The inside history of the Carnegie Steel Company, a romance of millions . om the mouthof the vessel, and as the process advances it changes its violetcolor to orange, and finally to a voluminous pure white sparks, which at first were large like those of ordinaryfoundry iron, change into small hissing points, and these gradu-ally give way to soft floating specks of bluish light, as the stateof malleable iron is approached. During the process the heathas rapidly risen from the comparatively low temperature ofmelted pig-iron to one vastly greater than the highest knownwelding heats; the
The inside history of the Carnegie Steel Company, a romance of millions . om the mouthof the vessel, and as the process advances it changes its violetcolor to orange, and finally to a voluminous pure white sparks, which at first were large like those of ordinaryfoundry iron, change into small hissing points, and these gradu-ally give way to soft floating specks of bluish light, as the stateof malleable iron is approached. During the process the heathas rapidly risen from the comparatively low temperature ofmelted pig-iron to one vastly greater than the highest knownwelding heats; the iron becomes perfectly fluid, and even risesso much above the melting-point as to admit of its being pouredfrom the converter into a founders ladle, and from thence to betransferred to several successive moulds. The chemical changes accompanying this gorgeous displayare equally beautiful. The liquid pig metal contains a percent-age of manganese, silicon, and carbon. If we could conceiveof these elements as endowed with human emotion, we might 146 A GLANCE AT PROCESSES. Filling ingot-moulds with molten steel. say that every particle is in love with some atom of converting-vessel is the meeting place of the lovers and thescene of their marriage. With noisy celebration the union ofthe little globules of air and the tiny atoms takes place, and emerging from the lip of the converterin sparkling radi-ance the happy pairssoar away to spendtheir short lives to-gether. Scientistsstolidly call thismarriage chemicalaffinity. Goethenamed the similarunion of humansouls elective affin-ity. The comparison suggested is not so fanciful as it atom of every element in the twelve-ton charge now roar-ing and flaming before us will eventually find and unite withthe atom of oxygen for which it has an affinity—chemical orelective it matters not. It may be this moment or the next, inthe violent ebullition of the Bessemer converter; it may bethousands of years hence in the beam
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