548 TRANSACTIONS OF THE * 



Indefatigable efforts are made to improve this most precious 

 metal. The last remarkable stir about it is Bessemer's, of Eng- 

 land, who was believed generally to be the first to introduce pow- 

 erful streams of atmospheric air into the molten iron. 



It was soon found that an American, Martien, had invented 

 that method, and obtained a patent for it some three years before. 

 Knowing that Mr. John D. Ward, one of our members had devo- 

 ted much time to the subject of iron, I called on him for his 

 opinion, which he gave, (viz :) on the new giant cannon. 



My opinion of Bessemer's patent plan for manufacturing ord- 

 nance is — that in the first place, it will be found nearly, if not 

 quite impossible to reduce it to practice. In the second place, 

 ifgunscawbe manufactured in the manner described by him, 

 they will be no better, if as good as those made from the best 

 kinds of cast iron, (the Greenwood iron used at West Point-j in 

 making guns for the U. States, possesses a tensile strength of 

 32,000 pounds per square inch, and often more, or nearly three- 

 fourths the average strength of wrought iron, and probably more 

 than Bessemer's best specimens.) And, in the third place, if guns 

 can be fabricated upon his plan, the cost will be many times as much 

 as those made in -the ordinary way. This will be in consequence 

 of an expensive preparation of material, the employment of heav y 

 and expensive machinery, requiring great power to work it, and 

 the use of numerous parts and expensive fitting. And finally, 

 the piece being composed of numerous parts, each will be liable 

 to failure. 



Great excitement has recently prevailed in England relative to 

 Bessemer's plan of making iron and steel, by what may be termed 

 boiling them by atmospheric air. But a damper has fallen from 

 Newark, New Jersey, upon Bessemer, for J. G. Martien, of the 

 city of Newark, in the State of New Jersey, had some time ago 

 obtained a patent for a method so like Bessemer's that all ob- 

 servers are convinced of the originality being with Martien, or 

 some other American, even before him. 



Martien' s plan is by application ot blasts of air, or steam, or 

 vapor of water to melted iron, to completely search and pene- 

 trate it perfectly before its congelation. Instead of allowing the 

 melted iron to run from the blast furnace in the ordinary gutter, 

 or channel, to the beds, or moulds, or to refinery or puddling 

 furnaces, in the usual way, Martien employs channels, or 



