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months in England, with the phosphorescent ores of Cleveland, by Mr. Thomas. Hence, we shall very shortly see the so-called steel, which is in truth pure wrought iron, take the place of its weaker brother. The old method of making steel (yet used in knife manufacture, where the finest quality is necessary) was by adding the carbon to wrought iron by means of charcoal.

Many other methods than the two mentioned above have been brought before the public, but none have been thoroughly successful except the Siemens'-Martin, which, however, is only economical where there is a great deal of old scrap-iron. In this process, scrap wrought iron is melted down in a bath of the requisite amount of cast iron, samples being taken out of the reverberatory furnace used for the purpose until the desired product is arrived at.

Having, in the above short description, given the broad, original outlines of, first, the manufacture of iron by the old 'direct' method; second, the manner by which cast metal is made; third, the conversion of cast into wrought metal and steel; and fourth, the most usual methods of steel-making, I shall proceed to my sketch of the North Staffordshire coal and iron district, and of that in the neighbourhood of Pittsburg.

The northern part of the former field, with which I was for some time intimately connected, converges to a narrow tongue in the neighbourhood of Congleton, and here, at Biddulph, one of the most successful iron centres in the kingdom is located. The coal and iron lie directly beneath the blast furnaces; the former consisting of thirty-two workable seams, shewing an aggregate thickness of one hundred and thirty feet, and the latter an average thickness of twenty-four feet. Not only is the lo

cation, theoretically and practically, almost perfect, but, added to this, the coal is of an exceptionally pure char

acter, containing little or no sulphur, and working admirably in the furnace.

In 1877, before wages went down, it cost a little under $1 a ton to mine the coal. The iron-stone, worked about half a mile from the furnaces, cost from about 75 cts. to $1.15 a ton to get it out; in the raw state, it contains thirty-five to fifty-eight per cent. of protoxide of iron, but, after calcining in heaps with slack, it averages as high as ninety-one per cent. of the peroxide It contains about one per cent. of phosphoric acid, which has hitherto prevented its use for Bessemer steel, but there is little doubt that it will shortly be made in North Staffordshire, as well as at Cleveland, (Eng.).

Limestone is also obtained close at hand; and to increase the perfect independence of the great iron masters, besides owning and working their raw materials, they make everything they use, from pipes and boilers to the railway trucks for carrying their products. To give an idea of the cost of manufacture; for every ton of pig produced there is consumed about Ton. Cwt. Qrs.

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The cost of smelting the 'pig,' taking the immediate wages into consid eration, was, in 1877, a trifle over $1 a ton. Therefore, we see that $5 would about cover the production of a ton of cast iron' in that year, but with the present reduced wages, it could be made for considerably less.

At Pittsburg, which I visited last month, I shall take the Lucy furnaces, than which there is no finer pair in America, as examples. These two furnaces cost about $520,000 a few years ago, but possibly could now be built for nearly half the price, if economy were an object. The coal is obtained from the neighbouring hills, through which it runs in horizontal beds of about four feet thick; hence

the working is comparatively easy. This coal is highly bituminous, and the coke made from it, and used in the furnaces, contains eighty-seven per cent. carbon, ten per cent. ash, and one per cent. of sulphur, and costs, at present, but four and one-fourth cents per bushel. The iron ore is obtained from Lake Superior; that from the Republic mine costing $8.80, and that from the Menominee mine, $7.40 per ton. Both of these are very pure ores and contain but little phosphorus, the resulting pig being used for Bessemer steel at the Edgar Thompson Steel Works. The analysis of these ores show—

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difference between the cost of production in these two countries may appear, it is owing entirely to the natural circumstances under which the mines in the two countries are situated.

From the experience of these examples what encouragement can we gather for smelting iron in this part of Ontario with a protection of $2 a ton? I shall leave my reader with his knowledge of the country to work out his own answer; but one thing is certain, we cannot build our furnaces on coal and iron seams, and though we could get nearer to good ore than our neighbours in Pittsburg, we should still be almost hopelessly distant from the needed supplies of fuel. I have seen lately some very promising looking figures in some of our publications,— nine and a half per cent. profit worked out with a large margin, and that sort of thing, therefore I may be all wrong, but, as I have said before, I leave this part of the problem to my intelligent reader.

In closing this paper, I might mention that I hope to supplement it by one on iron-smelting by lignite, which is successfully carried on in Austria and Sweden, and which may play no small part in the future prosperity of our Dominion.

ALL A GREEN WILLOW.

SHE

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HE sat down carelessly at the piano, and, as if without thinking of what she was doing, her fingers touched the keys, bringing forth the pathetic air of the Jacobite song:

'Hame, hame, hame, O, hame fain wad I be, O, hame, hame, hame to my ain countree!"

and she contrived to throw more sadness into the sad air than John Aylmer had ever heard before.

Yet the sun was shining, and through the open French window of the Doctor's little drawing-room you could see the light glowing upon the red, yellow, and fading green tints of the autumn foliage. Here the bright yellow of the chestnuts, blending with the transparent red of the beech, and the berries on the rowan trees holding their place whilst the leaves fell with every gust of wind and with other leaves carpeted the garden paths.

She was looking, whilst she played, at the green lawn, then at the heavyladen apple-trees, the many-coloured beeches, elmus and oaks, above which was a pale blue sky; and she seemed to be dreaming, rather than playing for the pleasure of her companion or herself.

'Why do you always play these melancholy airs, mostly ending in minors?' said John Aylmer, turning over the pages of a large album of photographs and paying very little attention to the portraits it contained.

She continued to play as she answered: 'I don't know-do you not like them?'

