Some very large engines even allowed for applications as large as 1,400 horsepower. Many were convinced of the Corliss engine's benefits, but adoption was slow due to patent protection. When Corliss was denied a patent extension in 1870, it became a prevalent model for stationary engines in the industrial sector. By the end of the 19th century, the engine was already having a major influence on the manufacturing sector, where it made up only 10% of the sector's engines, but produced 46% of the horsepower. The engine also became a model of efficiency outside of the textile industry, as it was used for pumping the waterways of Pawtucket, Rhode Island in 1878, and played an essential role in the expansion of the railroad by allowing for very large-scale operations in rolling mills. Many steam engines of the 19th century have been replaced, destroyed, or repurposed, but the longevity of the Corliss engine is apparent today in select distilleries, where they are still used as a power source. Major Applications Blast furnace power In the mid-1750s, the steam engine was applied to the water power-constrained iron, copper and lead industries for powering blast bellows. These industries were located near the mines, some of which were using steam engines for mine pumping. Steam engines were too powerful for leather bellows, so cast iron blowing cylinders were developed in 1768. Steam-powered blast furnaces achieved higher temperatures, allowing the use of more lime in iron blast furnace feed. (Lime-rich slag was not free-flowing at the previously used temperatures.) With a sufficient lime ratio, sulfur from coal or coke fuel reacts with the slag so that the sulfur does not contaminate the iron. Coal and coke were cheaper and more abundant fuel. As a result, iron production rose significantly during the last decades of the 18th century. Moving from water to steam power Water power, the world's preceding supply of power, continued to be an essential power source even during the height of steam engine popularity. The steam engine, however, provided many benefits that couldn't be realized by relying solely on water power, allowing it to quickly become industrialised nations' dominant power source (rising from 5% to 80% of the total power in the US from 1838-1860). While many consider the potential for an increase in power generated to be the dominant benefit (with the average horsepower of steam-powered mills producing four times the power