St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-22
THE LATEST OPINIONS ABOUT THE
WHITE METAL AND ITS
MANY USES.
NEW WAYS TO UTILIZE 1T.
CRANK PINS OF HIGH SPEED
ENGINES.
Germans Employing 1t So as to In
crease the AmOut of Ammuni-
ton q Soldier Can Carry.


New York Tribune.
There is talk of an aluminium age
now. There are many uses to which
the white metal that weighs SO little
and Yet is strong is put that would
surprise any one who has not kept
In touch with science Of late years.
From use in making a flying white
yacht to uphold the, honor of Amer
lean shipbuilding, aluminium has been
turned to account in such a widely
different business as that Of dentistry,
and plates for the teeth are often made
Of 1t. The prospects Of a suspension
bridge something more elaborate and
grand than anything the world has
yet seen are only limited by the still
rather high price Of the product It
is said to be the intention Of the prin-
cipal company now engaged in it's pro-
duction to make it much cheaper. Then
there will be found manifold uses for
aluminium, and more still for it's nu-
merous alloys that the world, so far,
little dreams Of
The oil cups for the crank pins of
the high speed engines on all the prin-
cipal railways are made from it, Some
of the eight-foot drivers of the Phila-
delphia q Reading railroad locomotives
broke as many as one or two day of
these cups, which were formerly made
OF copper, when making speed trials
BY the use of aluminium the weight Of
the cups was reduced two-thirds. and,
the centrifugal force being reduced.
the new cups are able to stand the
strain Of the immense momentum The
Paris, the st. Louis. and all the other
fine big ships have aluminium fittings
now, and orders have been sent in
lately for the air ports and headlight
covers for the three gunboats building
at Newport News to be made of alum
mum. There are brushes and combs
OF aluminium; bicycles with parts that
must be strong, yet light, are made of
this metal. The strength of the bicy
cles made with aluminium is increased
while their weight remains the same
by the use Of aluminium. for the alum-
mum bars permit of greater size and
solidity, while the weight of the bars
and parts remains the same as if made
of steel.
USED IN CARTRIDGES. -
j. G. Mcclure, the consulting en-
g1neer of the Pittsburg Reduction com
pany, says that the newest use for
aluminium is to make the metal part
OF cartridges. This allows soldier
to carry fully % per cent more amfnu-
milton, and makes the science of war
SO much more deadly. In Germany
TWO out of ten army corps have been
entirely equipped with aluminium. even
down TO the buttons on the soldiers
clothes and the pegs in their shoes
ana Two other corps there are in proc
ess OF being similarly equipped. Bag
gage checks, the numbers on conduct
ors caps and the metal work of fire.
mems helmets are some of the uses
OIL IKE nature to which aluminium
mas been put in this country, and the
one great danger has been reduced to
minimum through the EMPLOYMENT
OF aluminium in the manufacture of
powder Aluminium gives out no
sparks.
MT Mcclure says that some TWENTY
HVe tons of aluminium are used everv
month in the manufacture of cookin9
utensils In this country alone. A for
elgn note of interest is that the French
government has just accorded permits
SION 10 the railway officials in France
TO use aluminium for all iron and cor
per parts of their carriages with tba
exception Of springs, wheels and conn
1ers eoop
mere is one use to which aluminium
mas been put that is a surprise to those
VINO nave kept in full touch with the
march or progress in the lithographing
trade, and that is the use of the soft
Whlte metal to replace the big stones
ehat were the sole reliance of the pic
turemakers who wished to produce soft
flowing effects, until zinc came into
use. 1t 1t were not for the use of zinc
aluminium would have created a revolu-
tlon AS 1t is, its use in lithography
is only more or less of fad ALUMNI
mum is considered to be about equal
to zinc for this purpose, as it will give
about the same effects. The difference
In cost between the use of aluminium,
and that of photographic stone can be
appreciated when it is said that a stone
often weighs about 800 pounds. while
dock or sheet Of aluminium will not
weigh over two or three pounds. And
nthographfng stones have to be import-
ed into this country.
HOW THE METAL IS MADE
Aluminium is made from bauxite
which is the hydrated oxide of alumni,
mum. The clay from which it used to
be made is a silicate Of aluminium. and
1t is the presence of silicon, which is
costly to remove, that makes the alu-
minum such a high-priced metal when
made from clay. By preference, the
oxide is used, which contains onlv
small percentage of such impurities as
silicon and iron. The clay is a silicate
OF aluminium. Bauxite is an oxide of
aluminium into which silicon enters
only as an impurity. Bauxite was first
found at Beaux on the Mediterranean.
and large quantities of it are now
found in the south of France and in
Ireland as well as in the states of Tex
as, Arkansas, Georgia and Alabama in
this country
aluminium is preceded in the relative
malleability of metals only by gold and
silver, in ductility by gold, silver, plat
mum, iron, soft steel and copper. Alu-
minum of over SO per cent purity is
rolled into sheets of only five to seven
Of an inch in thick
ness, and such sheets are hammered
into leaf nearly as thin as any gold leaf
can be beaten. Aluminium leaf is large
ly used in decorative work, and on ac-
count of its relative cheapness and non
furnishing qualities has almost entire
1y superseded the use of silver leaf
Aluminium leaf is ground up into pow
der and used for the pigment of a dec
orative paint, called by the trade
aluminium bronze paint"
The extreme ductility of aluminium
makes it one of the readiest metals to
work under the rolls. Rolled sheet
aluminium CT i-1000th of an inch in thick
ness is readily used for beating into leaf