Iro7i and Phosphorus. 87 



inconclusive. It was possible, they thought, that his 

 failure might have resulted from the fiend not being 

 kept out when he was out. So they went quietly to 

 work with their toy pot, and Eureka ! Their charm had 

 not only exorcised the fiend, but they had discovered 

 how to lead him away from the molten metal into the 

 refuse and shut the door on him there. Here was a 

 triumph indeed ! I fancy they neither ate nor slept till 

 repeated experiments proved that the true charm had 

 been found at last. 



Mr, E. Windsor Richards, the broad manager of the 

 largest manufactory of iron and steel in the world, was 

 soon acquainted by them with the discoveiy. He tried it 

 upon a large scale, and announced the end of the reign 

 of King Phosphorus ; but he dies hard. This was some 

 years ago, for I read the good news a few minutes after 

 I had landed at Naples from the East, on my way 

 round the world in the year 1879. Many obstacles had 

 yet to be surmounted, but now every ton of steel man- 

 ufactured at Mr. Richards's great works is made from 

 iron stone which a few years ago was counted worth- 

 less for steel. Enough iron stone can be had for 

 three dollars to make a ton of pig iron suitable 

 for steel rails. The same amount of low phos- 

 phorus stone at Pittsburgh cost last year sixteen 

 dollars, and yet there are intelligent people who do 

 not understand why we cannot make rails as cheap as 

 the English. 



