The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-08-24
to remind the public of one powe1fnl
and pressing reason for REMOVAL
Ne,O York Tribune.
The Aluminium Age.

1ue "Otiu uno Hau llS aye OF stone
and bronze. We are now passing
through the iron age. Will this he
succeeded by an age Of alumiuum ?
We believe that it will. 1t hayes
ones imagination little. we confess.
but not ones credulitY to see in the
minds eye the bright and beautiful
aluminium replacing black and ugly
iron in most of the latter's uses.
Fancy houses made of aluminium
instead of iron. The weight Of the
cew metal is only third as much
as iron, with equal or greater tensile
strength. The girders and the plates
could be cast and readily handed in
sizes far larger than those to which
architectural 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 fireproof as iron !
The larger the plates of the metal
composing the side of the hous
less liable they are to be warpe5y ~
curled by intense heat. A bdilding
with aluminium walls, such as we
have described. would survive great
confagration. in which iron struct.
ures of existing patterns would
wither and crumbIe % the ground.
AS aluminium never rusts a house
constructed of it would always ex.
hibit silvery glistening surface. 1t
would require no ceaning, except as
smoke and dust night gradually dim
its native beauty. A sponge and
water would bring all that back.
Whenever aluminium is cheap
enough for hoase building, steam
ships will be made of it. This will
be a revolution in ocean commerce.
Hulls of aluminium ships will weigh
only a third as much as iron ones of
equal tonnage. They will be as strong
and secure against damage from COL
lision as iron vessels now are. Their
far greater buoyancy will be to that
extent an increase of safety,
Passenger cars made of aluminium
in light and graceful patterns-in.
Guiding wheels of the same metal
need weigh no more than wooden
cars of our day, and they would be
incombustible, and would not be
readily crumpIed up or smashed into
splinters by collisions. The perils Of
railroad travelling in the age of alum
mum will be much less than now.
The ductility of aluminium will
render it the best of all possible ma.
terials for bridges. The weight lOf
the wire ropes, as also of the brie he
itself. for a given span, being fdt
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 riv.
ers at intervals of every few blocks.
With the sufficient cheapening of
aluminium may come the realization
of the flying machine. One great OBJ
stacle to the success of aerial naviga-
ton is the difficulty of supplying a
practical motor either to propel or to
steer the balloon. The want is still
more seriously felt if the design is to
dispense with gas and initiate merely
the movement of a birds wing or a
fish's tail in cleaving the air.
The small weight of an aluminium
engine, driven by compressed air, gas
or electricity. compared with its iron
equivalent, undoubtedly makes the
ultimate success of air ships more
probable than before.
The sources of supply are mex.
haussible. Iron, copper, silver, and
gold, are found in localities geograph.
ically small. But one of the most
universally distributed materials of
the earth beneath our feet is clay. the
metallic base of which Is aluminium.
Having boundless faith in the inge-
nuity of man to overcome difficulties,
we confidently expect him to wrest
this now stubborn metal from its
superabundant combinations. and en-.
able the world soon to enter on an
age of aluminium. ii
GAHaa.ax. Inc. 4ho KIsa4 - M n |