The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-06-26
INTERESTING METALS.
The Oddities Of Mining and Treating
Quicksilver.

Miners Poisoned by the Mercury-The
Great Copper Miners of Lake supe-
rior-Where Aluminium and PIati-
mum Come From-Miners' Supersti-
lions.
From the Washington Star.
Deposits of quicksilver have been dis
covered recently in Utah, but nobody has
tried to work them as yet. The entire
product of this country comes from Cali
fornia. Cinnabar, the ore from which it
is obtained is sulphide of mercury. By
heat the mercury is separated from the
sulphur in the form of a gas, which be-
ing condensed, runs out of the distilling
furnace in thin stream like continuous
pencil of molten silver.
Frequently the miner with a stroke of
his pick penetrates a cavity in the rock
that is filled with pure quicksilver, which
runs out, sometimes as much as a pint of
1t. The ore is often filed with globules
of mercury, and when it is blasted, the
| high temperature created by the explosion
volatilizes the metal, which in the form
OF gas poisous the air. Workmen in the
mines eat without washing their hands,
and IN these and other ways their sys-
tens become saturated with quicksilver.
SYMPTOMS OF THE VICTIMS.
The first symptom of resulting troubles
usually exhibited bv the nails, which be-
come diseased. Later, the teeth drop
out, bone-rot of the jaw follows, and the
| unfortunate is fairly eaten up by the
poison. These troubles are avoided to a
great extent by cleanliness The men
who work IN the quicksilver mines in
| Wales are the cleanest people in the
world; their skins, Unframed by sun, are
white as snow. The Mexican miners in
California are dirty and die fast, but af-
! ter two or three carnations
spent in the mines they last
! longer their constitutions becoming more
! tolerant of the mercury.
Nermillion is obtained from cinnabar.
| The red paint on the bodies of Indians in
! California led TO the discovery of the
! quicksilver mines. White men found out
where it came from and began digging
for ore of mercury The most familiar
use of the metal is for thermometers. 1t
is very valuable in medicines, but it is
most largely employed in gold mining be-
! cause OF its affinity for gold, which it dis
| solves. Quicksilver is the most easily
! lost of all metals, finding its way back
into the earth sooner or later.
! A queer sort of lemonade, made with
sulphuric acid instead of lemon Juice, is
| drank by quicksilver miners. II has the
]
the lead mines the same mixture of sugar
water and acid is used as beverage. 1t
| precipitates, in the form of sulphate
the lead absorbed by the body; in that
shape, being lnsoluble, it passes out of the
! system. The consequences of lead pois-
Oning are dreadful Not long ago it was
! found out that the spread of certain mys-
FERROUS diseases in parts of England and
elsewhere was due to the Turkish snuff
adulterated with lead. Sailors and tour
! lists brought the snuff home from Smyrna
and distributed it,
The most picturesque use of lead is for
making shot Respecting this industry
remarkable delusion is current-namely.
! that the little pellets are made spherical
by falling from hight through the. air
| The fact is that perfect shot could be
made by falling two feet just as well as
! by dropping 200 feet, if only they could
cool quickly enough. The shot when they
are let fall from the top of the tower, are
asu round as when they reach the
bottom. 1t is necessary that they shall
| drop a long distance in order that they
may have time to cool and harden before
reaching the water we'll provided for re-
/ ceiving them gently.
The sheets of lead used for wrapping
| China tea are made in an odd fashion.
| They are not rolled or hammered. The
molten metal is poured II upon a fat
stone, and another fiat stone is laid upon
! it. A thin layer of lead is thus formed
! between the stones; it hardens quickly
and is removed for a repetition of the pro-
cess. The United States produced nearly
200, 900 tons of lead last year. West of
the Missouri river the lead ore yields
more or less silver also. Sometimes silver
| is the more valuable product of a lead
mine. The crude mixture of the two
metals is called base bullion"
EXTENSIVE PRODUCTION OF COPPER.
This country produces more than half
of the copper of the world. The metal
comes from the Lake Superior region,
! from Montana and from new mines in
Arizona. The Lake Superior mines alone
! yield metallic copper in large quantities.
! There the stuff is found in pure state,
nuggets of it weighing hundreds of
pounds. These deposits were worked ex-
tensively by the Indians for centuries be-
fore Columbus, and the copper they OBJ
tanned was distributed widely by barter
They left behind many large masses of
the metal. because they could not break
them into pieces and were unable to carry
them away bodily.
The United States can turn out 800, 000,-
1 600 pounds of copper yearly. The mines
at Butte, Mont, are able alone to put on
the market 200 600, 900 pounds per annum.
all of it obtained from a single small hill
| Or course, the worlds consumption OF
this metal is enormous. The waste is
very great. So many cents are lost that
the United States mint at Philadelphia is
obliged to furnish 100000 of those small
coins annually. The copper used for
sheathing the bottoms of ships is chem
! ically destroyed; it is the virdigris, Incl
dentally formed, that kills the barnacles.
Vast quantities of copper are consumed
for making brass and in electric wires.
The wonderful new metal, aluminium,
now costs only SIS cents pound by the
ton. The latest uses of it are for billiard
cues, dog collars, hairpins and chair legs.
! The German army, having adopted it for
! canteens, spoons and forks. has author
lied its adoption as material for TASKS
and other vessels, in place of glass. Ex-
| periments authorized by the emperor
proved that aluminium was not affected
by coffee, tea and other fluids. Powdered
aluminium mixed with chlorate of potash
is now employed for fash lights, instead
of magnesium. One advantage that it
has over the latter is that it makes no
smoke.
THE DEPOSITS OF TIN.
The geological survey has information of
the new discovery of deposits of Ameri-
| can tin which NAV he nrOfitablV worked