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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[September, 



need otfer no apology to you for iiitriuling upon your notice tlie consideration 

 of a sulyect tliat appears, at first sight, so completely without the legitimate 

 sphere of the ohjects for the promotion of which this society was established. 

 The daily increasing magnitude of this branch of British industry is surpris- 

 ingly great ; but to enable you to obtain a clear view of its rapid extension, 1 

 have extracted from Ur. Ure's valuable " Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, 

 and Mines," tlie following slietch of its progi'ession from 1740 to 182G. The 

 Doctor observes, p. G87, that, "Till 1740, the smelting of iron ore in Eng- 

 land was executed entirely with wood charcoal, and ores employed were 

 principally brown and red liematites. Earthy iron ores were also smelted ; 

 but it does not appear that the clay ironstones of the coal basins were then 

 used, though they constitute almost the sole smelting material of the present 

 day. At that era there were fifty-nine blast furnaces, whose annual product 

 was 17,350 tons of cast-iron — that is for each furnace, 294 tons per annum, 

 and 5 J tons per week. By the year 1788 several attempts had been made to 

 reduce iron ore witli coked coal ; and there remained only twenty-four char- 

 coal blast furnaces, which produced altoget!ier 13,000 tons of cast-iron in the 

 year, being at tlie rate of 546 tons for each per annum, or nearly 11 tons per 

 week. This remarkable increase of 1 1 tons for 5 J was due chiefly to tlie 

 substitution of cylinder blowing machines, worked with pistons, for the com- 

 mon wooden bellows. 



" Already fifty-three blast-furnaces, fired with coke, were in activity, which 

 furnished in loto 48,800 tons of iron in a year, and which raises the annual 

 product of each furnace to 907 tons, and the weekly product to about 175 

 tons. The quantity of cast-iron produced that year (1788) by means of coal 

 was 48,800 tons, and that bv wood charcoal was 13,100, constituting a total 

 quantity of 61,900. 



" In 1796, the wood charcoal process was almost entirely given up, when 

 the returns of the iron-trade, made by desii'e of Mr. Pitt, for establishing 

 taxes on the manufacture, afforded the following results : — 121 blast-fiu'iiaces, 

 furnishing in the whole per annum 124,879 tons, giving an average amount 

 of each furnace of 1032 tons. 



" In 1802 Great Britain possessed 168 blast-furnaces, yielding a product 

 of about 170,000 tons, and this product amounted, in 1806, to 250,000 tons, 

 derived from 227 coke fmnaces, of which only 159 were in activity at once. 



" In 1820 the make of iron had risen to 400,000 tons, and in 1826 to about 

 600,000 tons. 



" From 1823 to 1839 the iron-trade saw many fluctuations. The price of 

 forge pig-iron varying from 21. 10s. to 10/. per ton at the works. But the 

 make of this country was still increasing, and, in 1838, I believe it reached 

 to upwards of 1,000,000 tons." 



For many interesting particulars connected with the iron-trade of the 

 United Kingdom, and particularly for a detailed account of the introduction 

 of the heated air-blast, by Mr. Neilson, of Glasgow, I must refer you to the 

 excellent work from which I have made the foiegoing extracts. 



The introduction of the hot-blast formed quite a new era in the iron trade, 

 and the consequent increase of produce of iron, particularly in Scotland, 

 where this invention was first appUcd, has been incredibly great, and is still 

 progressing. I have been very kindly furnished by a friend, who is intimately 

 connected witli the Scotch iron trade, with a list of all the furnaces now in 

 operation in Scotland, the numljer out of blast, the number erecting, and 

 about to be erected ; I have every confiilence in the accuracy of my friend's 

 information, and have no doubt but that the correctness of the list may be 

 relied upon. This list shows that there are in Scotland fifty furnaces in blast, 

 five out, seven building, and twenty-six contemplated. With the permission 

 of the meeting, I vrill read over the names of the works, and their respective 

 owners. 



26 



50 5 7 



Supposing the whole of these furnaces to be in full activity by the end of 



the year 1842, and giving the average produce of eighty tons per week to 



each furnace, we shall have Scotland alone producing upwards of 360,000 



tons of cast-iron per year, nearly equalling the make of the United Kingdom 

 twenty years ago. Sixty-five out of eighty-seven furnaces I have enumerated, 

 are situated in or about the Monklands, to the south and south-east of Glas- 

 gow, and distant from that city seven to ten miles. The works in that dis- 

 trict have the command of the blackband ironstone, the possession of which 

 my informant states to be so great an advantage, that without it, the trade 

 would not l)e worth following. The furnaces in the Monklands, by using 

 this combustible blankband ironstone, may average 100 tons in seven days 

 each, but those which have not this material, do not yield nearly so large a 

 quantity. Therefore, bearing in mind that the I'lesbyterians stop their fur- 

 naces one shift, or nearly twelve hours on each Sunday, we may safely put 

 down the average yield of the furnaces in Scotland at eighty tons per week each. 



