Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-05-15
INTRODtIt,iN ltiDgSrRY.
81 ScientlsEa inventions fOf ae1ing Alum.

II SclentlSE1 invention Tor A&eInk Alum
inium ftsa Clay. slss
Important sacts bearing on the exI -
traction Of aluminium from kaolin
ga claY9 on a commercial basis have
been developed ia g leVeIand, Ct, with
& IN the past few weeks. Aluminium
i has long been known as the metallic
basis 1t clay but i'll It's nature is so
ethereal hat here fore it's elimina ton
has been attended with great difficulty
and much expense. Within the past
few years, however. French and Eng
lisl inventors have obtained results
more or less important, SO that the
present importing price Of aluminium
IN TINS country, duty free, is $14..25 =
pound. In England a man named
Webster has established very large
works tor the manufacture of articles
from he new metal, but the cost Of
production has as yet limited its use
merely to tableware and small utensils
for household use. The problem now
Is to devise method OF extraction
which Nshall reduce the cost to from
~ to So per pound, at which figure it
can be used for a great variety OF man
nfactures, such as gun barrels, pro-
pellerEblades, wire, and possibly bridge.
/, and railroad works. As aluminium is
Z four times lighter than silver and three
times lighter than iron. is non oxldiza-
Bile, of great tenacity and strength,
ductile, and Of superior electric con-
5ductiylty, and is, moreover, very vide
4 ~ dlf1used throughout the country
appearing in all ordinary clay banks,
but more particularly ~ the immense
deposits OF kaolin in Connecticut, New
York, Virginia, and Georgia, and in o
veritable mountain of sulphate of
alumina in New Mexico--the import
ance OF the present search for a cheap
method of production is apparent.
Aluminium will bear several times
more strain than gun metal, and much
more than Bessemer steel. 1t also
! possesses sonOrous qualities superior,
to those Of any other metal, and alloys
beautifully with almost any known
metal. When the secret OF its cheap
production is generally known a revor
luton in the metal world will be the
certain result. @'t : d *e '..
q A Philadelphia chemist named Friess
muth about u year ago announc ed the
discovery of a very cheap method, but
it has remained for Cleveland parties
to bring the mnch-desired end nearer
practical accomplishment than ever
before. Mr. T. j. Seymour, a we'll
known practical metallurgist, late of
Bridgeport, Conn, has as the, result of
years OF study, succeeded in produc-
ing aluminium at q low figure at cost,
and by the aid ola novel furnace, just
designed, asserts that he can extract
the metal on a commercial basis and
in large quantities. Not to go into all
the technical details, which are ex-
ttremely interesting to metallurgists,
1t is sufficient to say that Mr.. Seymour.
has discovered that the close affinity
existing between zinc and aluminium
can be utilized in vaporizing. 1A'captur-;
ing aud depositing the latter, the
separation being effected by the appli-
cation OF heat through furnace, or
rather a series of furnace, of peculiar
construction. The charge for each
furnace is: Zinc ore, 100 parts; kaolin,
so parts; carbon, either anthracite coal
or its equivalent in hydrocarbon gas,
125 parts; pear,-ash, or its equivalent,
Is parts, chloride OF sodium, 10 parts,
allintimately mixed. The retorts are
of steel, and 36 incheslong by II wide,
sides ! inches thick. The amountsof
heat necessary to produce thesdesired
results about $500 degrees Fahren-a
heit. Properly handled, one furnace
should make two charges in "a to 30
hours. Four men can operate fifty
IretOfts. The number of retorts can be
increased several hundred in sin ole
system. Capitalists have already.
manifested an interest in this new
process, and the prospects are that OPP
era tions on an extensive scale will
soon follow. Independent inyestiga-
itions in the same line in this city have
resulted in the recent. Incorporation
of a company with ample capital for
the extraction of aluminium by means
OF electricity. Thus far the secret of
the process has been strictly guar ded,
and nothing can therefore be given as
to it's details, --NeW York Times.
IL 5N =