In 1831, thirteen years later, the dimensions of rolled plates were no
doubt raised; but few then would have supposed it possible there
should be rolled such plates as are now produced for boiler purposes,
and still fewer would have believed that in the year 1881 we should
make, for warlike purposes, rolled plates 22 inches in thickness and
30 tons in weight. I have said there is very little alteration in the
process of making wrought iron by puddling, and I do not think there
is likely to be much further, if any, improvement in this process,
because I believe that, with certain exceptions, the manufacture of
iron by puddling is a doomed industry. I ventured to say, in a lecture
I delivered at the Royal Institution three years ago on "The Future of
Steel," that I believed puddled iron, except for the mere hand wrought
forge purposes of the country blacksmith, and for such like purposes,
would soon become a thing of the past. Mr. Harrison, the engineer of
the North-Eastern Railway, told me that about eighteen months ago the
North-Eastern Railway applied for tenders for rails in any quantities
between 2,000 and 10,000 tons, and they issued alternative
specifications for iron and for steel. They received about ten
tenders. Some did not care to tender for iron at all; but when they
did tender alternatively, the price quoted for the iron was greater
than for the steel.
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