The Mena weekly star., 1896-12-02
POLK COUNTY MANGANESE TINES
 WILL SUPPLY THE DErlAND.
USES OF THIS VALUABLE ORE.
Extracts From Sunbeams Showing Where It Has Been Found Pre- vlous to The Discoveries
 Near Hena.

The following article which we re- produce from the Sunbeam Magazine will be of interest to many of our readers:
 Manganese is a wonderful substance and is used Tn a great many industries And when we think of these facts, it seems strange that so little is known of its appearance, its origin and its native place.
 Hundreds of tons of manganese ore are brought into Great Britain, France and Germany every year, and the che niical trade of those countries of ten seriously fears famine. since it is found in but few localities
 "The chief supply comes from Spain and Portugal, where it is found in the mountains in what the miners call pockets" where it varies from few tons to masses of many hundreds
 Again, it may be found on the ground, or at very shallow depths, and there is really no rule for it's deposit The ore is of different shade-darx brown. light brown. blue, black, dark gray and again in clear, crystallized masses.
 When the rude mountaineers have brought it to the surface they set the women and children to sorting it out from the stones and dirt and placing it in large baskets These baskets are then carried on the backs of the pa tient mules to the nearest water, and then washed in sieves by more women and children. Sometimes the water is far from the manganese mine. and much of the ore is lost on the way, but the careless peasants trouble them selves very little about the matter saying, 'It is Gods will" whether they earn much or little.
 Tt is,said that even very young chil. dren became wonderfully expert in cleaning and sorting this ore and if the men were as industrious and skill full as the women and lchAdren stlieir earnings would be doubled. After the sorting process it is once more packed in baskets and carried by mules to the nearest seaport. '-f'i!''J sT"''Js T.,
 "In the mountain country there are no roads, and the heavy. rude carts of the peasants could not. make much pr rogress over such patbz-so they do today as they did hundreds of years ago-plod slowly along on mule back. and charge about six cents per hun drediweight for each league
 "In the south of Portugal are large manganese mines, jworkrd, in precisely the same manner as in Spain. In Ger many there was once a great deal of the ore, but not a good quality In cur own country 1t has been found, particularly in the states of Califor- mia and Virginia, and recent reports from South Africa seem to. promise large supplies. It is to be hoped that manganese will be found in other places for it is in constant, nse. At one time the chemical trade in Eng land was in panic lest the supply should fail. and no substitute could be found to take it's place.
 "Manganese ore has the peculiar power to decompose hydrochloric acid into water and chlorine gas, a quan- tity possessed by no other substance in such high degree. One of it's practical uses is in making bleaching powder, or chloride of lime, which is a powerful disenfectant, and used ex- tensively in making paper, bleaching cloth. and many other things
 .In steel works it::is used to remove any impurities existing in the iron. and it improves the quality very much. The celebrated Toledo steel. so much prized by the anc'ents and called the Toledo Blades, owed its peculiar strength and elasticity to the manga nese that was in the natural ore. And in the trade of today, all iron ore that contains manganese is eagerly sought, and commands high price.
 .'Glass makers also use this substance to remove impurities. It makes the glass pure. and gives it the amethyst shade so much admired.
 "China painters use it to produce the black shade now so fashionable. In