i6 Lange, Bessemer, Goransson and Miishet. 



was rich in manganese. At the end of the blow, sufficient 

 manganese was still present to prevent red-shortness, as, 

 with manganese in excess in the pig-iron, free manganous- 

 manganic oxide (MnO, MnOaO,,) is reduced by iron carbide 

 when no more free silica is present. The above Report 

 draws attention to the success of the Swedish and Austrian 

 mild steel plates thus made without added manganese, 

 whilst the distrust of Bessemer steel plates in England 

 was said to be due to the large amount of carbon unavoid- 

 ably introduced by the use of spiegel-iron. This drawback 

 was afterwards overcome in England and elsewhere — but 

 not until the seventies — by the use of richer spiegels and 

 by ferromanganese, which enabled the requisite amount 

 of manganese to be added without unduly raising the 

 carbon content. 



The successful experiments with the pure Swedish 

 pig-iron appear to have been made in the early part of 

 1858 at Bessemer's experimental works in St. Pancras, but, 

 according to Goransson, the results were uncertain. 



Bessemer, however, says in his autobiography : — 



" I announced the fact of my complete success to the 

 " world, and held in my hands the most undeniable proofs 

 "of the truth of my assertion ; but no one would believe it. 

 " They remembered but too well the great expectations that 

 "were excited two years previously by the tirst announce- 

 " ment of my invention at Cheltenham, and were not again 

 "to be disturbed by the cry of 'Wolf!' Thus it happened 

 "that, after the hard battle I had fought for so many years, 

 " I found myself as far as ever from the fruits of my labour, 

 " for not a single ironmaster or steel manufacturer in Great 

 " Britain could be induced to adopt the process." 



Under these circumstances, Bessemer decided to build a 

 steelworks himself in the heart of the steel industry, and 

 so, in partnership with Longsdon, Allen and Messrs. 

 Galloway, he started building operations in Sheffield, and 

 these works were, in part, in operation at the time of 



