The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-26
Platinum is Now a Prize.


Whoever shall find deposit Of pure
pls tinum has within his grasp untold
wealth. 1t is fast becoming the king OF
metals Its growing demand can now be
met only by diminishing supply. Quite
naturally these conditions have sent up
prices almost beyond reach
''No enterprise in the world. :" said we'll
known electrician recently, "has increased
within the last few years so rapidly as the
business OF electric lighting. Only eleven
years ago, it will be remembered, the light
was first perfected. From the few lamps
burned by Edison at Menlo Park in 1879
have grown into present use at least 125, 0CO
arc lights and Loo, 900 inca descent lights.
To-day the amount Of money invested in
electric light plants in this country alone is
nothing short Of $l2O,OOO,OO0." Possibly
more.
One of the most noticeable results Of this
remarkable growth is the increase in the
price of platinum. On every i candescent
lamp will be stem a strip of wire attached to
the copper conductor at the top Of the globe.
That is platinum. 1t connects the car
bombed loop, and is one of the absolutely
Indispensable features Of the lamp, because
it expands at the same temperature and in
the same proportion as the glass globe.
Many experiments have been made with
view to discovering a satisfactory sub
stitute for platinum; but. up to this time,
they have all proven alike unsuccessful. In
each instance the tests have resulted in the
more or less unequal expansion of the metal
and glass under experiment and the conse-
quent SCATTERING of the globe.
Unfortunately for the makers every lamp
requires strip Of that particular metal to
make IL complete. Hence its rapidly in
creasing value. For the mines are not very
productive. Moreover, they are located in
the Ural mountains. so far away from the
ordinary channels of traffic as to be
practically inaccessible.
AS a result of this increased demand and
diminishing supply the price of platinum
has advanced tremendously, until 1t is now
almost as valuable as gold. Five years ago
the metal was seldom used in this country,
being employed only in the evaporating
stills for the concentration of sulphuric acid
ard in tie manufacture of jewelry. II was
then TO be bought in the market for So and
30 an ounce. One year ago it advanced to
IS an ounce, six months ago it had increased
to Sl4. Now one Of the trade journals an
nounces that it has gone up to $50. That is
only few cents less than the gold quota
tions Of to-day.
Platinum derived its name from the
original Spanish mines. AS early as the
six zenith century it appears to have been
noticed that the gold ore in the Spanish
mines OF Darien included grains of white
ore endowed with the qualities of a noble
metal and yet distinctly different from
silver. Its expectation to Europe was pro-
hibited. because the Spanish government
found that it might easily be used in the
adulteration of gold. For this reason it did
not find its way to Europeuntil the middle of
he last century, when it was known as
'platina del Pinto"-the lit lie silver from the
River Pinto. Since its remarkable chemical
properties were established IN $780, it has
been discovered in New Granada, San
Domingo, Cal, Borneo, and In portions of
Canada. But the richest deposits are those
in the Ural mountains, where the metal
was discovered in 1923, and where it has
been successfully mined by the Russians
since 1928.
Despite the recently acquired value of
platinum we have the consoling reflection
that we shall continue to enjoy the brllliance
of electric lights, as the charges put upon
them are sufficiently high to admit the use
OF the most expensive materials in the con-
struction of lamps. So their light will
probab y not be ibid under busnel" nor
anything else for some years to come.