardison

In the fall of 1912, the appearance of water in the oil of the Nevada Petroleum Co., Coalinga, Cal., made necessary the installation of a dehydrating plant to reduce the water below the 3 per cent. limit prescribed by the agency. Unlike the mining industry, technical literature of the oil industry is limited and extremely unsatisfactory. Until the recent efforts of the Petroleum and Gas Committee of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, no concerted movement has been instituted to secure publication of papers dealing with the problems of the oil business, and because of the additional fact that dehydrating of oil has not been practiced in California to any extent up to comparatively recent time, it was found necessary to experiment in order to determine the most satisfactory plan for this purpose. It is easy to write regarding successful enterprises, but, while not SO pleasant, it is equally desirable to write of failures so that others may be saved the loss incident to such investments. The water in this oil occurs both free and as an emulsion. Free water easily settles out, but the emulsion requires treatment. So far as can be determined, the emulsion consists of globules of water surrounded and enveloped by a film of oil. Starting with this hypothesis the theory has been evolved that in order to break up this emulsion the water must be heated at least to boiling point, when an explosion takes place destroying the globule. Unfortunately, this condition was not recognized in the installation of the first plant, which was planned on the following lines: A heater was arranged so that all the oil from the wells could be heated before reaching the shipping tanks, these being already fitted with coils for steam heating. Tanks were filled with about 4 ft. of water, live steam was turned into the coils and the water brought nearly to the boiling point, when the heated oil was run in. This for a time was partly successful, but the length of time necessary to apply this heat was too great for practical operating.

Jan 1, 1915

By Arthur L. Flagg

The Elk City mining district of Idaho occupies a position near the geographical center of Idaho county, a region of moderate elevation in the western foot-hills of the Bitter Root mountains. The district comprises an area of approximately 350 Sq. miles, bounded on the west by the Newsome district and on the south by the Dixie and Oro Grande districts. There are no mining districts to the north or east. Elk City, the principal town and the seat of the mining office for the district, is situated in a hydrographical basin surrounded by low hills. The elevation is 4,200 ft. above sea-level. Through this basin flow Elk Creek, Red river, and American river, which unite west of town to form the south fork of the Clearwater. The one township is set out from the Bitter Root Forest Reserve. Though a railroad starting from the Stites terminus of the Clearwater Short Line of the Northern Pacific railroad has been under consideration for some years, the camp is yet without railroad facilities. The projected road would follow the south fork of the Clearwater on easy grades, but would be very expensive to build and maintain. While such a road would greatly benefit those who are now operating in the camp, and in a sligh degree stimulate interest in its possibilities, there is hardly business enough to warrant its construction. At present all supplies and equipment are hauled in by wagon from Stites, a distance of 58 miles, over a wagon road constructed by the State in 1904, following in the main the old Nez Perce trail. While this is not a bad road, it is not all that might be desired. Starting at Stites at an elevation of 1,327 feet above sea-level, the road runs through low hills to Clearwater, a distance of 10 miles. In the next 16 miles the climb is steady until the Mountain House is reached, which is near the summit of Mount Pisgah. This is the highest point passed on the road, having an elevation of 6,500 ft. From the

Jan 1, 1914

By H. W. Hardings

Nearly every mining and metallurgical engineer will recall his early experience and method of producing step- or stage-reduction in preparing ore-samples for assay, in which he employecl idea, step- or stage-reduction simply because it was a self-evident fact that it would be easier to break coarse ore with a hammer than it would be to roll it back and forth under the muller, and alter having reduced it to a size easy for a rubbing or bucking division he then placed it under the muller on the bucking-board and further reduced it in proportion to the physical energy he wished to expend, which was generally the minimum to produce results. After this step in our experience me seem to have ceased to consider stage-reduction as mechanicallg essential, probably because it did not apply to individual exertion. Moreover, me did not retain the mass under the muller until it was all reduced to pass the 80-mesh assay-oftice screen, but practiced further step-reduction by screening out the fine in order that it should not interfere with subsequent work, replacing the coarse for further reduction on the bucking-board. It was many years after the bucking-board stage of metallurgical practice that we mere brought to a full realization that there was a more economical method in applying the crushing forces usually employed in metallurgical work by taking advantage of this individual experience and applying it to mechanical ends. We have made some advance to this end in bringing out the conical ball-and-pebble mill—a device which fairly well automatically adjusts power to the results obtained, mechanically repeating the bucking-board experience. In the action of the conical mill, theory is evolved from practice, rather than practice from theory, as is commonly the case.

Jan 1, 1914

By Willard P. Ward

Having been engaged during the past year in the manufacture of ferro-manganese in a blast furnace, I have imagined that some further information on this subject might be of interest to that large number of members of the Institute who are engaged in the iron and steel industries. The great question of the economical production of good steel, ingot metal, or homogeneous iron (we scarcely know now what to call it) from good materials, and at reasonable prices, has, thanks to the intelligence and energy of a few American engineers, been successfully solved in this country. Nearly all first-class railroads, and many that would not rank so high, have adopted the Bessemer rail. Martin boiler-plates are rapidly gaining ground, in competition with