IRON—LOW GRADE AND HIGH GRADE.
CHARACTER AND WORTH.
Suggestion:—Objects used: A piece of old iron, some nails, broken clock and watch springs, and also a piece of native iron ore, if convenient.
MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS: I want to show you to-day that there is a great difference in the value of things, even though they are made of the same material. In the second chapter of Genesis we are told, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." So, you see that all men and women are made of the same material, yet men differ greatly, both in character and works.
Iron Products.
I have here some iron ore, some old iron, some nails; here are some clock springs, and here are some springs of watches. This iron ore is as it is dug from the earth. It is called the native iron, but mixed with it there is much earth and stone and dross, which must be separated from it in order to make it pure. This is done by casting the ore, together with limestone and other materials, into a huge furnace, where the fire is so intensely hot that all are melted and thus the iron is separated from the dross, or stone and earth, which is now mixed with the ore. When the iron is thus separated and molded into large bars, it is worth from a fraction of a cent to two cents per pound, according to quality and market price. After it has been cast into great iron bars, and is known as pig iron, it is afterward bought and melted over again and molded into the form of stoves and wheels, such as are used in factories, and a variety of other forms for manufacturing and other uses.
Nail, Pen and Clock Spring.
Now, here I have some pieces of iron, such as boys call "old iron." They often find pieces of this kind of iron, which have been thrown away, and gather and sell them at a price varying from one-quarter to a cent or more a pound, according to circumstances. Then it is melted over again and made into stoves, or whatever the manufacturer may desire. Now, here are some nails, such as sell at five cents a pound, and here are some steel pens, which are worth from one to four and five dollars a pound. Here are some springs, such as are used in the construction of clocks. These are the springs which make clocks go. When you wind up the clock you simply tighten this spring, thus storing the power which is necessary to keep the clock in motion for twenty-four hours, for eight days, or even a longer period.