The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1889-07-27
THE ALUMINIUM AGE.
Metal That May Revolutionize Ship
building anc other Construction.

A Metal That May Revolutionize Ship
Building and other Construction.
The world has had its ages of stone
and bronze. We are now passing
through the iron age. Will this be sue
ceeded by an age of aluminium We
believe that it will. 1t taxes ones inn
agination little, we confess, but not
ones credulity to see in the minds eye
the bright and beautiful aluminium re-
placing black and ugly iron in most of
the latter's uses.
Fancy houses made of aluminium in
stead of iron. The weight of the new
metal is only third as much as iron,
with equal or greater tensile strength.
The girders and the plates could be
cast and readily handled in sizes fur
larger than those to which architecture
al iron is now confined. Perhaps
whole fronts of modern-sized houses
could be moulded in single piece.
This would greatly facilitate building
operations which are now slow.
Aluminium is as fire proof us iron.
The larger the plates of the metal COM
liable they are to be warped and curlcd
by intense heat. A building with alu-
minum walls, such as we have de-
scribed, would survive a great conla-
grafton in which iron structures of eX-
isting patterns would wither and crum-
BILE to the ground. AS aluminium never
rusts, a house constructed of it would
always exhibit u silvery, glistening
surface. 1t would require no cleaning,
except as smoke or dust might gradual
ly dim its native beauty. A sponge
and water would bring all that back.
Whenever aluminium is cheap enough
for house building steamships will be
made of it. This will be revolution
in ocean commerce.. Hulls of alumni
um ships will weigh only u third as
much as iron ones of equal tonnage.
They will be as strong and secure
against damage from collision as iron
vessels now are. Their far greater
bouyancy will be to that extent an in.
crease of safety.
Passenger ears made of aluminium in
light and graceful pattcrns-including
wheels of the same metal-need weigh
no more than wooden cars of our day,
and they would be incom bustible. and
would not be readily crumpled up or
smashed into splinters by collisions.
The perils of railroad travelling in the
age of aluminium will be much less
than now.
The ductility of aluminium will rem
der it the best of all possible materials
for bridges. The weight of the wire
ropes, as also of the bridge itself, for
IL given span, being but one third that
of iron, engineers will perform feats OF
bridge building now wholly beyond
their powers. The age of aluminium
will be the age of bridges. They will
probably be thrown over the East and
North rivers ut intervals of every few
blocks.
With the sufficient cheapening of al
uminum may come the realization Of
the flying machine. One great obsta-
Gle to the success of aerial navigation
is the difficulty of supplying Il practical
motor either to propel or to steer the
balloon. The want is still more serious
ly felt if the design is to dispense with
gas and initiate merely the movement
of Il birds wing or fish's tail in cleav-
ing the air.
The small weight of an aluminium
engine, driven by compressed air, gas
or electricity, compared with its iron
equivalent, undoubtedly makes the ul-
innate success of air ships more prob
able than before.
The sources of supply are inexhaust-
ible. l"on, copper, silver, gold are
found in localities geographically
small. But one of the most universal
ly distributed materials of the earth
beneath our feet is clay, the metallic
base of which is aluminium. Having
boundless faith in the ingenuity of mar
to overcome difficulties, we confidently
expect him to wrest this now stubborn
metal from its superabundant combi-
nations, and enable the world soon to en-
ter on an age OF aluminum!-N. Y.
Journal of Commerce.