Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/87

Rh In vain it was pointed out that in order that the contractors might decide upon the process best suited to the raw material, samples of the iron ore to be used should be secured and analysed. The Viceroy is one of those men who, in the words of an educated Chinese, "when he set his heart upon some new idea, expected his whole scheme to drop ready-made from heaven," and curtly informing the contractors that the quality of his iron ore was no business of theirs, demanded the despatch of a complete steel plant without further delay. The contractor guessed, since there was nothing else to be done—and guessed wrong. When the ore came to be treated, it was found to contain large quantities of phosphorus, a type of ore which is not amenable to the Bessemer process. After a large number of faulty rails had been supplied for the Pei-Han (Peking-Hankow) railway, the present manager, Mr Li, was sent to Europe to purchase a new plant, and the changes now in progress are the outcome of his recent visit. At a cost of 2,500,000 taels a new blast furnace, Siemens-Martin furnaces, rolling mills, and beam and