The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-07-10
REvIvEs A LOST R
Achscasoan's ltg %Diseorery of Harden.
ing Copper.

ACh,casoan's iiig Di,surery of Harden,
ing Copper.
Chicago Record: Martin White, 5lG
Roanoke building, has In his possession
II section OF brass tubing a foot long
md hcrmcticniiy scaled. II contains
only u few bits OF metal AMI q scrap OF
paper. But for the tube and It's contents
Mr.. White lAs refused mn offer OF $50, 900.
The two bits or metal In the brass tube
are or pure cast copper. One II brittle
and porous and honCycombcd, with
blow holes. the ordinary intractablc
cast copper familiar to foundry e
The other Is OF fine grain. tough and
hard ms steel, md capable Of being
twisted or bent double without break
Ing. On tho Rcrap OF paper Is written
the secret formula by which the dlscov-
crer says the tranHmutation OF the
metal from the first TO tho second form
can be accomplished. For a C"hicaEOan
declares TINT he has r|cdlscovcred OF
the lost arts OF the ancient Egyptians.
After fourteen yenr3 OF experiment,
n%rivatlon and toll. Albert l.. Lytlc says
he Is able TO demonstrate beyond a
doubt that lie understands the long
sought process OF hardening copper
and making from that metal castings
as hard rs steel, unbreaknbl9 and with
out q flaw. The formula Is known only
to its diScoVcrcr, md Is held by Nj.
White, who has great confidence In the
discovery, and has bought and enlarged
tho foundry on the top floor OF the build
ing at Rudolph street and The river.
Mr.. White. already Is filling orders for
the new hard copper.
In 1882 Albert Lytlc was engaged In
the fish business at Shcboyun. Mich.
One day In exploring some Indian
mounds he discovered, among other
relics. u collection OF implements and
edge tools made from hard copper. This
gave Mr.. Lytle his first idea on the
subject OF hardening copper. He had
given as little thought to the lost art
as to Greek archaeology. but attracted
by the mystery connected with the cop
per Implements. and aware OF the for
tune In store for the d~lscovcrcr OF the
old process, he Mt length became pos
scssed with the ambition TO rcdiscovcr
the art.
He began the collection OF minerals
and the study OF crystalloSraphy. fIe
came TO Chicago, where he worked In
foundrics by day and carried on expert
ments during spare hours In n little
foundry of his own In the basement OF
u fat building at WrlGhtwood and Rn-
cine avenues. At times he was unable
to get work. and for many months he
lived upon an average of 81 20 a week,
which went TO buy metal and fuel often
er than for food. AT length. however,
his labors were rewarded.
The new metal has been tested by the
government. The report shows that the
copper Is pure and that there Is In II no
trace OF any substance indicating the
process by which It Is transformed.
Tho came report further finds that the
copper Is OF great tensile strength, dur
ability and hardness. The conductivIty
OF metal has been tested by Prof.
Stein. Of Armour institute, who finds
that Its resistance TO the electric cur
rent Is exceedingly low. n feature which,
taken in conjunction with the strength
OF the wire manufactured from 1t,
makes 1t OF great value.
When the availability OF the metal
In casting Is established beyond n doubt,
Mr.. Lytlc has yet to experiment In the
manufacture OF edge tools. He declares,
however, that he soon Will be making
copper knives and chiscls. The dIscov-
erer OF the process proposes also 10 nut
II in use In the treatment OF other
metals than copper Among the COM
ranieS which have tried the new metal
INT say they have found II satisfactory.
are the lin Belt Company, the Chicago
Edison Company. the Cutter Electrical
Company. OF Philadelphia, Roth Bros.
N the Garden City Electric Companv.