The carbon of the iron has a greater affinity for the oxygen of
the air than for the iron. When all the carbon is removed, then exactly
enough carbon is added by introducing molten spiegeleisen to produce
steel of any desired temper with the utmost certainty.
With the ordinary kinds of pig iron early in use, Bessemer's process
was powerless. The old puddling process was more capable of removing
phosphorus and sulphur. But with pig iron produced from the red hematite
ores, practically free from phosphorus, Bessemer's process was a
surprising success.
At once exploration began to open vast fields of hematite ores in the
counties of Cumberland and Lancashire of England, in Spain, in the Lake
Superior regions of North America, and in other countries. Bessemer
wisely made his royalty very low, five dollars per ton; capital rapidly
flowed into this new industry, and Bessemer won a fortune. Mushroom towns
and cities sprung up everywhere and fortunes were made by many.
Mr. Bessemer himself vividly described his process in action: "When the
molten pig iron is poured into mortar-like converters, supported on
trunions like a cannon, the process is brought into full activity. The
blast is admitted through holes in the bottom, when small powerful jets
of air spring upward through the boiling fluid mass, and the whole
apparatus trembles violently.
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