674 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1889. 



they began to roll rails : Boston Iron Works, May 6, 1846 ; Trenton Iron 

 Works, Cooper & Hewitt, proprietors, Jane, 1846; New England Iron 

 Company, Providence, Rhode Island, September 1, 1816; Phoenix Iron 

 Company, Phcenixville, Pennsylvania, November, 1816. 



The rapidity with which American capital was diverted in this di- 

 rection, has for the last forty years been one of the great arguments 

 used by the advocates of a high tariff for the protection of American 

 industries. 



During the year 1848 a very interesting experiment was tried by the 

 Camden and Amboy Railroad. Arrangements were made with Cooper 

 & Hewitt, at the Trenton Iron Works, to roll a 92 pound rail, 7 inches 

 high, with a base 4| inches wide; 15 miles of the Camden and Amboy 

 road were laid with this rail the following year. The engineer of that 

 company believed that he had at last solved the problem of track con- 

 struction, inasmuch as this rail gave an admirable opportunity for a 

 strong joint. By experience it was found that this rail was too rigid, 

 and produced so much concussion by the train that the ends soon ham- 

 mered out, and where the ballasting was imperfect great damage was 

 caused to the rolling stock; consequently the rail was soon after takeu 

 up. Much of this old rail found its way to the cities, where it was 

 bought by architects and contractors for building purposes.* 



The fact that this rail was rolled successfully resulted in the intro- 

 duction of the "I" beam for architectural purposes, Cooper & Hewitt 

 having done a large business at the New Jersey Iron Works, at Tren- 

 ton, in this line ever since that time. Fig. 47 is drawn from a section 



Fig. 47. 

 92-rouxi) Kail. 7 inches high, Camdf.n and Amboy Railkoad, 1848. 



I om original section in the U. S. National Museum.) 



of this rail in the collection. It was laid between Bordentown and 

 Burlington in 1840. 



"Among other places, many of these rails were used for beams in the United States 

 Mint at Philadelphia. 



