E. Windsor Richards it has been made a great success, while in
Germany there are several works also using the process largely. Mild
steel is now being used to a great extent for the construction of steam
boilers as well as of ships, and in steel castings for a variety of
purposes, such as spur wheels, frames of portable engines, manhole door
frames, etc., etc. Among the uses to which steel may be put is the
manufacture of steel sleepers in place of wood. It is a very encouraging
fact that there are now, or rather there were already, at Dusseldorf, in
1880, 70,000 tons of iron or steel railway sleepers in use in Germany.
Mr. Webb, of Crewe, has exhibited a very promising arrangement of
sleepers and fastenings, to be made either of iron or steel. Steel
sleepers should also be used for tramways.
If, now, some clever ironmaster could only accomplish the task of making
a good "street pavement" of cast iron, the increased demand for pig
metal would be enormous. It has nearly been accomplished already, by
several different modes of construction; and there are very many streets
where the luxury of wood pavement, which wears very rapidly, cannot be
afforded, and where macadamizing will not stand the wear and tear of the
heavy traffic. The use of ingot steel, or very mild steel, for making
tin-plates is now an established thing, and manufacturers are now taking
this metal for making large tinned sheets up to seven by three feet.
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