The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-03-08
A MINERAL PARADOX.
Asbestos, Proof Against Both Fire
and Acids-Wbence IL Comes.

From the Chicago Record.
A long, lank. slow-voiced Englishman
left his native land a score of years ago
and settled in Quebec. where he hired out
as a laborer in a lumber yard. His great
bodily strength. supplemented by his en-
ergy and activity soon won him an ex-
cellent position. After he had been at
work a number of months he returned
one cold winter evening to the capacious
shed-like building in which they all lived.
Seating himself comfortably before the
Uot-bellied cast-iron stove, the open mouth
Of which glowed red with heat. he DELHI
erately drew off his long, wet boots. Then
a pair of socks, much the worse for Que
bee mud. came off one after the other and
his companions saw him cody fling them
into the fire.
They made no comment on his action,
but when, almost Immediately afterward,
they saw him reach into the stove with
a poker. pull out the apparently blazing
socks and after giving them a shake pro-
coed with the creates unconcern 70 draw
them on his feet again they stood aghast.
IL was plainly an exhibition of witch
craft Then they scrambled over one an
other In their haste TO reach the door,
NAAA OeeAl winch Altg bQAoL AuNo AAlt Qdi IL
The next day they called on the man
ager in a body and demanded the instant
dismissal of the Englishman. loudly de-
clarng that they would no longer eat or
drink or work with such a monster
Inquiry being made at once It was found
that the big Englishman had worked in an
asbestos factory before crossing the water
and being of an ingenious turn of mind
he had managed to secure some of the ma
terial out of which to knit himself a pair
of socks. When they became soiled he
cleaned them in the fire. But such ex-
plantations were OF no avail with his ignor-
ant companions. and he was compelled to
leave his work
Asbestos is a wonderful substance. Its
name comes from a Greek word meaning
incOnsumable. Fire viii not burn it, acids
VIII not gnaw IT, weather will not corrode
At, Ii Is the paradox of minerals-for
mineral 1t is, quarried just like marble.
The flbers of which it is composed are as
soft as silk and fine and feathery enough
to float on water. Yet in the mines they
are so compressed that they are hard and
crystalline like stone.
Although the substance mas been known
for ages in the form Of mountain cork or
mountain leather compare lively little has
been learned as to its geological history
and formation. A legend tells how EN-
peror Charlemange, being POSSESSED of
customed to astonish his guests by gather
ing it up after the meal, casting it into
the fire and Withdrawing it later, cleansed
but uncOnsumed.
Yet, although the marvellous attributes
of asbestos have been known for so long
they were turned to little practical use
until about twenty years ago. Since that
time the manufacture of the material has
grown until it can take its place Shout
der to shoulder with any of the giant in
dutries of this country. Indeed, so
rapid has been its progress and Develop
ment that there is almost no literature of
any kind on the subject and to the popu-
lar mind it is stin one of those dim in
explanable things.
A Chicago dealer in asbestos goods says
that the majority of persons who use the
substance are firmly convinced that 1t is
all manufactured by some secret process
from wool or cotton.
Up to the late '70s nearly all the asbestos
used came from the Italian Alps and from
Syria, but one day a party of explorers
discovered a rich deposit in what is known
as the eastern townships of Quebec, in
Canada. Companies were at once formed,
and in 1879 the mines were opened. Re
markable as it may seem, however, al
though the Canadians started factories, in
the operation Of which they were substan-
TALLY backed by English capital it was
an American concern, with headquarters
in New York, that developed the manu-
featuring industry most rapidly. The
company has now grown so large that it
has branches in nearly all the large cities
of the country, and the machinery used
is specially made and peculiarly adapted
TO the manufacture of asbestos articles.
There are also a number of large factories
in England.
The Canadian mines are located in a
Wild rough country, almost outside of the
pale of civilization. The hills have worn
themselves bare of earth, and the bleak
rocks glare out'in great bald patches. AT
one time a scraggy growth of pines chung
to the remaining ridges of soil, but forest
fires, the hand of man and the ravages of
wind and weather have left only the
dreary waste of burned and blackened
stubs. The sides of the hills cape with
great holes in which the men-most-
ly French Canadans-are at work The
veins Of chrysotile. as the Canadian asbes-
tos is called, are from two to four inches
in thickness and are separated by thin
layers of hOrnblende crystals. The nearer
to the surface the veins run the coarser
are the hbers and the less valuable.
The mining is done by means of the
most improved quarrying machinery.
Holes are drilled in long rows into the
sides of the cliffs by means of steam drills.
They are then loaded with dynamite and
exploded simultaneously by wires connect
ing with an electric battery, in such wav
that a whole ledge of the rock falls into
the bottom of the pit at once Then the
workmen break out as much of the pure
asbestos as possible. load it into great tubs
or trucks, which are hoisted out by means
of steam derricks, and run along to the
''cob house" Here scores of boys are
kept busily employed crumbling or cob
bing' the pieces of rock away from the
asbestos and throwing the Jumps of good
fiber to one side, where it is placed in
rough bales or sacks, ready for shipment
to the factory.
The greatest work in connection with
the mining Of asbestos is in disposing OF