Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-09-15
SAyINGS OF SCIENCE.


0kvkNGC VI SClkNCEs
stone, Glass, and Wool Made from Iron
slsg-The Waste from Gold and silver.
The utilizing Of tin-plate cuttings
and the recovery OF the tin have become
important and profitable industries
in the manufacture of tinware. 1t il
said 6 per cent. Of the whole of the
plate employed disappears in the form
Of scrap. Birmingham (EnglanO pro-
duces thirty tons per week. A very
fair trade is done by parties who
go about the tin works buying up
the tin dust. They even go to France
and other countries, and ship it to En-
gland 10 be reduced. This so-called
tin dust is really the scum Of the tin
pot, which is reduced by ignition and
fiux. An engineering paper states that
the waste OF timed iron, used for all
kinds OF purposes, but especially for
sauce-pans, kettles, button making,
etc, was formerly large, but method
is now employed by which the tin can
be recovered from the waste simply by
the action Of dilute sulphuric acid
In wire making factories the dilute
snlphuric acid formerly used to clean
the wire was allowed to run into the
sewer when it had become so charged
with the iron scale as to cease to "bite. T"
and large quantities of refuse wire were
employed only to fill up hollows in
grading, or thrown into heap. All
this waste material is now, however,
converted into articles of commercial
n Nh.,r 10 n,,I
comparatively inexpensive.
Not only in the inferior metals is
waste now prevented, but increased at
tention is given to the collection Of
gold formerly lost. Immense heaps Of
refuse, or "tailings,' rs they are tech
nically termed, accumulate where mine
operations are carried on. The sludge
which is emptied from the pudding
mills in Australia contains a consider
able quantity Of fine gold. Much of
this is now recovered, and the yield of
gold from it exceeds three penny
weights per ton. The right to wash
the tailings is often sold to the Chinese,
who are always well satisfied with the
results of their labors.
The silver and gold from photogra-
piers waste is also now carefully col
lected, and forms considerable item
OF economy A method of utilizing the
waste of gold leaf, used in printing and
the arts, is by converting it into what is
called fleece-gold. The composition is
used like the ordinary bronze, except
that rather more copal is mixed with it.
1t is used for all fancy papers for which
gold leaf and bronze have hitherto been
used.
The waste of the glass furnaces, such
as pieces of broken glass, flaw glass,
the hearth droppings and the glass re-
naming adherent to the blowers pipe,
is utilized again, serving a purpose in
the manufacture of glass similar to rags
in paper making.
Blast-furnace Stag is now applied to
the manufacture of artificial stone. and
moulded into chimney pieces, win
dow heads, balustrading. and outside
ornamental builders work generally.
The stone is composed of ~ parts of
finely-pulverized Stag and % parts of
ground brick to one part of Portland
cement. The mixture is run into
moulds,' and sets quickly, the articles
being ready for the market in four or
five days. Beside brick and stone arti-
cles, the Stag is used for making NOR
tar, cement, and concrete. The mortar
is mixture of Stag and common lime,
the cement being composed of the same
with the addition of iron
oxides.
Another useful purpose for which it
has been successfully utilized is that of
glass manufacture. The vitreous char
acter of Stag indicates resemblance to
glass in its composition. 1t does, in
fact, contain the principal components
OF glass, but not III proper proportions,
and those in which it is deficient have,
therefore, to be added with others
which are not present. Bottles made of
this Stag by the Britten Patent Glass
Company were shown at the Paris Ex-
hibition in 1878, and received honorable
Another application is the manufact-
ure of slag-wool BY the action of
strong jets of steam the Stag is trans
formed into fibrous, whitish silicate
cotton, which being metallic is incom-
llhC dSottOS. III Tile
ton of new houses with Mansard roofs,
the space between the interior lath, or
paneling, and the exterior covering of
zinc, slate, or tin. is filed with this
slag-wool, which protects from the rigor
Of frost in winter and the intense heat
in summer. If in winter the tars and
sprouts and water-pipes are covered
with this slag-wool, it prevents the
freezing of the water and the bursting
OF the pipes and joints. This slag-wool
is also used now by gardeners to cover
plants and protect them from the effects
Of sudden changes of temperature.
The manufacturer who discovers a
unknown use for the waste
product of his work necessarily cheap
ems the cost to the principal article of
production, and thus secures an advan-
tage over his competitors. american
Cultirdtor