Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-03-13

=.
w. are from two to four
AZ shia ana are separated
:, hornblende crys4=LS
- f 40 surface +i-o Volus run
s1sss. s>sA sbs fitsrs and the less
ing is done by means OF the
,roved quarrying machinery.
Ea1 drilled in long rows into the
las s ne cliffs by means of steam
sfie They are then loaded with dy-
sns and exploded simultaneously
81 es connecting with an electric
in such way that a whole
orthe rock falls into the bottom
lie 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
1cob house, Here scores of boys are
kept busily employed crumbling or
"cobbing" 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 the waste rock and the refuse of the
quarry. Only about one-twenty-f
of the material quarried is real asbestos
and the rocky parts have to be lifted
out and carried away to the dumps at
great expense.
As the abestos comes form the mines
it is in small Jumps of greenish or
yellowish hue and the edges are furred
with loose fibers. The more nearly
white the asbestos is the better its
grade. The length of fiber is also of
great Importance, the largest being the
most valuable.
AS if in keeping with the forlorn
and blasted appearance of the country.
the miners are hard. uncanny class of
men, migratory in disposition and ex-
ceedingly superstitious. Their wages
range from 81 to $3.50 day.
From the mines the asbestos is taken
by rail to the manufactures in the
United States. Here the Jumps Of the
substance are emptied from the sacks
and fed into the hopper of powerfully
built machine not unlike an old-fash-
ioned stone process -four mill. They
are crushed through a series of rolls
until the fibres are all separated into
fluffy masses, when they pass out along
trough and into a separator. Here
the small pieces of stone and other
refuse rattle out through sieve and
the longer fibers are separated by a
series of comb-like sieves into various
lengths. The very short ones are taken
out to the pulp-mill, where they are
ground up fine for the manufacture of
solid packing for steam pistons. mill
board and other commodities. The
longer fibers are gathered together.
carded and spun into yarn, just like
cotton or wool. After that the sub
stance may be woven into cloth in
various ways. The cloth is of dirty
white color and has soapy feeling.
The uses of asbestos are almost in
Vulnerable. Ground fine and combined
with colors and oils by secret process
it makes beautiful paint, which is
said to go far toward fire-proofing
the surface to which it is applied.
Various kinds of roofing are also made
by treating strong canvas with a COM
bination of asbestos and felt and back
ing it with MANILA paper. 1t is ex-
tensively used for roofs of factories,
| railroad shops, bridges, steamboat
, decks and other places where there is
J danger of fire.
Nearly every one has seen the thick
asbestos-felt coverings for steam pipes
and furnaces. Asbestos cement is
sometimes used for hot-blast pipes and
fire-heated surfaces. AS packing for
locomotive pistons, valve steams and
oil-pumps it is almost Indispensable.
1t is also made into ropes and mill
boards, which can be used almost
everywhere. Asbetos cloth is being
} used more every year. Some states re-
} quire theaters to use an asbestos drop
curtain to protect the audience if the
, scenery catches fire. Some very beau
tiful drop-curtains have been made
. and the ordinary spectator cannot dis
, tinguish them from real cloth.
a The yarn is knit into mittens foi
: workers in iron and glass. Goldsmiths
i use block of asbestos to solder upon.
: Combined with rubber-vulcanized--
asbestos has almost innumerable uses
9 as an electrical insulator. In this form
Q the substance resembles ebony, and is
Q about as hard. The cloth is also of the
greatest Importance for acid-filters in
J all kinds of chemical processes for the
5 reason that no acid will eat it.
: Asbestos is found in good many
Q hundreds of places in the world besides
t Italy and Canada, but the fibers are
9 nearly all too splintery and brittle.
: Rich deposits have recently been found
: in Wyoming. California and Montana,
f and the United States may soon come
a to the front as a producer of the sub.
stance. In 1898 California produced
n fifty tons of asbetos valued at 800.
f while Canada sent out 6,473 tons val