Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-07-30
A QUEER SUBSTANCE.
ASBESTOS ABSOLUTELY FIREPRoOF
AND INpEsIRucTlBLE.

A Connecting Link Between the Animal
and the Vegetable Kingdoms Many
Uses In Modern Life.
Asbestos is curious sort of con-
Meeting link between the vegetable and
the mineral kingdoms, and since the
discovery Of methods Of utilizing 1t to
advantage II had steadily crept into
favor In many curious ways. For in
stance, firemen In London and Paris,
clad In asbestos clothing and masks,
walk through the hottest flames with
comparative impunity. Asbestos fire.
proof curtains have reduced the NOR
tally of theatre fires In a very APP
preciable degree. In torpedos, the diff
ficulty of dealing with the charges of
wet gun cotton Is overcome by inclos-
ing them in asbestos, the employment
Of which has also, In a great measure,
brought the dynamite shell to it's pres
ent efficiency. Asbestos is made into
a cloth available for aeronautical pur-
poses. A balloon made OF this unin-
fiammable material escapes one of the
most terrible dangers to which an or
binary constructed balloon Is liable.
Probably one of the first applications
of asbestos In this country was to roof
ing. To buildings covered with this
material the shower of sparks from a
neighboring confiagration involves no
danger. One Of the largest branches
of asbestos manufacture Is that OF Sec
tional cylinders for pipe coverings, for
retaining the heat of steam and other
pipes, felt protective coverings for boil
ers, frostproof projections for gas or
water pipes and cement telling, which
can be laid on with trowel, for the
covering Of steam pipes, boilers or stills.
An interesting innovation in this
class of manufacture is asbestos
sponge. 1t is not generally known
that sponge has great powers of fire
resistance. The discovery was made
accidentally not long ago, and the re-
suit was that consignment of scraps
of sponge picked upon the southern
coasts was ordered for experimental
purposes. The sponge was finely COM
minuted and mixed intimately with
asbestos fibre. The combination was
found so successful for any covering
which had to be fireproof as well as
heatproof that the material has become
standard. Being full Of air cells, 1t
necessarily makes an excellent non
conductor. Another very extensive de-
partment in asbestos manufacture is
that of packings. OF these there are an
infinite number of forms.
To the electrical engineer asbestos
is absolutely indispensable. Many
parts of electrical devices and ma
chinery and wires through which the
electric current passes become heated,
and were it not for the electrical insu-
lating and heat-resisting qualities
which asbestos possesses, the appara-
tus would be completely destroyed, par
ticularly in the case known to cleo
tricians as 'short circuiting." For
such purposes ii has been found advisa-
BILE to combine asbestos with rubber
and other gums, and this combination
is now used universally for not only
electrical, but also steam and mechan-
zeal purposes.
One of its special uses is for wall
plaster. This is a new application
which will have a distinct effect in
modifying the practice of indoor plas-
tering. Instead of the ordinary tedious
and elaborate preparation of studs and
strips and the use of inferior and dust
creating mortar, with its after-scOring,
which is necessary to give cohesion to
the final coat of plaster Of Paris,
single coating of the asbestos is laid on.
1t has a glossy surface that will not
crack, as, while firm, it is perfectly
flexible. 1t can be put on the raw brick;
and a room of which the walls have
night have a smoothly finished interior
surface, shining like glass and hard as
a rock. A kindred application of ashes
tos is now coming into vogue in the
shape of uninflammable decorations for
walls and ceilings. These are used a
great deal for the saloons Of steam
ships. They are embossed in very beau
tiful designs, and can be treated with
gold, varnish. lacquers or any other
substance for the enhancement of their
ornamental effect.
In itself. asbestos is physical para
doX, meteorological vegetable, both
fbrous and crystalline. elastic yet brit
tie, floating stone, but is capable Of
being carded, spun and woven as fax,
cotton or silk. In appearance 1t is light,
buoyant and feathery as thistledown;
yet, in its crude state, it is
dense and heavy as the solid rock in
which it Is found. Although apparent
ly as perishable as grass, it is older
than any order of animal or vegetable
life on earth. The dissolving influ-
ences Of time seem to have no effect
upon it. The action of unnumbered
centuries. by winch i.Ie n;..,.,s 81 rucAs
known to biologists are worn away,
has left no perceptible imprint on the
asbestos found imbedded in them.
While much Of it's bulk Is of the
toughest and most gritty materials
known, it is really as smooth to the
touch as soap or oil. Seemingly as CON-
bustible as tow, the fiercest heat can
not consume ii, and no known combina-
ton Of acids will destructively affect
the appearance and strength Of it's f.
Der, even after days of exposure to its
action. 1t is. in fact, practically inde-
structible. Its incombustible nature
renders it a complete protection from
flames, but beyond this most valuable
quality its industrial value is greatly
augmented by it's non-conduction Of