The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1892-10-08
TO BE A BIG TOWN.
Great Falls VIII BE a Great CITY.
As the Surroundings
Prove.
SAND COULEE TO THE FRONT.
Copper Smelling will be Revolution
lied to the Advantage of
Great Falls.
SAND COULEE TO THE FRONT.
A Great Scientific Fact,

The question is often asked:
Why are no copper ores smelted IN
the United stated by gas? The
failure OF a few tmid attempts has
increased the we'll known conservat-
ism of copper smelters, preventing
rational efforts. a trade which still
maintains the face color test as the
measure of quality admits few in
novations.
In locating the new works at
Great Falls, of the Boston & Mon
tana Consolidated Copper and Silver
Smelling company, the question had
to be met by Mr.. c. 0. Parsons, the
then consulting engineer Of that
company.
Pennsylvania coke shipped 220
miles was expensive, the product
of the Western coke limited and in
different, and the blast furnace poor
ly adapted for smelling fine concen-
trates. Mr.. Parsons, who had watched
the building of the earliest Siemens
steel smelling furnaces in this coun-
try, is strong advocate of the gas
system, and after an examination of
the coal of the Sand Coulee field,
adapted fuel gas, employing what
seemed especially adapted for this
coal, the Taylor gas producer. On
his resignation from the NJ. & NJ. Co.,
system not well adapted for the
coal was introduced, and reports Of
another failure of gas smelling has
been officially recorded across the
water.
The question was of such vital i'm
portance to the Great Northern
Railway company, who largely con
troll the Sand Coulee field, an ar
rangement was made with rival
copper company by which an unbias
ed test could be made, and for some
months preparations for experiments
have been quietly going on at
the old works (now idle) for the Ana
conda Mining company.
For preliminary test, in the abb
sence of a regenerative furnace, the
ordinary low-roofed reverberatory
designed for coal firing was used. A
temporary iron pipe hot blast was
improvised, heating the air, to the
safety limit of the pipe, probably not
over 1900 degrees F. The gas en-
tered the furnace direct from the
producer, probably not over 32O de-
grees f. The gas was made from
Sand Coulee coal in semi water
jacketed Taylor producer, an i'm
provement of Mr.. w. II. Blauvelt,
the engineer of the Taylor Producer
company.
These products on this coal,
which is inclined to clinker if forced,
worked from the start with the sim
plicity Of base-burning stove and
with less care than steam boiler.
The gas is clean, rich and luminous
and fills every recess of the old fur
mace with a hot flame No figures
have been given out by the Great
Northern Railway company, but
very large saving has been proved,
with improvised arrangements, en-
ough:: Ito warrant the consideration of
a large expenditure for properly
constructed regenerative furnaces.
These experiments are of the
greatest Importance, showing to the
copper trade that very large reduc-
ton can be made in the cost of pro-
duclng western copper, and also
showing to the metallurgist that the
smelling of copper ores in the Unit
ed States by fuel gas has been prac-
tically accomplished.
Its Importance to the young, en-
terprising city of Great Falls can
hardly be measured, laying as it does
with its immense water power, only
fifteen miles from the largest and
most important cretaceous coal fields
in the state.