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National Resources Planning Board 



each contributed about 20 percent to the advance of the 

 industry, although, as table 1 indicates, the United 

 States was far behind France and Germany (at the 

 time more advanced in industrial policy) in contribu- 

 tions to a fundamental knowledge of metallurgy. 



Table 1. — Advance in the iron and sleel industry, 1860 to 1900 ' 



' Data for table 1 based on Goodale, S. L. Chronology of iron and steel. Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa., Pittsburgh Iron and Steel Foundries Co., 1st ed., 1920. 



Contributions of England in the 

 Nineteenth Century 



The industrial world owes a large debt to the inven- 

 tive and scientific genius of some 10 or 15 Englishmen 

 who in the last half of the nineteenth century revolu- 

 tionized the steel industry and in addition founded the 

 science of physical metallu^g3^ The Bessemer process 

 of refining pig iron by blowing air through the molten 

 metal was invented in 1856 by Henrj' Bessemer and 

 was made a commercial success by the metallurgical 

 genius of Robert Mushct.' This process made it 

 possible for the first time to produce steel cheaply and 

 in large tonnages and was the most important single 

 factor in the development of our present-day industrial 

 economy, which is built upon cheap steel. 



Other outstanding developments of processes in 

 England during this period were Siemens' discovery of 

 the regenerative principle which resulted in the open- 

 hearth process, the hot blast stove for the blast furnace, 

 the reversing mill, the continuous rod mill, and — per- 

 haps most important — the discoveiy by Thomas and 

 Gilchrist that lime removes phosphorus from molten 

 high-carbon iron, thus making it possible to use the 

 enormous world deposits of iron ore containing a 

 relatively large amount of this element. 



England's contributions to the development of ferrous 

 materials were numerous. The most outstanding were 

 Mushet's air-hardening tool steel and Hadfield's exten- 

 sive work on alloys of iron with manganese, chromium, 

 and other elements which played an important part in 

 the development of knowledge that has led to prescnt- 

 dav allov steels. 



I Wjlltam Kelly in the United States probably anticipated Bcssemer's invention 

 by nearly 10 years but was never able to make the process work satisfactorily. The 

 eriilll for the invention Is, therefore, usually given to Bessemer, although it is clalmeil 

 by some that without the help of Mushet he would have made no more headway 

 than Kelly. 



During this period, several Englislmien were engaged 

 in fundamental research on iron and steel. Sorby was 

 the first to use the microscope for the study of the struc- 

 ture of metals; this was the beginning of a science of 

 physical metallurgy. Barrett discovered recalescence 

 and its relation to the hardening of steel, and Arnold 

 did pioneering work in correlating the chemical composi- 

 tion and the properties of ferrous materials. Valuable 

 textbooks were written by Percy, on the metallurgy of 

 iron and steel (1804), and by Bell, on the chemistry of 

 the blast furnace (1872) ; these had marked influence on 

 the iron and steel industry everywhere. 



Contributions of the United States 

 in the Nineteenth Century 



The iron and steel industry of the United States, using 

 the developments outlined above, grew from adolescence 

 to manhood in the last three decades of the nineteenth 

 century. During this period, pig-iron production 

 increased from 2 to 14 million tons and steel production 

 from less than 100,000 tons to 10.5 million tons. The 

 most important cause of this rapid expansion was the 

 building of the railroads; miles of track increased from 

 50,000 in 1870, most of which was laid with iron rails, 

 to 260,000 in 1900, nearly all of which was laid with 

 steel rails. With the introduction of the Bessemer 

 process other uses of steel expanded rapidly, especially 

 for bridges and buildings, and for agricultural purposes. 

 Four billion dollars was spent in fencing the farms of the 

 United States during this 30-year period; at least 75 

 percent of tliis sum was represented by purchases of 

 iron and steel products. 



Between 1870 and 1900 the steel industry of the 

 United States was so busy building up the coimtrv 

 that there was little time, and less incentive, for research 

 even in the broadest sense of the word. Most develop- 

 ment work had as its primary object the reduction of 

 cost; this was so successful that in the last decade of 

 the century the steel industry' of the United States was 

 underselling the British in world markets, with the 

 result that the British Iron anil Steel Institute sent 

 a delegation to the United States to see how it was 

 done. 



Among the developments which were important in 

 lowering costs were more efficient blowing engines for 

 blast furances, many improvements in rolling mills, 

 most of which came from the fertile brain of John Fritz, 

 and — most important — the development of efficient 

 machines for large-scale production of barbed wire, 

 fences, nails, and springs. Although the United States 

 did not pioneer the use of steel for building and bridge 

 construction, the skyscraper and the long suspension 

 bridge are American ilevelopments. 



Only one noteworthy development in steels originated 

 in the United States during the last half of the nme- 



