Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-17
ALUMINIUM IN WAR.
Plttsburg Furnishing Metal With
Which to Manufacture
LIGHTER ARTICLES FOR THE ARMY
How Burdens Are to b Lifted Off the Backs
of Man and Beast.
GERMANY DRAWS ON OUR RESOURCES

WASHINGTON, May 16-There is prof
ect on foot which contemplates the intro.
duction OF aluminium for the equipments
and aocouterments of the army. Lieutenant
W. @. Brown. of the First Cavalry, is the
officer to make the suggestion, which has
been sent to General Flagler, the Chief OF
Ordnance, for remark. 1t is likely that be
| will recommend that the suggestions OF
Lieutenant Brown be carried out.
Lieutenant Brown sends to the War De-
partment from Denver, where he has been
on leave of absence, samples of curb bit,
saber belt plate, canteen, meat can, fork,
spoon, infantry cartridge belt plate, hooks
for canteen, and blanket straps made of
alumnum at his own expense from the
regulation models now in the service. With
these samples he submits an interesting re-
port, which reaches the War Department
with the favorable Endorsement of Heuten-
ant Browns senior officers. He very fully
supports his belief in the practicability of
substituting aluminium and its alloys for
brass, tin, iron and steel in the manufacture
of certain articles used in the cavalry and
infantry.
Secured Pointers From Pittsburg.
Lieutenant Brown claims that there is
a saving of nearly one pound in the weight
carried by the infantry soldier, while in the
horse equipment and cavalry accouterments
the saving is pound and ounces. In ad-
dition to this advantage sluminum possesses
a resistance to corrosion, and the aluminium
article will seldom, if ever, require any
cleaning other than to be occasionally wiped
off with a moist cloth. The aluminium
curb bit has all the strength of the bit made
of the more common metals by making the
branches little thicker There is saving
of weight over the regulation bit of eight
ounces
Captain A. E Hunt, the President of the
Pittsburg Reduction Company, whose con-
Germ turns out two-thirds of the aluminium
manufactured in this country, has written
Lieutenant Brown that the alloy of alumni
mum and titanium, which promises to be
most useful for military purposes, costs
little more than the pure aluminium when
manufactured in large quantities The spe-
cifc gravity of this alloy in the rolled sheet
is from 90 to 81, while that of the pure
metal is &c 1t is considerably harder
than the pure metal.
This alloy has stiffness and resistance
enough to Justify the belief that the alloy
would be an excellent substitute for steel in
the manufacture of saber and bayonet
scabbards and many like articles of equip
ment. The picket pin, which weighs not
less than % ounces, ought to weigh, if made
of this alloy, not more than II or II ounces,
and would doubtless be found fully as sery-
iceable as the one now in use. Other
articles, notably the meat can, canteen
fnrl- cpoop if mada of co coff apd ,,1i
able material as the pure metal, are consid
erably lighter and it is claimed better than
those now in use.
Germany Utilizing aluminium.
Lieutenant Brown suggests in his report
that the articles named be made of the alloy
and sent to the troops for trial and report
The Pittsburg Reduction Company has
already shipped ten tons of aluminium to
Germany for the manufacture of equipments
and is now experimenting with ref erence to
getting a strong and ductile metal to answer
for cartridge shells.
&. As to cost, Prof j. W. Richards, the
leading authority on aluminium in this
country and a member of the Lehigh Uni
versity Faculty, is quoted by Lieutenant
Brown as saying: THE reason that an
Alumni um spoon is listed at 81 30 is that it
is made, engraved, and polished like
silver spoon by silversmith, and they sell
perhaps 100 month. An aluminium spoon
could be stamped out OF a sheet and
since it contains about cents worth
of aluminium, the cost should not
be over 8 cents. But Government
spoons are made by thousands. If the
makers of these spoons bought hard-rolled
aluminium sheet, stifened with titanium,
they could easily stamp them out and sell
for or cents apiece. Regarding alum
mum canteens-the meat can and cup-if
these articles were made by thousands, they
should not cost more than one and half or
two times as much as ordinary material.
The extra cost of the fork should not be
more than cents apiece, or a total of 9
cents each, If stamped out of aluminium
stifened with titanium."
The Canteen Will Never Rust.
1t is shown that with aluminium at 81 30
per pound in the manufactured shape the
saber belt and infantry cartridge belt plate
can actually be furnished in aluminium for
less than they are now supplied in brass by
the War Department. This, of course. is
largely due to the fact that the specific
gravity of aluminium is less than one-third
that Of brass. The canteen made of this
material will never rust and will not only
be more durable than the tin one, but the
water contained in it will always be pure
instead of being contaminated with iron
rust, which is now frequently the case.
Lieutenant Brown is having made at
Pittsburg of the aluminum-t -titanium ALLOW
two picket pins, and expects that their
weight, even with the present iron swivel
head, win be half and possibly less than
a half, that of the present iron pin. Of its
durability he cannot say at this time, but
intends to give it thorough trial in actual
service.
The saber belt plate, which he submits,
has been tried in the army for two months,
and during that time has not been cleaned
or polished in any way. The curb bit has
been used for about two weeks, and SUBJ
iected to a test sufficiently severe to
demonstrate that it is perfectly practicable
to make curb bit of aluminium which is as
safe as the present one. There seems to be
no doubt that the aluminium alloy will be
better for this purpose than the pure metal,
and by its use Lieutenant Brown hopes to