People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 November 1896 — IRON BAR 2,000 YEARS OLD. [ARTICLE]

IRON BAR 2,000 YEARS OLD.

A Portion of It Is Owned l>y the Iron Chancellor. S. T. Wellman, the metallurgist ol Cleveland, has a portion of a round bar of iron—and a few like pieces are held in the United States—that antedates the Christian era by two or three centuries. The iron, which had been originally hammered into plates and was deeply rusted from age, was found a few years ago by Dr. Karl Humann in the ruins of the temple of Artemis Leucophryne, at Magnesia, Asia Minor. Dr. Humann sent it to Hallbauer, in Germany, and the latter made from a portion of it a memorial tablet. This was presented to Bismarck in April, 1894. It bore this inscription in German: “For you, Prince Bismarck, the Iron Chancellor, Hermogenes forged this iron at Magnesia 200 B. C. Humann found it in the temple of Artemis after 2,000 years and sent it to Hallbauer, who gave it the form in which it shall bear wi# ness that yonr deeds shall outlive miilenia. ” At the time of the presentation tc Bismarck Stahl und Eisen gave a photographic reproduction of the plate and an account of the discovery of the iron. The temple of Artemis, one of the most magnificent of anoient monuments, was rebuilt about 800 B. C., though by some the date is put at 200 B. C, The metal is described as approximating steel in its composition, though closely akin to malleable iron. It was made at a low temperature, and great c’are was necessary in the forging. It was found rather difficult to roll the pieces that were preserved as relics, these having a diameter of about onehalf inch.—lron Trade Review.