Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL. 49 ARMOUR-PLATE MACHINE AT WORK. during melting in the Siemens furnace.” Martin, whose name is often coupled with that of Siemens as the co-inventor of the open-hearth process, was rather concerned in the mixture of the metals. To Siemens the credit of the utilisation of the open-hearth, and the regenerative gas furnace in steel manu- facture was undoubtedly due, and both he and Bessemer were deservedly knighted for their inventive genius. Turret ships originated in America, big guns from compressed steel at the Manchester Whitworth’s, torpedoes in Austria, and sub- marine boats from naval ingenuity in the United States, in Great The Victorian era was remarkable for the in- creased application of iron and steel to con- structive and manu- facturing purposes. Perhaps the most unique object to which steel has been put is seen in the gigantic machinery, the mam- moth rollers, ponder- ous steam hammers, lathes and borers with which it squeezes, shapes, cuts and pene- trates itself. There is a huge Nasmyth hammer at the Atlas Works in Sheffield, 7 which can be worked to such a fraction that it can either flatten an ingot or gently touch a watch face without breaking it. Vulcan was the ancient god of fire, and the protector of workers in metals, and Sheffield has appropriately topped the highest point of its Town Hall with his muscular figure. In the smoke-clouded districts of Attercliffe and Brightside, Vulcan also, in the shape of the modern workman, big and sinewy, toys with iron and steel. He is absolutely impressive when he handles an armour plate in the Cyclops Works of Messrs. Chas. Cammell and Co., Limited, a Sheffield firm noted for its armour plate making, in which it is ever availing itself of scientific discovery and new processes. Britain, and in France.