Pittsburgh Paper - Mitis-Castings from Wrought-Iron or Steel

Having brought with me to this meeting a couple of "Mitis'' wrought-iron castings, I have found that they attracted a great deal of attention from steel manufacturers, and especially from those experienced in making castings, among whom some have said that they felt inclined to "unhesitatingly dcclare their manufacture an impossibility," if they had not seen the samples. The consequent demand for explanation of the method of manufacture has been SO great that I accept with pleasure the request by the President to address the meeting on the subject. My object in this address shall be only to explain the main features of the manufacture, referring those who take more interest in the matter to Mr. Th. Nordenfelt's paper, read before the British Iron and Steel Institute, reprinted in many American papers, and containing both a historical sketch of the inventions and many interesting details. As the manufacture of castings from steel by others is, at least to some extent, a success, I shall, in my explanations hereafter, refer to wronght-iron, although our mode of manufacture is equally applicable, with corresponding advantage, to steel of any temper. The successful manufacture of castings depends upon several very important matters, besides the necessary skill of the workman. You must have a suitable metal as raw material; you must have an eacient and suitable furnace for smelting, so as not to injure the metal; you must be able to handle the metal in a suitable way, from the time it is ready in the furnace until it is poured into the moulds; you must have a suitable moulding material. I claim that in every one of these different branches we have made great