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In 1854 the produce of Pig Iron in Cumberland and Lancashire 
was 20,000 tons; in 1876 it had risen to 989,871 tons. 
The reason we have been able to spin, weave, and manufacture 
all staple articles of commerce cheaper and better than any other 
country, is mainly owing to our abundant supply of coal, and the 
cheapness and low cost at which we produce pig iron. 
In no other article of manufacture is oxfality of such vital and 
universal importance as that of iron; furnishing as it does the 
artillery and small arms of our Army and Navy, steam boilers, 
girder bridges, columns, beams, roofs, chains, etc., and entering 
more or less extensively into the construction of everything upon 
which life is dependent for safety. The best pig iron is chiefly 
made from the best iron ore and iron stone; and the best and 
purest iron ore in Great Britain is found in the Cleator and Furness 
districts. 
It is now well understood that the use of these Hematite 
ores, mixed with other ores, impart greater strength, greater power 
of resistance to sudden shocks or strains, and will produce more 
dense, solid, and sound metal than any other ore of iron. Their 
purity and easy fusibility render them especially advantageous in 
furnaces where more refractory and less pure mineral is used. 
» Hematite pig iron has a special value as being suited to themanu- 
facture of Bessemer steel, which material has effected a revolution, 
or has caused a bound in the progress of engineering science as great 
almost as that caused by the supersession of timber by malleable 
iron in the construction of many works. Steam boilers are being 
made of steel. Ships are being built of steel, as they cause less 
displacement than ships built of iron, steel being especially 
_ valuable in the case of river craft in tropical countries. Bessemer 
steel rails are being adopted almost invariably by Railway Com- 
panies, adding to the safety and comfort of travellers, and to the 
economy of maintaining the permanent way. 
A very grand work is about to be constructed across the Forth 
_by Mr. Thomas Bouch, the eminent engineer (a Thursby man). This 
work, an enormous viaduct, is of such dimensions that the weight and 
relative strength of the material employed, are important elements 
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