THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



243 



thereby giving to the world a product having 20 

 per cent greater strength and elasticity than the 

 best of iron and did away with the old slow, hard 

 labor of the puddling furnace. 



These ancient irons, including the Newbury- 

 port bridge links, contain many elements that 

 always have been, and are today, recognized as im- 

 purities. For instance, they show 30 or 40 times 

 as high phosphorous as the so-called "pure iron" 

 or open hearth steel of today; 20 or 30 times the 

 percentage of silicon, and a high percentage of slag 

 and cinder, of which there is practically none in the 

 modern so-called "pure iron," yet these ancient 

 irons have shown remarkable resistance to corrosion 

 with all these impurities. But appealing to the 

 feeling brought about by an occasional failure of 

 soft steel to resist corrosion as long as it was ex- 

 pected (and in most of these cases the result has 

 been due to lack of care or extraordinary conditions 

 under which no metal other than copper or copper 

 alloys which have shown any better results) they 

 have claimed the purity of these old irons as being 

 the cause of their remarkable records. Incidentally, 

 they have obtained premiums for their material 

 ranging from $16.00 to $23.00 per ton for material 

 which, as a whole, is no more of the same composi- 

 tion of these ancient irons than is any of the thirty- 

 one million tons of soft steel made in 1912. The 

 production of steel ingots and castings has risen 

 from seven million tons in 1897 to thirty-one million 

 tons in 1912, and has anyone heard of any failures of 

 the material for any cause whatsoever to justify the 

 payment of such premium as is asked for so-called 

 "pure iron?" 



Referring again to the Newburyport bridge 

 chains, to which so much prominence is given in the 

 article referred to, even Dr. Cushman who might 

 be termed the "father" of the so-called "pure iron" 

 has told of taking one of these links and treating 

 same as a sheet bar, heating in a reheating furnace 

 in the mill and rolling same down to No. 16 gauge 

 sheets, and that these sheets were then exposed to 

 various corrosion tests and put out in the weather, 

 and it was found that some of these samples were 

 of no more resistance to corrosion than the regular 

 run of modern samples with which they were ex- 

 posed. This treatment did not change the man- 

 ganese content of these samples, which would seem 

 to be conclusive evidence that, contrary to claims 

 of "pure iron" advocates, the absence of manganese 

 did not prevent corrosion. 



The true reason for the resistance to corrosion 

 of these ancient irons will suggest itself to many 

 as being due to the dense skin on the surface caused 

 by the slow hand forging necessitating many reheat- 

 ings and reforgings to bring the material to the 

 required dimensions, all of which added to its 

 density. An example of this may be seen in the 

 modern product called "Patent Planished Iron," 

 used principally for locomotive jackets exposed to 

 all kinds of weather and yet does not corrode. The 

 same base metal, before it is subjected to the ham- 

 mering process which gives it the planished surface, 

 shows by comparison with the finished product 

 very rapid corrosion, yet this is the highest possible 

 grade of charcoal iron obtainable. 



And then I read the second paragraph on page 

 151, which states: 



"Dating from the introduction of the Bessemer proc- 

 ess of steel making, tonnage produced at the expense of 

 quality covered the country with structures which have 

 quickly rusted out when exposed to the elements. An- 

 alyses show that modern steel is high in impurities. When 

 the U. S. Government by its investigations established 

 the fact that the rapid corrosion of iron or steel was 

 caused by the impurities present, it remained for some- 

 one to devise a method for their elimination." 



When I compare this statement with my own 

 experience and take into account that the U. S. 

 Reclamation Service, in the Northern District at 

 least, has specified material for the construction of 

 flumes and pipe of such analysis as these so-called 

 "pure irons" carrying excessive premiums, I can 

 readily understand the indignation as expressed in 

 some of the articles from users of water in these 

 irrigation districts. 



The paragraph quoted immediately above con- 

 veys, by inference at least, that all coverings of 

 structures throughout the country made from Besse- 

 mer steel were failures and lasted but a few years, 

 whereas I know, of my own knowledge, many struc- 

 tures with Bessemer and open hearth sheet steel 

 coverings exposed to the elements that have lasted 

 three and four times longer than the total span of 

 life of these so-called "pure irons" and are in good 

 condition today. 



BLACK CANYON A STORY OF HOPE DEFERRED 



(Continued from Page 234.) 



As soon as it became known that the Secretary 

 of the Interior would ask for this loan, steps were 

 taken to give him all the support possible in the 

 request. Under the leadership of Hon. J. M. 

 Thompson, an Idaho legislator and prominent at- 

 torney of Caldwell, meetings have been held all 

 over this section and the conditions described and 

 resolutions passed and forwarded to Washington. 

 The Caldwell Commercial Club has taken up the 

 fight and at the present writing Dr. Cole, president 

 of the Club, is in Portland to enlist the co-operation 

 of the Portland Chamber of Commerce. 



It is under these conditions that we ask the 

 support and co-operation of the people of the whole 

 country. W r e want to show to the Congress that 

 our cause is just, and, relying on the justice of our 

 plea we expect that the Reclamation Service be fur- 

 nished with the funds by which alone it is possible 

 that the pledge of the Government to these people 

 may be redeemed. 



The settlers here endorse the broad and com- 

 prehensive policy of Secretary Lane. They believe 

 that he is sincere in his efforts to assist the settler, 

 and they ask the support of the people for his ef- 

 forts to secure funds to enlarge the scope of opera- 

 tions of the service, not alone in the Black Canyon, 

 but in other sections, where fertile lands only await 

 the application of the life-giving water to render 

 them capable of adding untold wealth to the coun- 

 try and make these United States more self-con- 

 tained and less dependent upon foreign countries 

 for the supplies necessary to support the popula- 

 tion. 



