Looking back it seems pardonable to record
that we were the first to employ a chemist at blast
furnaces--something our competitors pronounced extravagant.
The Lucy Furnace became the most profitable branch of our business,
because we had almost the entire monopoly of scientific management.
Having discovered the secret, it was not long (1872) before we decided
to erect an additional furnace. This was done with great economy as
compared with our first experiment. The mines which had no reputation
and the products of which many firms would not permit to be used in
their blast furnaces found a purchaser in us. Those mines which were
able to obtain an enormous price for their products, owing to a
reputation for quality, we quietly ignored. A curious illustration of
this was the celebrated Pilot Knob mine in Missouri. Its product was,
so to speak, under a cloud. A small portion of it only could be used,
it was said, without obstructing the furnace. Chemistry told us that
it was low in phosphorus, but very high in silicon. There was no
better ore and scarcely any as rich, if it were properly fluxed. We
therefore bought heavily of this and received the thanks of the
proprietors for rendering their property valuable.
It is hardly believable that for several years we were able to dispose
of the highly phosphoric cinder from the puddling furnaces at a higher
price than we had to pay for the pure cinder from the heating furnaces
of our competitors--a cinder which was richer in iron than the puddled
cinder and much freer from phosphorus.
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