CENTER OF STEEL WORLD 173 



be precipitated ; so the workmen remain at a discreet distance 

 during this part of the proceedings. The mixer is capaljle of 

 holding the contents of several of the big ladles, and, indeed, 

 its purpose is to brew into one great mess the product from 

 the various furnaces, making it absolutely uniform in quality. 

 At intervals twoscore tons of the chastened metal are poured 

 into a ladle which carries it to the converter. 



The working of the Bessemer converter is the spectacular 

 climax of the most picturesque scene in the entire drama of 

 steel making. The converter itself resembles nothing so 

 much as a gigantic iron egg, hung on trunnions in such a 

 manner as to give it the appearance of being pierced by an 

 axle, upon which, if unrestrained, it might swing round and 

 round. It tips gently and gracefully to receive the huge 

 cupful of molten mixture which a crane serves to it, and after 

 the fiery libation has been poured into its capacious mouth, 

 glides slowly back into a horizontal position. Suddenly 

 with a terrific roar the blast is turned on, and for a time a 

 cyclone of cold air is forced through the converter, on much 

 the same principle as heated air pierces the Hquid mass in the 

 blast furnace. In this second chemical purification by intense 

 heat many impurities which had not been driven off in any 

 of the previous processes are eliminated, and a dash of fer- 

 romanganese, a metal compound rich in manganese, is added, 

 just as spice is added in cooking. 



It is in fixing the limit of time for the blowing through 

 the converter that a boyish looking fellow, perched on a small 

 platform up near the roof, has opportunities dozens of times 

 a day to involve his employers in a loss of thousands of 

 dollars. Wearing great goggles of specially prepared glass, 

 he watches, with the intent gaze of a youngster at his first 

 foot ball game, the flame rushing from the elevated nose 

 of the big retort, which is like the alcohol lamp that jewelers 

 use, magnified many hundreds of times. The visitor, stand- 

 ing upon the elevated platform, sees the pyramid of flame, 

 as it escapes with a hoarse cry from its prison, change in 

 color from red to white and then to the faintest of blues, just 

 as multicolored balls burst from a Roman candle. To the 

 layman the changing tints of the illumination have no sig- 