'No, they always end as if there

were something else which ought to come, and as it doesn't, one feels uncomfortable and dissatisfied.'

'Is not that like our lives?' she said, still playing the sad air dreamily. 'There are so many things which we fancy ought to come that do not: and so, we go on in periods of unfinished chords.'

'Give it up,' cried Aylmer, laughing at the droll problem which the girl had presented to him.

'I don't

see why we should play music without a comfortable finish any more than I can understand why we should not make a satisfactory and harmonious finish to our lives. The notes are all on the instrument, why should we not strike them as we please?'

'Because we cannot always strike the notes which please us most. Have you ever known anybody who has been able to live the life he or she would have chosen if permitted to do so?'

She had wheeled round on the piano stool, and looked straight in his face as she put the question.

'Yes,' he answered boldly; 'there's Dr. Humphreys: I believe he will end his days harmoniously-contented with the life he has led, the work he has done, and followed to the grave by a long row of patients-mind, I say patients who will remember him with gratitude. What do you say to that?'

She did not say anything, for she was serious and he was inclined to make fun of the whole question. She turned again to the piano, and with a very soft touch proceeded to play the plaintive air of Hame, hame, hame,' as if to herself and as if seeking some

consolation from it for the absence of sympathy in her companion.

Aylmer closed the album, got up and stood behind her.

He was a handsome young fellow of about twenty-five, with sandy-coloured hair, the shadow of a moustache, and bright laughing eyes. He was only beginning life, and, blessed with a sanguine disposition, he scouted its shadows and believed in its sunshine.

She was about his own age, tall, graceful, and with a face that was beautiful, whilst the lines indicated firmness of character. The hair was dark, but the eyes were a soft bluegreen when in repose; they appeared to become gray when she was moved by any strong emotion. Looking in her face with its strangely sad, yearning expression, one would feel that there were depths of affection in her nature which had not yet been reached, but that once sounded would never be calm again.

'Miss Richardson,' he said, with his hands clasped tightly behind him, as if he feared that the temptation to clasp her in his arms would otherwise prove too great for him, 'you are too deep in philosophy for me.'

I know nothing about philosophy. Why do you say that?'

'Because you are always asking me riddles which I cannot solve to your satisfaction. After I have left you, I often think of such clever things I might have said; but they never turn up at the right moment, and so I know that you must think me an ass.'

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Your ears are not long enough,' she said, so quietly that even if he had been a man of a 'huffy' nature he could scarcely have taken offence. Very likely she would not have spoken so to any one else.

He only laughed and answered in kind, with a mock severity of politeness: That is my misfortune, Miss Richardson, for it is better to be a dull ass than a stupid man.'

'I do not think you are either.'
'Thank you.
Then suppose you

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He would have sought further explanation, but he was interrupted by the entrance of Mrs. Humphreys. She was a little dark woman whose eyes seemed to be always gazing into futurity, never by any chance indicating a consciousness of the persons or circumstances around her; yet she was always nervously anxious to do whatever might be most pleasing to others. She formed the most singular contrast to her husband-a big, robust, ruddyfaced, jovial man, who would contentedly get out of bed a dozen times of a night, whether the summons came from pauper or peer.

She had been called away to attend to some household duties and thus the young people had been left alone. Now she appeared with the proposal that as the Doctor had not yet returned, they should proceed to luncheon without him.

Are you hungry, Miss Richardson?' said Aylmer, making a terrible descent into the commonplace question of appetite; 'because, if not, I think we should give the Doctor another

half-hour.

I know the case, and unless something extraordinary has happened, he cannot be detained longer than that.'

Miss Richardson of course assented to the adjournment, and Aylmer continued merrily: 'Then I propose that we all go out to the garden and take a tonic in the shape of one of those redcheeked apples, and that it may taste the sweeter we will try to imagine that we are schoolboys and stealing it.' 'Oh, fie, Mr. Aylmer,' said Mrs. Humphreys; but she smiled at his boyish absurdity.

'I am afraid Mr. Aylmer's morals require correction,' observed Miss Richardson, in her calm, grave way. 'Never mind, get your hats and come along,' cried he.

He marshalled the ladies out through the French window, and when they were about to cross the lawn he became commonplace and practical; he warned them that the grass was damp, and that they would be much safer if they walked on the path.

Miss Richardson lifted her dark eyebrows, and her lips formed an unuttered 'O!' of surprise.

You have not lived much in the country, Mr. Aylmer.'

'No, and that is why I enjoy its beauties and avoid its dangers. To walk on damp grass in thin shoes is simply a deliberate way of catching cold, resulting probably in bronchitis, consumption, and an early grave.'

'Dear me, I wonder there is anybody alive in the country.' 'You forget the doctors.'

'I would not like to have you for my doctor.'

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And I should be sorry that I or anyone else had you for a patient.'

His eccentricities did not end in the warning about the damp grass. Instead of going straight to the apple-tree as he had proposed, he went to an oldfashioned rose-tree which almost covered the white walls of the house, and cut two roses. One he presented to Mrs. Humphreys with becoming re

spect, the other to Miss Richardsonbut there was a subtle difference in the manner of the presentation, and she was conscious of it. There was a faint colour on her pale cheeks as her eyelids drooped and she pinned the rose on her breast. He was watching her, smiling and yet eager to note how she received the offering. When he saw its destination-' Now for the apples,' he cried, with boyish glee.

He tried to reach them, but the branches were too high, and leaping towards them, he became hot and very red in the face. He was chagrined too at his failure.

'I used to be able to climb a tree,' he said gaily; and without considering how ridiculous he would appear, he clambered up the tree and seated himself on the first branch, much to the amusement of the ladies.

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