The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-14
PART TWO.
A PHYSICAL PARADOX.
ASBESTOS HAS CHARACTERISTIC
OF VEGETABLE AND MINERAL.
Where Ii Is Found and What Ii Is
Used FOr-Canada'a Output.
From the Washington Star.


To the question: what is asbestos2''
st is not altogether easy to find an answer.
Biologists classify it among the horn
blondes. In ITSELF asbestos is a physical
paradox, a meteorological vegetable, botn
ferrous and crystalline, elastic yet brittle.
a floating stone, but as capable of being
carded, spun and woven as flax, cotton or
silk. 1t is apparently a connecting link
between the vegetable and the mineral
kingdom, possessing some of the charac-
teristics Of both. In appearance it is light,
buoyant and feathery as thisuedOwn; yet,
in its crude state, it is dense and heavy as
the solid rock in which it is found Ap-
parently as perishable as grass, it is yet
older than any order Of animal or ve.eta-
bic life on earth. The dissolving influences
Of time seem to have no effect upon il. The
action of unnumbered centuries. by which
the hardest rocks known to biologists are
worn away, has left no perceptible imprint
on the asbestos found embedded ia them
While much of its bulk is OF the rough-
est and most gritty materials known, ii is
really as smooth to the touch as soap or
oil. Seemingly as cOmbustihle as tow the
nercest heat cannot consume it, and no
known combination of acids will destruc-
lively a1ecL the appearance and strength
of its fiber, even after days Of exposure TO
its action. 1t is, in fact practically indie
strucuble. It's incombustible nature rem
but beyond this most valuable quality its
industrial value is greatly augmented by
Its non-conduc1on of heat and electricity,
as Wei as by its important property of
practical insOlubiHfy i'm acids
Asbestos has been found in all quarters
of the globe. It comes from Italy, China,
Japan, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Hun
gary, Germany, Russia, the Cape, Central
Africa Canada, Newfoundland Texas
and other parts of this country, and from
southern and Central America. Scarcely
a week passes without the opinion of
experts being asked on some new discovery
of this mineral substance. Most of the
samples are. if not Of poor quality, very
much inferior to the best. The asbestos
of different countries is as varied as the
characteristic foliage. The smooth and
white, rocklike form of the mineral from
the Pyrenees is an absolute contrast to
the harsh and brittle tremOlte of Ser
via, unpleasant to handle, with its fine
needles like the particles of Stag wool,
which insidiously penetrate the skin. The
COrsican variety is long, soft and silky,
its silvery white or pale gold tufts resem-
bling skeins newly wound from a CO.
coon, while the singular Scandinavian
forms are rough and rugged as the coun-
try from which they come. 1t may be
said here that while the appearance of
asbestos Is often very deceptive as a gauge
or It's commercial value, the points most
sought for in the mineral are the length
anu nnenesS or nDer, combined with in
fusIbility, tOughness and fiexibiity.
The asbestos generally found in the
United States, especially in Virginia, the
Carolinas and Texas, also in Staten Island
New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is of the
woody form, in appearance like fOssilized
wood. The veins range in length from
a few inches to several feet. The fiber
can be split off like soft wood, the ap-
pearance being woolly, and when sepa-
rated it has no strength or cohesion. 1t
cannot be spun nor even pulped. A one
time it was thought it might be prOfltably
used as filler in paper making, but
virtually 1T is Of no commercial value.
This and kindred classes of asbestos have
often been instrumental in the creation
of visions of wealth that were never to
be realized. A sensation was recently
caused by the announcement that whole
mountain of asbestos had been discovered
in Oregon. The fiber was reputed to vary
length, and to be of excellent quality. The
discovery was made through the herding
of sheep on a mountain side. The value
of the find, however, was discounted in
the eyes of experts by the supplement-
airy statement that where the flock had
trampled the rock, the asbestos threads
showed up like punches of wool.
Notwithstanding this wide distribution
of asbestos, the only varieties which at
present appear to demand serious con-
SHERATON, from a commercial point OF
view, are the Russian the South African,
the Italian and the Canadian.
Before the development of the Canadian
fields, the Italian asbestos was supreme
in the market. For nearly twenty years
Italy has been looked to for the best
grades of the fiber. From a point on the
northern mountain slope of the Susa val
ley is taken the floss asbestos fiber, the
appearance of which in gas stoves is so
familiar. In the same locality is found a
fine white powder of asbestos, which
serves for paint and other purposes. The
mining is carried on at hight of from
5000 to 10000 feet above sea level.
But the Italian asbestos industry, once
so important, is already on the down
grade. The difficulties Of mining are. very
great. ana unduly increase the cost or pro
duction. The asbestos itself, judged by
the latest standards, is of inferior quail
ty; it is not easy to spin, and il does not
best grade is extremely rare, and its cost
of mining and transportation is prOhibi-
tive. The supply from the Italian mines
is rapidly falling Off As matter of fact,
Canada contains the great asbestos region
of the world, in the sense that while it's
mines are practically unlimited in pro-
ductive capacity the product is of quail
ity which fully meets the requirements of
the newest and most eXacung of the
innumerable uses that are daily being
found for it.
This district lies in the eastern town
ships. 1t covers an area of about 200
miles in length, by six or eight miles wide.
Nearly the entire yield is consumed in
America. Out of a total export of crude
ore from the dominion, of 1886 tons in 1888,
no less than 1872 were taken by the United
States. Since that time the output has
more than doubled; indeed, it has been
over s. 900 tons for the last few years. The
rock carrying the marketable asbestos is
generally on fresh fracture, serpentine
of some shade of green, IN which are con-
tanned numerous small particles Of iron,
both magnetic and chronic. The aSbeS-
tos, when separated from the rock, shows
a glstening, gray, dark green surface.
The fiber, which is easily separable by the
fingers, is white ana silky and well adapt
ed to the manufacture of textile goods.
The method of mining Is entirely differ
ent from that followed in Italy. Tt is, in
fact. quarrying, more than mining, as the
face of the rock is stripped, and the cut is
carried down until it reaches the asbes-
tos-carryng scrpeutine, which rs then re-
moved and sent to the top of the quarry
The refuse rock. of which there is always
an enormous quantity tDossibly twenty
or twenty-five tons 10 one Of asDeStos), IS
loaded into cars run off, and shot over
on to the dumping ground. The rock is
passed directly into the "cobblng' sheds,
where boys chip or cob the ore from it,
The ore is then put up in bags and stack
ed away for shipment.
on arriving Mt The factory, the crude as
bestos is placed under huge roller,
which instantly reduces il to clinging
mat-like hbrous mass. This is rapidly
passed through a succession of sifters and
separators. which tear strip and clean
the fiber until il is ready for the different
departments for which it is to be grad
ed. 1t is then taken mp by blowers and
shot in a feathery, snOw-hke stream into
canvas bins. Nothing more beautiful