Daily Republican., 1885-09-14
KAOLIS, ETC.
.t}reely Sun.

II AL III Suct6T
county, Pa, and parts OF the adjacent
one of New Castle, Del, 10 the mining
/ of the substance calld kaolin. This is
the main article made use of In the Ger.
annie arts In the pr oiuction Of porcelain,
|queensware, etc. Twenty five years
ago no industy Of the kind existed
here; indeed, kaolin, or it's uses, was
scarcely known to the people of this
part of the country, save TO the scien-
|tificslly educated few. 1t had no local
commercial value, whatever. Now ex-
tensive areas in both counties have been
dug up and eng over to obtain it.
Enormous quantities of it in the last
dozen years have been mined and sold
to the pot .sries IN Trenton, N. j., and
|Greenpotnt, N. Y. Right now, how.
ever, and for awhile past, on account
OF the strineepcy Of the times and the
little demand there Is for the raw pro-
duct and the articles manufactured
from It, joined TO the hot, dry weather
of this and this past month, which has
nearly dried mp the little rivulets of
water depended on for washing the
clay. not more than half the number
of men are EN- ployed In the business
difficult to fiud correct reason for this
state of affairs.
The everlasting tinkering at the ma
tional tariff by Congress for the free, or
next TO free. admission into our mar
kets OF the foreign manufactured goods
made OF the product, 10 one potent
cause, II not the caure itself, OF the
present d ILLNESS and depression in this
and its coeuato industry, namely, the
man ufaoturing In this country OF por
cslain ami QnesAe~DA me nasetiled
state and dullness In the iron Industry
Of the whole country from the same pro.
life and IN ischievoi = cause named, has
70 acted on and irjured-iu fact, about
stopped, the demand for II IA proof brick
-anothev product Of kaolin mining,
used for lininQs In the kilns and fur
naces of lion manufacturing establish
ments.
And right here, how easy it would be
to trace out 10 an absolute demonstra-
ton, the one great cause which has in
this and all other Industries In the Uni-
ted States, produced the present hard
times, and the enforced idleness the
men who were formerly profitaby TIN
ployed in them. Bat such thing not
being inclu led within the Original scope
Ard meaning Of this letter, will be omit.
ted.
To persons ignorant Of what IL meant
by the term kaolin, l will here explain
that IL IL an earthly or metallic sub
stsnce-the principal ingredient ofcom
mon clay-havins the metal alu nine
for its tase. Rotten or deoomposed
felspar-silicate Of alumina-- would
properly designate the material taken
out OF kaolin mines. IL may here be
remarked that liz its pure state, alum
inc, or alumina-bOth terms meaning
.hs same thinR-is the gem sapphire,
which In hardness and value ranks mex.
to the diamond.
Alumina, according to Dana, is,
chemically, the oxide OF the metal
aluminium, consisting oftwo parts Of
aluminium and three OF oxygen. Corur-
dun, mined in Lancaster county, next
north OF Chester County, is another and
COARSE form CT the same mineral, and Is
extensively and fsmiliarly used on
wheels and belts in the mechanical arts
i for shaping and sm ,othing articles OF
| wood, and for grinding and polish ing
metals, glass and other hard substances.
Emory Ii another name, also, for the
| same substance.
The position OF the kaolin strata
among the crystalline, non fossiliferous,
magnesium marbles aud lice stones OF
| this region, In connection with the
valuable Braudywine granite and
gneiss rocks, with the rare and beautiful
serpentine stone, 10 much sought after
and pr, Esd for decorative building pur
poses, would seem To indicate it to be
of very remote geological age and de
velOpement. There are also in this i'm
mediate vicinity, mines OF another
leqnally rare and costly mineral, name.
lily, chromium, extensively used in the
l t.1F a ui a
| ia brics. and in making thu beautiful
green coloring of the floral and Other
RECOMMENDATIONS found ON china and
GLASSWARE.
Az the ore, kaolin, is Obtained at nc
great depth from the surfa 70 of the
gre und, the method practicsd OF pro
Touring It, il by what Is known "a tht
Iopen or gash system OF mining. Hav
ing first located the site of the mine by
boring through the superincum beni
strata, II IL next uncovered or laid bare
by tho removal OF the top soil. Tn,
mineral is next shoveled into tubs Of
buckets made for the purpose, ant
then by horse power, operating pigan-
nc cranes by means Of appropr lat,
tackling, 1t Is hoisted out OF the m NO
and dumped into tram cars and takeI
to the " washers"
These are simply long aud stroni
made boxes or troughs, fitted will
steam revolving horizontal shafts, 10
lspirAlly round from end to eud, viii
iron or steel knives or blades that, with
the help Of the water that all the tim,
is flo wing Though them, separates anc
washes the finer particles Of the mine
raj from the coarse., which latter Il
81 eoted from tho machine in the form o
I'd filings. The other part also leaves tn,
: washers, commingled with the waite
: in which the whole mass was 1giJatsC
! in thick creamy stream, and Ia con
lducted into immense settling tank s
from whence IL is pumped directly int,
what are technically called thu
|" presses.
The presst are composed OF mum
btr OF closely fitting leaves, with ffuted
wooden backs witt specs bet weei
heir borders in which are fitted stou
! can vas sacks. open a. the bottom an.
ends TOR the delivery of their charges
: but closed by pleating CT folding thei
borders while the liquid, purulent lik
mlss is being pumped into them
through the accurately fitting sectiona
: tube that communicates with and con.
meets each leaf Of the entire series. Tn
= weight of q charge to each leaf
8 when drained and taken out, varie
from 100 TO 200 pounds. The "offbear
: or receives tie "oharges " from tn
j, Il" pressmen" in the form of huge
uhite rolls weighing each from 80 u
y 100 pounds. These he places on bar
II row AMI trundles OFT To and puts OIL
= racks or screens to dry, ready for ship
u lping to the potteries
The present average daily wages O
: the men working ~ the business. tel
hours day, is 81 % ;the men boardin
, them selves. Formerly they were pal