182 STEl'ENSON. 



was uncertain, and the best puddlers could never tell when to 

 stop the process in order to obtain the desired grade. 



When a modification of this refining process was attempted 

 on a grand scale almost contemporaneously by Martien, in this 

 country, and Bessemer, in England, the same uncertainty of 

 product was encountered — sometimes the process was checked 

 too soon, at others pushed too far. Here the inventor came to 

 a halt. He could use only what was known and endeavor to im- 

 prove methods of application. Under such conditions the Besse- 

 mer process was apparently a hopeless failure. Another, however, 

 utilized the hitherto ignored work of the closet investigator. 

 The influence of manganese in counteracting the effects of cer- 

 tain injurious substances and its relation to carbon when pres- 

 ent in pig iron were understood as matters of scientific interest. 

 Mushet recognized the bearing of these facts and utilized them in 

 changing the process. His method proved successful, but with 

 thorough scientific forgetfulness of the main chance, he neg- 

 lected to pay some petty fees at the Patent Office and so reaped 

 neither profit nor popular glory for his work. 



The Mushet process having proved the possibility of immedi- 

 ate and certain conversion, the genius of the inventor found full 

 scope. The change in form and size of the converter, the re- 

 movable base, the use of trunnions and other details, largely 

 due to the American, Holley, so increased the output and re- 

 duced the cost that Bessemer steel soon displaced iron and the 

 world passed from the age of iron into the age of steel. 



Architectural methods have been revolutionized. Buildings, 

 ten stories high, are commonplace ; those of twenty no longer 

 excite comment, and one of thirty arouses no more than a pass- 

 ing pleasantry respecting possibilities at the top. Such build- 

 ings were almost impossible a score of years ago, and the weight 

 made the cost prohibitive. The increased use of steel in con- 

 struction seems likely to preserv^e our forests from disappear- 

 ance. 



In other directions the gain through this process has been 

 more important. The costly, short-lived iron rail has disap- 

 peared and the durable steel rail has taken its place. Under the 



