98 REPORT— 1869. 



those days ; aud assumiug that the bloomery was the only process in use, the 

 result would be a species of relined iron or steel, wliich, deprived of the greater 

 part of its carbon, would become malleable under the hammer. 



" It is interesting to observe how nearly our imiwoved modern process of 

 making steel a])proaches to that of those rude and early times. The Bessemer 

 system is neither more nor less than the old process of the bloomery and the 

 Catalan furnace, the former being adapted to smelt the ore, aud the latter to 

 decarbonize and refine it into the malleable state of iron or steel. 



" That such was the state of the early manufacture of hsematite iron can 

 hardly be questioned, as the country around Ulverston was covered with 

 forests ; and the name given to Furness Abbey shows that its site was in the 

 vicinity of furnaces, employed exclusively for the reduction of the ores with 

 which the surrounding country abounds. The remains of these ancient fur- 

 naces have to some extent been carried down to our own times, and Messrs. 

 Harrison and Co. still manufacture a fine quality of charcoal iron, the wood 

 being obtained from the adjoining forests. The new works at Barrow have, 

 however, entirely changed the nature of this process ; and the system of manu- 

 facturing direct from the ore has become a question of such importance, as to 

 induce an investigation of its value, and the improvements it is likely to effect 

 both in the maniifacture of iron and steel. For this object the foUomng 

 experiments have been instituted, in order to show the peculiar properties of 

 this manufacture, and the extent to which it is applicable for the general 

 purposes of trade aud constructive art. 



" The proprietors of the Barrow Works have confined themselves to certain 

 descriptions of manufacture, on the Bessemer principle, these being chiefly 

 steel rails, tyres, plates, and girders, manufactured at a comparatively low 

 price. From the nature of the ore and fuel (the latter of which is chiefly 

 brought by rail from the coal-fields of Durham and Northumberland) a 

 description of liighly refined homogeneous iron and steel is produced ; and 

 as this manufacture is intended for purposes where tenacity aud flexibility 

 are required, it would not be just to compare it with other descriptions of 

 manufacture, where the object to be attained is hardness, such, for instance, 

 as that employed for carriage-springs and tools. The descrii^tion of steel or 

 iron required for rails, beams, girders, &c. is of a differeut character ; te- 

 nacity combined with flexibility is what is wanted, to which may be added 

 powers to resist imi)act. The same may be said of wheel-tyres and other 

 constructions, where the strains are severe, and where the material is suf- 

 ficiently ductile to prevent accidents from vibration, or those shocks and 

 blows to wMch it may be subjected. Keepiug these objects in view, the 

 Barrow Company's Works have, to a great extent, been limited to this de- 

 scription of manufacture ; and, judging from the ductility of the material as 

 exhibited in the experiments, there is Kttle chance of accidents from brittleness 

 when subjected to severe transverse strains, or to the force of impact. 



" In calculating the value of the hsematite steel, we have been guided by 

 the same formulae as adopted for comparison with similar productions from 

 other works. Yery few of them, however, wiU admit of comparison, as no 

 two of them appear to be alike. The haematite steel is manufactured, at the 

 Barrow Works, for totally diff'erent purposes from those of other makers, and 

 ha^•ing the command of a variety of ores for selection (as may be seen 

 from the analysis of the ores given in the Table) the desired quality of steel 

 can be obtained at pleasure. We have therefore submitted the diff'erent 

 specimens to the same tests as those received from other makers, not only for 

 the purpose of ascertaining wherein their powers of resistance difi'er, but also 



