Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1860-08-25
rFrom the Mineral Point lnteigencer.1
THE MINERAL POINT ZsNC WORKS.

From the Mineral Point lntelligencer.
THE MINERAL POINT zane WORKS.
j On approaching this place by railroad
from the South, the traveller will observe
Oh the west side Of the railroad, about half
a mile below the station, couple Of large
tlbuildings at the foot OF the bluff; on the
bluff a huge stone chimney, and in front a
brick yard Here is the only Zine Manu-
factory in the United States. Attempts
have been made to establish Zine Works in
|, other places,viz Newark, n. j., and Beth
lehem, Penn, but they have failed, the
manufactures in Europe being able 10 inn
port it into this county, cheaper than il
Jean be made here In Germany, where
4 labor is 50 cheap, the SiIisan furnaces have
produced SO mich emo that the most Of the
lother furnaces in the world are out Of hlast
Here at Mineral Point a mandatory is
started, an now it is not an experiment,
'ltut it is Il success.
I Mr. Robert George, German, and for
merly an officer Of mining and smelling un-
der the Prussian government, losing his
Office during the revolution Of 1913, fled
Ito this country, turned his attention to the
manufacture of zine, and commenced to ex-
pertinent here. One great difficulty III his
way, was the high price of labor, and he
tried some experiments to obyiate this
He finally succeeded III getting furnace
which would produce zinc from the ore
cheaper than the old method, and invented
a process Of saving the zinc flour, or zinc
white, from which superior kind of white
lpaint is made There are three methods
Iof producing zinc from the ore, called the
ISilisian, English and Liege, differing prin-
lcipally III the construction of the furnaces.
This furnace more nearly resembles the Liege
furnace The ores here used arc called
I"drybone, ''as the miners term it, from d
slight resemblance it appears to have to the
porous nature Of burnt bone; the others are
Iblende or "blackiack." This "blackiackn
lis very troublesome TO the miners, and causes
great waste Of lead in smelling; but by
Il process used by Mr.. George, which lie has
Just patented, the sulphur is more easily
separated from the zinc, than by any pro-
cess known before, and it becomes a valu-
able ore.
These ores are taken out Of tie lead mines,
and occur in the same range with the LEAD,
land are looked upon by the miners as 50
Inuch rubbish. They are mixed with stone
leoal, and thrown into furnace something
like huge chimney and thcr, roasted
for several hours losing by this about &c
per cent. Of its weight and bulk After
s.roastng' il is pounded, mixed with stone
coal, and placed in the retorts. These re-
forts are hollow cylinders Of fire clay, about
six feet long. six feet internal, and ten in
ches external. Twenty-ihree Of these are
fplaeea in the furnace, siutilar 10 The fluc ii
tile boiler Of q locomotive, supported at tbs
lends, and are two or three inches apart
{ Cone shaped pipes Of fire clay, extend from
the outer ends Of them, and cylinders thro
the doors to the open air. During the
smelling the metal tiickles from these pipes
and drops ON the floor to cool. A blue flame
is continually playing at the mouth Of the
tubes.
a dense white fume rises from the retorts,
and is conducted into long canvass box on
the roof Of the building, where it is con
ldcnsed, producing "zinc white This pro
cess is patented by Mr.. George. Ia other
furnaces the fumes are allowed to escape.
4 The metal as it comes from the retolts, i
not yet pure. II IS next put into asort Of
iron pot, over a fire, ana again melted, the
impurities skinned of, it IS dipped out In
to moulds and is now ready for market IN
the shape Of ''pigs,D inches thick, 8 in
'lches wide, and 3 inches long. Ii sells al
8 a 81 cents per h., at present; this is a
low price however.
Mr. George informed me that his great
lest trouble when lie commenced. was to get
fire clay for the retorters. For some time
be imported clay from Germany, but this
was very expensive, and sometimes he wo'd
get abogus article lie experimental with
the La Sale clay, but that proved worth
less lie now uses clay from St. Louis,
which, thouehnotas tough as the German
clay, answers the purpose admirably. 1t
is first pulyerised BY astamping mill, and Is
then worked in the smixing box" and al
lowed to lay in large masses for live or six
weeks, before made into retorts.
Mr.. George says that twenty furnaces
might as well Be IN operation here, as one.
He is making brick preparatory building.
He commenced here two years ago and
has been experimenting considerably, hence
he has not employed his mandatory as he
otherwise would. He is a scientific man,
and puts his knowledge to practical use,
and his manufactory is q valuable addition
It's the resources Of Mineral Point.
NILS.