Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1891-09-11
HE TURNS IRON INTO COPPER.

80 +N+'N W 90 ? t@tAN hNtAA vi lAUA
in the soil of those hills, said repre-
sentative Of the Journal, addressing
his seat mate, and pointing to the rec
sand thrown out of a cut through
which the train was passing.
The casual remark caused a great
change in the manner of the stranger
He started up animatedly, looked at
the newspaper man a moment full in
the face, and then gazed abstractedly
for some time from the car window.
The two had been travelling to-
gether all day having both come from
Memphis, and they had formed one OF
those off-hand railroad train acQuain-
tances which men on long trips employ
to while away the tedious hours.
They were rapidly approaching the
Ozark hills, and the dne fruit country
of Southern Missouri traversed by the
Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis
railroad.
The stranger, after spending some
time in gazing at the hills, finally said:
"You speak of iron as if you were in
tercsted in the study of metals.
have something ! would like to show
you" and going to his travelling bag
he produced a metal nugget and
brought it over for inspection. "Ex-
anime it carefully" he said.
The correspondent did so; it was
beautiful specimen of native copper.
what do you think of it," he
asked.
Cooper ofpure quality I should
say"
lie drew a long sigh of relief, and
then said;
you agree with all the rest, and
probably you are all rlghS, though l
cannot yet reconcile that With what
know about the production Of that
little chunk Of metal.
"There isquite a story connected
with it, and if you viii promise not to
look at me as if l were the greatest
liar on the face Of the earth l will tell
it TO ycu.
you promise? Well here is the
il:st test ofyourincredulity: There was
not the least bit of copper in that
lumpof mineral when it was taken
from the earth. 1t was native mag
netic iron ore"
This was certainly poser, for in
the mineral regions Of northern Mich
igan had been accustomed not only
TO magnetic ore, but also to native
copper as it is mined in sheets and
nuggets in the pure metal and
although not a metallurgist, thought
| know something about the two
metals carefully looked at his spcci |
men again and then ventured to re-
mark: you certainly must be mis-
taken, sir"
Il knew you would think So" was
his reply. And I am glad to have |
You take the view you do, for it is
another confirmation, where one was
scarcclynecded, of my conviction that !
| am in possession of the most yalu-
able secret Of the age. 1t was a dream
Of the aDcients that all metals are
foras Of the same substance, and that
they could be changed one into
another. This idea had a peculiar
fascination for the aIchemists, or early
chemists, who spent their lives in an
andeayor to transform the baser met
as into god. but naturally, all mod
,rn scientists win assure you, without
success. ! believe that the only in
stances in which such q thing was
ever apparently done proved to be
tricks based On the readiness with
which mercury forms alloys with other
metals. The sharp old recalls simply
extracted from the quicksilver gold
which had been previously fused with
t.
Now, l viii not assert that the
laser metals may be changed Into
yold but do claim that copper and
ron are different forms Of the same
netal, and are interchangeable. To
lrove it have this specimen, which
myself saw turned into its present
orm from lump Of crystalized mag
letic ore.
Il have made the nature Of metals
me Of the studies ofmy life, and have
considerable interests in the mines of
arizona, as well as the smeltcr at
'ittsburg, Kan. In the regular
curse Of our business one of the COM
anies in which l am interested has {
ad occasion to employ the services /
t chemist and metallurgist resident l
n Omaha. This man is a German, !
nd has devoted his life TO the study 9
fscience. lie has no thoughts out Q
ide Of his crucibles and furnaces. !
"Neither the pursuit OF gain nor O
ny other consideration can take him S
rom the study Of his fayorlte sciences.
his man was employed by us, as he p
ad been already by the Omaha smell b
en- to experiment with reealcitrant 0
res Of Arizona and Colorado, and 0
,,Ioawrr 90 qrI conc ,..,nt,l.l. a.,