Steel That Will Not Rust.
At last, after many decades of waiting, a steel has been made that will not tarnish or rust. Knives made of it stay bright without polishing, even when they are used to cut acid fruits. There is no need any longer to plate the steel with silver or nickel, no need to galvanize it and paint it. The vast advantage of this in steel-frame buildings, in bridge work, and in numberless machines is at once apparent. It has been estimated that every year no less than one million tons of steel are lost through rust in the United States alone. The value of this steel in the crude state is from thirty to forty million dollars.
The new metal was developed in the famous steel district of Sheffield, England, and arrangements have been made for its manufacture in this country. It is a strong steel, with twice the breaking strength of ordinary bridge steel, and it may be forged or worked like ordinary metal; but, unfortunately, it cannot be welded.
We speak of honest men as being "true as steel," but hitherto the comparison has had this flaw, that steel is not always true, for rust renders it treacherous. We have been told to look forward' with delight to heaven, "where rust doth not corrupt." Often men "true as steel" have been known to fail under temptation, and such men are doubly dangerous to their trusting friends. Would that this new discovery could be applied to character, so that the "true-as-steel" men might be guaranteed against the development of moral flaws. Indeed, there is a process whose results are sure, the process of regeneration. Men become "true as steel" only as they are born again into the life of Him who is the Truth.