The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-07-22

Edison's Latest An Iron Benan1a n
the Sands Along the Atlantic CoAst
Mr.. Thomas A. Edison, the electrical
wizard who has of late accomplished 20
many marvellous things, has perfected
another remarkable invention that will
no doubt work great revolution in the
iron trade. The matter has up to the
present been kept very quiet, but it has
finally leaked out, notwithstanding the
efforts of those who are financially in
terested to keep it from the public. The
machine, wherein electricity plays the
prominent part, is q very simple con-
trivance, but nevertheless it will be the
means of producing what has never been
produced in this country before, and
that is iron of the same quality as the
best Swedish, and for a market price of
about One-haf that of the latter.
1t had been believed for some time
that there was in the seashore sands of
Long Island and along the Atlantic
Coast indications of magnetic iron, and
examination proved that this was fact,
but how to extract it from the sand was
the problem. Mr.. Edison had some
time ago invented process for extract
ing gold dust from washings by the use
of magnets. whereby the baser constitu-
ents were attracted into piles by means
of three or four processes, and the gold
and sand subsequently washed and sep
arated. When the matter of securing
iron ore from the sea sands was pre-
scented to him q few weeks ago, he at
once went to work and perfected q
process whereby with one exposure to
magnets the valuable ore should
be separated from the 'titanite, {"
or iron coated with sulphur, with
which il was mingled, and at the same
time left free of the schist wherein it was
lodged. To do this it became necessary
to so gradute the electrical force that
the true iron, having the greater attrac-
tive force, should be drawn nearest the
magnet, while magnetic, or sulphur
ore and sand, should fall in separate
piles. Mr.. Edison's separator-fort thus
it may comprehensively be called-con-
sists of a V-shaped trough four feet long
and little more than two feet deep,
with slit one-sixteenth of an inch wide
at the bottom. Under this, at a dis
lance of five feet, and resting on the
ground, is separator, the apex situated
little to one side of the trough above,
so that the sand falling straight will
strike on one incline and be forced in an
opposite direction from that taken by the
ore, which, striking the other eide, is
slid off into hopper or receptacle, A
little less than halfway between the slit
in the trough or sand receptacle and the
ground, and of the same width, are a
pair of large magnets, which receive
their electrical energy either from jars
or steam generator, just as is desired,
according to the plant.
The object, as I have above stated, is
to extract the magnetic iron ore from
the sand and titaniferous ore. The
sand is shoveled into the trough and,
being dry, falls through the narrow slit
in a sheet four feet long and one-six-
teenth of an inch in width. The mag
nets are provided with just enough
power to defect the magnetic or block
oxide of iron from perpendicular fall
and deposit it on the side of the separa-
tor opposite the sand, which, having no
affinity for the magnets, falls direct to
the ground, together with the titanifer-
Gus ore. 1t is then taken up, placed in
sacks and shipped. The process is very
rapid.
1t may be asked what particular value
is to be attached to this simple invention
and where it is to be adopted. 1t is one
of the most valuable of modern inven-
tons, and is to be made use of right
here on the Atlantic coast, for the pres
emit at least, and the Lord only knows
where it may not be applied, for, &C.
cording to Edison's statements, the
ocean shores are simply covered with
these iron deposits. Heretofore Swed-
ish iron has never been made outside of
that country, where these sand deposits
exist, and where the crystals of mag
netite are very large. But here, right
under our very nose, there are, it ap-
pears, millions upon millions of tons of
this sand containing incalculable
amounts of the purest and best iron ore,
for magnitite or block oxide of iron is
the purest ore known, containing no
phosphorus or sulphur. Ihere are banks
of this sand on Long Island alone twen-
ty feet high where there are layers upon
layers of the deposits, and these banks
are from 100 to $50 feet in width. There
is one strip of coast that has been pros
pected that is twenty miles long. Re-
moving the white surface sand, there is
usually found deposit of black sand
about ten inches in depth. About two
inches below occurs another deposit. In
these deposits is found the iron ore that
is so valuable. 1t is estimated that
about 40 per cent of the sand is COM
posed of the two forms of iron ore
magnetic and titaniferous- of
this from Is to 20 per cent is pure mag
netite.
Under the present working by those
who are managing the machine in ope-
ration about 10 per cent is extracted,
but Edison says he can get more than
this if he should take hold of it person
ally. He gave the present operator a
ten minutes lesson one day, and that's
all the instructions he had so he is nat
urally working little crude.-New York