Daily Republican., 1879-03-21
What is Fin. Ware, The Care or H..

1t does not appear to be general
known that the article SO commonl,
used for household utensils for cans, 70
roofing, etc., called "tin, really con
taihs very little tin, seldom more thai
one part in forty or fifty. Tin-pur'
tin is silvery white metal, and il
.he highest and easiest melted of all tn,
metals In common use; it being only
about 6ve-eighths as heavy as lead ,and
requires only about two-thirds the heat
to melt 1t. Pure tin is called "block.
Tin" but it is rarely used pure; the
utensils, said to BIZ make of block-tin,
being alloys with other metals. Our
common tin-ware is really tin plate
q thin sheet of iron, coated with a film
of tin. Plates of iron of the proper
size and thickness are secured with
sand and acid until perfectly clean, and
then dipped several times in melted
tin; coating of tin, of variable thick
ness, adheres to the iron.
The object Of coating iron with tin in
this manner is to protect the iron from
rusting. Tin when exposed to the air
does not rust or even tarnish, while
iron readily does so, but the thin coat
ing of tin completely protects it. No
doubt that many housekeepers will be
ready to assert that tinware does rust
and they are correct-tinware does
rust, but tin itself does not; so long as
the coating of tin is perfect, no rust
ing can take place. The knowledge of
the fact that all our tinware is only tin
upon the surface, but that the body is
iron, should lead to greater care in the
purchase and the use of such articles.
Aside from the fact that the iron plate
to be covered with tin may be good or
bad, there Is a great difference in the
coating Of tin; for cheaper ware, not
only Is the tin adulterated with lead,
but this put on in the thinnest possible
coating, various expedients being used
to quite cover the iron and yet make
the coating as thin as possible-a mere
film or wash.
In this, as in many other cases, the
purchaser must rely upon the honesty
Of the manufacturer, for in this as in
silver, plate the bad looks equally we'll
with the good; the maker of the ware
can buy tinplate Oh which there are
three or four times as heavy covering
of tin as on the cheapest. It is impor-
tant to have good ware at the start. 1t
will be understood that when plate of
tin is cut, the iron is exposed at the
edges; in making up utensils careful
tin these edeges, i.e.,
cover them with film Of tin. The ne
glsct to do this is what makes cheap
ware show rusty spots after few days
use. With the best of ware the tin will
in time wear of and expose the iron,
but this is often hastened by improper
cleaning.
Some persons, especially help, pride
upon their bright tin-ware,
which is furiously secured with soap
and sand; one such securing will re-
move the Timing from the cheap ware,
md the best cannot stand many repsti-
lions unharmed. Nothing coarser
than whiting should be used upon tin
ware, unless in rare cases when
,ome accident has made 1t necessary;
,are in its use, and the knowledge that
he tin, like beauty, "is bnt skin
leep'-,that the articles are really iron
with thin covering of very soft met
Il-tin-should lead to more econo
nical treatment of these most useful
household conveniences. - From HE
imeriaa Agricultmist far Jlarch |.