The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

1894.] THE LOCOMOTIVE. 189
Dumber ol experiments that had evidently been tried in the early Btages of the pro<
Buried salamanders are not unknown in the present history of metallurgy, and those
found in the works of Huntsman afford a proof that in the p;ist , as at the present time,
BUCCess usually came after many trials.
Huntsman's first experiments were made al Doncaster, a town eighteen miles from
Sheffield, to which city he removed about the year 1740. Here his further experimental
work was carried out at Handsworth, a suburb of the town. Finally he removed to
Attcrcliffe, a manufacturing district forming a part of the city, and Ins works are still in
existence, considerably altered and enlarged, but situated in the street known to this
(lay as " Huntsman's How." Within a few yards of the works is Benjamin Huntsman's
house, where he lived until his death at the age of seventy-two, on June 21 1770. His
remains lie in the family vault in Attcrcliffe cemetery.
The following excellent account of the methods originally practiced in Sheffield
about 1764 is given by M. Gabriel Jars, in his Voyages MetaUwrgiques, edited by bie
brother and published in 1774: " Blister-steel is rendered more perfect by the following
operation: Ordinarily, scrap and cuttings from articles of steel are used. Furnaces of
fire-clay are used, of similar design to those for brass castings. They are much smaller,
however, and receive the air by an underground passage. At the mouth, which is
square and at the surface of the ground, there is a hole through the wall, from which
the chimney stack ascends. These furnaces contain only one large crucible, 9 to 10
inches high and 6 to 7 inches in diameter. The steel is put into the crucible with a flux,
the composition of which is kept secret, and the crucible is placed upon a round brick,
set upon the fire-bars. Coal, which has been reduced to coke, is placed around the crucible
and the furnace is filled. Fire is then put to it, and at the same time the upper opening
of the furnace is -
entirely closed with a brick door surrounded by a circle of iron. The
flame goes through the pipe iuto the chimney. The crucible is five hours in the furnace
before the steel is perfectly melted. Several operations follow. Square or octagonal
molds, made of two pieces of cast-iron, are put the one against the other, and the steel
is poured in at one extremity. I have seen ingots of this cast-steel which resemble pig-
iron. This steel is worked under the hammer, as is done with blister-steel, but is
heated less highly and with more precaution, because of its liability to break. The ob-
ject of this operation is to make the steel so homogeneous that there may be no flaw, as
perceived in that which comes-from Germany, and this, it is said, can only be done by
fusion. This steel is not extensively used; it is employed only where a tine polish is required.
Of it are made the best razors, some knives, the finest steel chains, some
watch springs, and small watchmakers' files."
That Sheffield can pre-eminently claim the title of " Steelopolis," not less from its
modern development than from its long-standing and traditional associations with the
early developments of the metallurgical industry of iron and steel, is shown in an inter-
esting manner by a Sheffield directory published by Yale and Martin in 1787, about ten
years after Huntsman's death. We find that there were then some half-dozen manufacturers.
of adzes and hammers; about 50 makers of edge tools; not less than 40 engaged in file
making; over 300 in pen-knife, pocket-knife, and table-knife manufacture; at least 50
in razor making: close upon 100 in scissors; and some 60 or 70 in the manufacture of
scythes, sickles, and shears. Many of these, no doubt, were small workers, rather than
large concerns; but it will be seen that here was the center for a considerable employment
of steel. It was this, no doubt, that induced Huntsman to settle in Sheffield. The
advantageous environment also proved to be of the greatest assistance in the rapid development
of Sheffield. For example, its excellent supply of very pure water (also a