Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-03-29
The WONDERS OF ALUMINIUM
CAN BE HAD FROM THE VERY CHINA
ON YOUR TABLE.
How the Metal Is Obtained, what it Costs
and What II IL Used For-1ts
Future Promises Wonder.
fu1 Results.


aluminium mine. II he were Industrious he
could easily dig enough clay, or alumina.
within few months to yleld.when reduced,
hundreds of dollars worth OF aluminium,
II he wished further to increase his pro-
duction, says the Chicago Record. he might
pull down the bricks from the walls and
chimneys of his home. break up the tile
his china and earthenware utensils. each
OF which contains large percentage OF the
metal
Yet all his work would profit him little.
For, although the earth Is fairly crusted
with aluminium and every city in the
world is largely built of It's compounds,
cheap way of getting the metal free from
It's ore. II has tremendous affinity Tor
the oxygen with which 1t is combined, two
parts to three in alumina or clay, and only
heat iiercer than any furnace can stand.
or a. powerful electric current. Will subdue
II. If 1t was easily smelted from It's ore.
as is iron, II is safe to say that aluminium
would be to-day the cheapest and COM
monest of all metals. As It Is. Its wonder
full qualities are winning for 1t a steadily
widening range OF usefulness: 1T requires
no very great stretch Of faith TO believe
that the age of steel Will soon be super
seded by the age of aluminium.
And yet this universal and elementary
chemical substance was wholly unknown,
even IN the worlds best Laboratories, until
1928 when a German named Wohler sue
ceeded in separating few globules OF the
beautiful white metal. Thousands OF times
this early product of the chemists skill.
As soon as the discovery was made the
whole scientific world turned its attention
to the invention OF some method for the
easy extraction of the metal, but 1t was
not until thirty years later-in lS5s-that
the slightest headway was made. In that
year a Frenchman named Deville mixed
cryolite, the double iiuorlde of aluminium
and sodium, with some. of the metal So
dium and applied an intense heat. In,
stantly there was a lively combination and
the aluminium appeared in globu!es. But
this was an expensive operation, because
sodium is an exceedingly valuable metal
and the use of even a little of II made the
manufacture OF aluminium on large scale
an impossibility.
with varying success until the early sos.
Electricity had been used to some extent.
but the results had n9i pesh spSi sn
electrical process, which has since been In
use at Neuhausen. Switzerland. and large
quantities of aluminium have been OBJ
taned: In the United States the Pitts
burg Reduction Company is chief maker
OF the metal, and its process, known as
Halls. is the best in the world. being sim
liar in principle to that of Herould. The
company is even now making preparations
to move out near Niagara Fails, where II
can the power from the turbines below
the falls for generating electricity. The
plant will then greatly increase its pro-
duction of aluminium
The processes of reducing clay, while
they are patented, are to certain extent
trade sec,ets very a caTefuy i Kept on boW aS-
ever, be described in a general way. For
running the factory at Neuhausen water
electrical current of 1900 amperes and 30
volts, 100000 watts, is generated. This
terrific current is run over heavy copper
wires to the reduction machine.
The great trouble with an aluminium fac
tory is the production of immense volumes
of poisonous gases. Shortly after the erec-
,in nr . ha Non thpr
yards along the Rhine began TO blight and
die and the company was compelled TO buy
all the land for long distance In every di-
rection.
Halls process, used by the Pittsburg Re-
duction Company, is similar to Heraulds.
Cryolite is used to telp fuse the alumina
and about twenty-five horsepower is nee
essary TO each pound of aluminium pro-
duced per hour.
down the price of aluminium wonderfully.
1t can now be bought for from so to 80
cents n pound--a price which could never
have been reached nor even approached by
the chemical processes. 1t does not seem
probable that the cost of existing methods
OF reduction, worked they are by the
reduced to any considerable extent. But
inventors are working on the problem and
the prices will be still further reduced. In
comparing the cost of aluminium with that
Of other metals it should be remembered
that it is only about one,third the weight
of copper, and therefore that, except where
tensile strength is required. given weight
Will so three times as far.
one Of the first purposes to which alum
mum was put was the making OF alumni
um bronze for use in casting all sorts of
useful and ornamental articles. From So to
- per cent of copper combined with from
. 10 Is per cent of aluminium makes the
best bronzes. The resulting metal has the
well known rich color, is non-corrosive and
exceedingly tough. Five per cent of silver
added to aluminium makes a valuable alloy
~
the pure aluminium In fact, all metals
alloy well with aluminium except, lead and
In the last five years the use of alumni
um has increased in a marvellous manner.
1t is said that the manufacturers cannot
produce enough to supply the demand.
And yet the public at large is still unac-
quainted with all its fields of usefulness,
and for this reason 1t still has a great op-
perhaps no better chance for a young man
starting out in life than in going into,
learning and growing up with the new in
But the very fact that aluminium, with
its wealth of wonderful qualities, has be-
come cheap is one OF the things that
has worked against its advancement. For
n class of aluminium ''cranks" has sprung
up who are flooding the country with sto-
ries evolved from their inner conscious
ness as to the possibilities of the new met
al. The best dealers discourage all i'm
possible applications of aluminium. A story
Is told OF a circus acrobat who went to n
dealer not long ago and wanted TO buy
an aluminium bar for a trapeZe. four feet
long and three inches in diameter He had
heard, he said, that aluminium was far
stronger, more elastic and in every way
far better than the finest grade of spring
steel. \ tube Of aluminium such as he
wanted would have broken at once. The
metal does not have the necessary tensile
strength for such usage.
The uses OF aluminium are practically In
finite, A mere, catalogue of them would
For medals and small, useful articles it
has been known for some time, For
household utensils il is Just coming into
general use. Its non-corrosiveness, it's
cleanliness and its lightness make ii es-
are putting in aluminium novelties; bcy-
Gle makers use aluminium In many parts
of their machines; scientific and surgical
instruments are made of IL; aluminium
chains are found useful In mine machinery
because acid water does not eat nor rust
mum brushes and combs and the manu-
facturers of BARRIERS supplies are intro
ducing aluminium goods, Umbrella and
canemakers also use the metal in place OF
wood for sticks. The largest quantity OF
aluminium is used In making steel, TO
ufacurers are making bath tubs. and
shoe dealers build up the heels of shoes
with the metal. All the great war vessels
of the world have aluminium tinshings,
and France has built an aluminium tor
pedo boat. Lithographers are adopting
are made of the metal. For lightness and
durability artificial limbs are made best
OF aluminium, and so are horse shoes and
ornaments for collins. Elevators are built
of IL, and chatting dishes and dental plates
The aluminium manufacturers are now
l. Inc Aftn n hot.