Among many
wrecks our firm stood with credit unimpaired. But the manufacture of
pig iron gave us more anxiety than any other department of our
business so far. The greatest service rendered us in this branch of
manufacturing was by Mr. Whitwell, of the celebrated Whitwell Brothers
of England, whose blast-furnace stoves were so generally used. Mr.
Whitwell was one of the best-known of the visitors who came to marvel
at the Lucy Furnace, and I laid the difficulty we then were
experiencing before him. He said immediately:
"That comes from the angle of the bell being wrong."
He explained how it should be changed. Our Mr. Kloman was slow to
believe this, but I urged that a small glass-model furnace and two
bells be made, one as the Lucy was and the other as Mr. Whitwell
advised it should be. This was done, and upon my next visit
experiments were made with each, the result being just as Mr. Whitwell
had foretold. Our bell distributed the large pieces to the sides of
the furnace, leaving the center a dense mass through which the blast
could only partially penetrate. The Whitwell bell threw the pieces to
the center leaving the circumference dense. This made all the
difference in the world. The Lucy's troubles were over.
What a kind, big, broad man was Mr.
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