The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-30
NO ALUMINIUM FOR HIM.
An Iconoclastic Chemist Who Says
It's No Good
FROM The Nelr York Tribune.

It's No Good
From the Nelr York Tribune.
How people will invest thousands of doll
lars on hearsaY evidence when they could
ascertain the truth By buying rs cents
worth of pure aluminium, wire or sheet, be-
longs to the oddities of capital gone crazy.
writes an iconoclastic chemist The warns
about aluminium are so numerous and are
repeated III so many bold and frank lies that
IL seems almost vain task to try to set peo-
pie right.
Now, Jules Verne, the champion writer
OF sclentlti fancy, never uses aluminium
much IN his fiction. He knows too well that
1t IS mo good" In DE la Terre a la Lune"
he uses large aluminium bullet, not be-
cause OF its strength but because it is so
light.
Not long ago card from persons inter
ested In the making of aluminium came to
me, stating that aluminium is as hard as
steel. All wrong. The purer, the softer.
Pure aluminium is just a trifle harder than
ordinary cheap zinc or spelter, which can
be soldered. threaded and drilled without
difficulty, while pure aluminium cannot lie
soldered reliably, ana for working is one of
the "nastest" metals in existence. Oae
great point in its favor, but only point of
skln-deep beauty, is that the aluminium
rust forming in the air is white, while it is
orownlsh red on iron, green on copper, and
gray on zinc-bu5 aluminium furnishes
readily, especially in salt air Salt water
acts upon 1t far more than it does upon
iron, and ship built of aluminium would
be full of holes after one trip around the
globe Therefore, for shipbuilding and all
parts exposed to the water, it is even in
trinslcalIy inferior. 10 iron-therefore, not
worth cents pound.
For roofing it is vastly inferior to gal
vanized iron, because IL cannot be soldered,
and much inferior to zlnc-therefore, not
worth cents pound. For vessels to be-
used in the kitchen it could only be en-
ployed il salt was kept away, but with salt
present it would not have the slightest ad-
vantage over the ordinary tin pals-there-
fore, would not be worth cents a pound.
For parts of machinery where strength is
required, weight for weight, it is not as
strong as iron. AS such iron can be bought
for Ia CO ITS a pound, aluminium would be
worth less than that. for the same strength
aluminium would be four time more bulky.
For spoons and knife handles, where no par
ticular quality except looks is called for, it
might be worth as much as tin, say 90 cents
a pound. The drawback in that use would
be its great softness, as 1t soils the fiugers
when handled like lead. The only use for
which at present pure aluminium may take
with advantage the place Of longer known
metals is for electric appliances and wires.
For the same diameter aluminium is twice
as good conductor as iron, its weight is al
most exactly one-third, but its strength is
only onefourth, 50 that the wire could only
be stretched three-fourths the distance over
which now iron wire is stretched to keep
the same relation between weight, strength
and sagging.
For these purposes aluminium might be
worth II cents pound. 1t could be made
harder by alloying it, especially with silicon,
but even the hardest aluminium, short Of
aluminium bronze, which is essentially 30
per cent. copper, met with, was only about
the strength OF brass. The alloys of alu-
minimum have all been made and tried thou
sands of times, but nc value has been found
in them which would make the aluminium
worth more than copper-say, perhaps, IS
cents a pound. The aluminium bronze
keeps fairly bright, but when made in it's
proper proportion is extremely hard to
work. In this bronze alum mum
shows at its best, but does not come
up to good steel in ease of handling and
working. One advantage is that the bronze
is elastic and springy, even when almost
red-hot. 1t consists essentially of 80 per
cent. copper and 10 per cent aluminium.
How much the mes is worth for advertis,
ing medals, for plaques and other uses OF
more sensational character is, of course, i'm
possible to estimate Its value ranks with
buab VI Iuo CuIOLuO AT pFesenb lbS RToAbosC
use lies in the magnetic power which it has
for greenbacks, and in proving the de-
fective experience of capitalists.
While, therefore, as will be seen from
Q frequent examples quoted, the true value
of aluminium does not lie much above that
of zinc, which costs 6 cents a pound, the
cheapest aluminium in the market is held
at 81 %, and the manufacturers are already
compelled to send around circulars, in
which you may read between the lines:
Tell us some use Of aluminium" There is
not single application, at present, in
which aluminium ranks intrinsically above
the value Of the same weight of copper,