Three of tlie largest makers of iron in Scotland are directing their attention 

 to the manufacture of bar-iron, and with every prospect of most complete 

 success. The Monkland Iron Company are erecting mills and forges capable 

 of making 230 tons malleable iron per week. Dunlop, Wilson, and Co., of 

 Dundyvan, are making pre])arations to enable them, when in full operation, 

 to make 300 tons of Ijars, &c., weekly, and they will be partially at work in 

 two months. William Dixon, Esq., of Govan Iron Works, has now ready for 

 immediate working, capabilities for producing 200 tons of malleable iron per 

 week. His mills and forges are on the outskirts of Glasgow, and are known 

 as the Glasgov\' Iron Works, at the Town Head. 



The Muirkirk Iron Company have five puddling furnaces, rolling mill, &c., 

 but they are not making more than about twenty tons of bars weekly. 



This statement comprises the jiresent, and so far as is known, the prospec- 

 tive operations in the malleable iron trade in Scotland, with the exception 

 of two small forges, the Lancefield and the Gartness, where they puddle a 

 little from white iron. 



It Was for a long time considered doulitful whether the Scotch cast-iron, 

 made as it is with raw bituminous coal and heated air, would answer for mal- 

 leable iron, and several experiments have lately been made with a view to 

 ascertain more nearly than had hitherto been done its applicability for this 

 purpose. So far as I have been aide to learn, these experiments have been 

 attended with most satisfacto.y results. I was informed a few days ago by 

 Edmund Buckley, Esq., of Manchester, who has for a long time past taken 

 a verv livelv interest in these matters, that in some trials recently made by 

 Messrs. Beecroft, Butler, and Co., at their works, at Kirkstall, near Leeds, 

 they found 4 cwt. 2 qrs. of Scotch pig-iron to yield, by the process of boiling 

 instead of jiuddling, blooms of 4 cwt. 1 qr. 8 lbs. each, showing only the 

 comparatively trifling waste of 20 lbs. in a charge of 4 cwt. 2 qrs., and the 

 quality of the iron was found to lie at least equal to any made with cold air. 

 Indeed, many thousand tons of Scotch cast-iron have been purchased from 

 time to time bv the iron masters of South Wales to mix with their own 

 country metal in their puddling furnaces, thus affording unquestionable proof 

 of its fitness for conversion into malleable u'on. I have no doubt that we 

 may speedily receive extensive supplies of bar-iron from Scotland, such as we 

 have hitherto received principally from South Wales and Staffordshire. 



I must now ask your indulgent attention for a little while longer, and re- 

 quest the favour of vour company on a very interesting tour through the 

 mineral districts of the counties of Gloucester, Monmouth, and Glamorgan. 

 I class the iron works of the Forest of Dean with those of South Wales, as 

 well from their proximity to the latter, as from the circumstances of their 

 being worked by those eminent South Wales iron masters, Messrs. Guest, 

 Lewis, and Co., and W. Crawshay and Sons. At the " Cinderford " works 

 there are four furnaces, three in blast, and one out, pioducing on an average 

 from 100 to 120 tons each of excellent forge pig-iron weekly. At the 

 " Sewdley " works there are two furnaces, one in and one out of blast, pro- 

 ducing about ninety tons of iron per week ; and at the Park-end works there 

 are two furnaces, one in blast, and the other out, making about eighty tons 

 per week. 



The difl'erences in the produce of furnaces may be accounted for in a variety 

 of wavs ; some are larger than others, some have superior blowing engines, 

 and others mav be under better management. The furnaces I have named 

 are all that are' on the Forest of Dean ; but large quantities of iron ore are 

 raised here, and are sent, as well as the iron, to different works in South 

 Wales and StaflTordshire. The shipments are made at a wharf a little below 

 Newnbam. 



Leaving the forest, we will proceed to Newport. Here you will find a 

 most excellent river navigation— the Usk, and at all seasons of the year may 

 be seen large numbers of vessel!, of various tonnage, waiting to receive the 

 mineral produce of Monmouthshire, in the shapes of coal and iron. Having 

 viewed the port, and noted all its facilities for shipment, and especially the 

 magnificent dock now constructing for affording to the shipjiing increased 

 conveniences, we will, if you please, proceed to the interior of the county, 

 and notice the various works in the order in which we reach them. 



The first works we arrive at are those of Capel Hanbury Leigh, Esq., near 

 Pontypool, and Jire called the Pontypool Iron Works. Here you will find 

 three fmnaces in blast, and one out ; two blown with cold air, and one with 

 hot. There are not any furnaces erecting, or about to be erected here. The 

 make of these three furnaces is about 300 tons per week. The hot-air pigs 

 are sold chiefly for foundry purposes, and the cold-air iron is used by Mr. 

 Leigh, for tin-plates, of which he has been for a long time past a very eminent 

 maker. The yield of the ironstone at these works is about 30 per cent. ; but 

 Mr. Leigh imports large quantities of the richer ores from Lancashire and 

 Cornwall, for the improvement of the quality of his iron. 



