Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-08-18


are filled with gold-colored crystals OF
chrysollte or gold etone." These crys-
tails glitter In the SUP. and about a CEN
fury ago. crazy Frenchman. struck
with the brilliancy of the pebbles, sup
posed that he had hit upon unlimited
wealth. He collected quantities. OF them,
heated them in a cruciOle. and fancied
that he produced ingots from them Only
n few wears ago lot OF chrysol!te-bear
ing sand from the same island was ship
ned 10 France, and made great sensa-
ton. People went Wild about II. and
companies were organized 10 begin mining
oteratlons along the strand OF the golden
isle Much money was wasted In the en-
terprise.
The suggestion to the effect that the
rubies and garnets OF these sands might
be utilized in the manufacture OF abra-
sives Is an important one. In 1895 there
were lib tons Of emery produced in Mis-
country-worth $50 per ton. The value Of
the emery imported during the same year
amounted TO slH. 7GI. Rubies are better
than emery "a material for emery
wheels. The sands all along the coast
OF Oregon hold n lHge percentage Of
magnetic iron. This IS easily separated
by means Of magnets and the invention
OF the electric furnace has made IL practi
cable TO smelt IL. Eventually II may be-
come feasible 10 concentrate the sands
for the iron, producing steel OF excep-
tional fine quality for certain purposes.
and saving the gold and platinum as by
products.
The Assayer Of the Mint, Mr.. White
head. has been making experiments re-
Gently with tcllurium-a rare metal which
occurs In combination with the gold
mined at Cripple Creek, Col. The ores
O, that district are the richest In the
world, running up to 10000 a ton. So
commonly DO they contain the remarkable
substance referred 10 that one Of the
camps Of the region Is named Telluride.
cone popularity Of tellurium,' said Mr.:
Whitehead the other day. as he handled
several samples Of Cripple Creek gold
which had been forwarded 10 the Urea
sury. sis that bit OF II as big as n PIN
head. mixed with pound OF gold. WIN
make the latter as brittle as glass. ~
course. YOU are aware that gold ordinarily
is extremely tough. being so ductiie ina,
go square inches OF ordinary commercial
leaf are beaten out from a single dollar
worth. one of the most striking charsc-
teristics Of tellurium is its extreme brittle
ness. Here IS n lump Of II. You VIII Oh
serve that fl looks somewhat like silver,
and IS very crystalline. II Is slightly less
heavy than iron.
ABOUT TELLURIUM.
"What IS IL good for, you ask? Nothing
whatever. 50 far as IS known. except as
laboratory curiosity. Mr. Edison says
that he would find an employment ior II
IL he could obtain II in considerable guam
titles. II is worth $50 an ounce. put the
demand for II Is so small that the market
would be broken II / offered Tor sal9
the whole Of the one-pound bar Wnicn l
have in my possession. This IS the plsses'
-, 81 I'll
"Teliurium is found in small quantities
all over the United states, commonly
combined with gold, silver, ana blsihu,n'
When present IN ores or silver hhu hoii,
II renders their REDUCTION by the process
Of amalgamation Improbable, 60 tna'
smelling has 10 be rcsorted 20. Inc COP
per bullion that comes from Inc NeSt
usually contains some teliuiium; lhVub.
amounting 10 only one-fOur- hundredth Oh
/ per cent. il renders the copper so prt
lie as 10 be unit for the finer uses, thoush
IL IS good enough for castings
1.-THE copper Of the Lake superior region
contains no tellurium. The business OF
freeing western copper from the oD)ec-
tiorahie metal is conducted on quite big
scale. the largest works being located AZ
Balumoye and at Bridgeport, conn. r rom
the COPPER in solution IS prtclp,tateu Il
sllmv stuff. consisting Of gold, sllNer' II,
seuic. solenium. and tellurium. Inc iei,,
lurum may be separated out by chelilleai
means. but ordinarily IL IS thrown away
with the rest Of the precipitate, after the
gold and silver have been saved; Az a. a
factory I'm Baltimore probably about ~
mounds of It daily are thus disposed OF
as OF no account. o,to,,
'rellurium forms n remarkable aiiuy
with aluminium. When the two are NETT
cd together in certain proportions they
eTddenlv combine with loud explosion,
forming very brittle substance. TINS
substance, when dropped into water
gives forth peculiar and a6om I,ina,sS
~ tbe breafh Of ANYBODY who swallows
- small quantity Of the alloy. This smell.
in TACT. Is one Of tho worst producihie IN
r.t,ed HYDROGEN. Teilurium. by the way
was discovered by a German named kia-
rroth. in 1875 Recently many experts IN
he science OF chemistry have been try
ing 10 break it up being convinced that
II IS In reality not an element, Du.
'O"' RENE BACHE.