that he casts. He exhibits in the Exposition a 40-ton (40,000 kilograms) ingot, intended for a crank shaft, which he states was cast from crucibles. His process of making tires is similar to that in use in England. He first makes a bloom about 6 feet long and 13 inches by 10 inches, and then cuts this up into sections of the required weight. A slit is cut through the middle of these, and they are then worked out into an annular form, and afterwards rolled on a mill of a construction similar to those in use in England, with the exception that the bed, instead of being horizontal, is vertical, as if one of those machines were turned up on its edge. Two mills, one for roughing and one for finishing, are employed. His tire-heating furnaces are placed in a pit at the side of the mill, and are similar to the furnaces of a brass foundry, the tires being laid on the fire by a central crane. FRANCE. The French also exhibit good specimens of Bessemer metal, but, as already stated, there seems to be no marked advance on what has been accomplished in England, and it will not be necessary, therefore, to notice in detail the articles they have brought forward. The manufacture has been established at six works, and the production, in 1866, was as follows: Of this product, 3,687 tons were in the form of rails. In 1863 but three works were in operation, with a total product of 1,857 tons. At the present time the metal produced in France by this process does not stand as high in the opinion of iron-masters as puddled or other steel. It may be that this is due to the nature of the pig iron employed, or it may be due to a lack of experience in the manufacture as compared with other nations. At the works of Messrs. Petin, Gaudet & Co., near St. Etienne, a pair of six-ton converters have been erected, and a single vessel, capable at present of producing a charge of eight tons, and in which it is expected to make twelve-ton charges when the lining becomes reduced in thickThis is the largest Bessemer apparatus in France. ness. Submitted by FREDERIC J. SLADE, Scientific Assistant to Committee No. 6. PARIS, June 15, 1867. |