The morning call., 1893-12-29
THE QUESTION OF ALUMINIUM.

LIE QUES ION Or ALUMINIUM.
@Although aluminium combines lightness
with great durability. beauty and elias
ITCHY, can be drawn into fine wire, and
beaten into thin bands. is capable of taking
fine polish. is suitable for an infinite
variety OF parts of machinery, and seems
destined some day to supersede to a great
extent wood and iron as material for
house and ship building. the manufacture
of merchantable aluminium is delayed by a
series OF obstacles which thus far seem
formidable.
Thirty years ago it was manifest that 3
fortune, hardly second to those which re-
warded the inventor of the sewing machine
and the telephon awaited him who could
extract metallic aluminium from common
clay, and men of science all over the world
concentrated their minds upon the
problem. The Emperor Napoleon gave it
much thought, and told his officers that he
expected to equip his country with helmets
and cuirasses of aluminium. At his expense
elaborate experiments were made by NJ.
Deville, and it was announced that pro-
cess had been discovered; it proved a
failure. Aluminium works we're started at
Birmingham in England, and were carried
on for several years at regular annual
loss; they have now been stopped. and the
plant devoted to the manufacture of
sodium and its peroxide, which are used
in bleaching. An aluminium factory was
started some time ago near Bremen in Ger
many; it lately Gle sed its doors. and the
machinery is TO be used in the manufac-
tuTe of maguesia. In 1888 a factory was
established in the canton of Schaffhausen
in Switzerland, and has run for five years
at profit. But it appears that the manu-
factuTe generates nOXious gases, notably
fuorlc acid, and these have gradually de-
stroyed the vineyards and most of the
vegetation in the vicinity of the factory.
Suits have been brought by the injured
prOprietors. and they Will probably have
the effect of closing the works. Most of the
aluminium articles now for sale in the
stores were made liz Sehaffhausen.
One of the few concerns which are en-
gagged in the manufacture of aluminium
with a prospect of remaining in the bust
ness is the Cowles Company of Cleveland.
Ohio. This establishment has been in
existence for several years. The process
employed is the reduction of the oxide of
aluminium by exposing it to carbon at d
establishment at Lockport, \. Y, uses the
electric process. which Is generally en-
ploved in Europe. A third furnace, at
Pittsburg, Pa, Is under the management of
Mr.. Alfred Z. Hunt, and also decomposes
its raw material by the aid of electricity.
MIR. Hunt has produced at a cost of less
than 50 cents pound aluminium of $3.50
purity. He expects to be a BILE to make it
oh mil ~,
to sell 1t at less than 20 cents.
Aluminium is more used in its alloys
than in pure state. La combination with
copper 1t makes tough. unbreakable
bronze. The propellers # the new vessels
of the navy are made Of it, 10 other
alloys 1t proves the best material for sur
gical instruments. Two or three years
ago it was supposed to be unavailable for
domestic utensils, because it was bitten by
acids. This has been disproved by the
experiments of Herr Rupp. and when il
becomes cheaper 1t will supply the chief
furniture of the dining table. 1t is not
Dreaka BILE, and is always bright and pleas
ing to the eye.
It has been proposed in England to
utilize it in coinage and to substitute
aluminium tokens for one pound notes of
the Bank OF England. 1t seems that an
alum mum coin could be instantly dis
tinguished by the feel from a copper,
silver or gold coin, and it would be diff
cult TO counterfeit it without plant of
more extensive proportions than counter
feiters can command. Being indestruc,ible
/ 1T would possess advan tages over paper
tokens. It's uses in this direction might be
worth the consideration of the officers of
the United States mint
For building purposes aluminium can
not compete with steel so long as it is
twelve or fifteen times as dear. But there
is no limit to the possible reductions in its
cost by development Of the electroly sis
process. 1t is only few years since it
was positively declared that although the
ore-argillaceous eafth-is more widely
diffused than any other metallic ore, il
would never be possible to produce the
pure metal for less than dollar a pound.
The progress made since this prediction
was uttered warrants the belief that IL
may some day be as cheap as Bessemer
steel,