Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1896-11-11
ABOUT ASBESTOS.
Its Commercial Value and the Many
Uses to Which 1t is Now Put.

The credit of discovering the CONNER
cial uses of asbestos rightly belongs to II.
W., Johns, who, in 1867, having been DIS
satisfied with the perishability of hemp
and other vegetable fibers, which he was
using in a cement, became alive to the
need of a fiber stronger and more durable
than any yet known. In a search tof
this he came across an article IN an en-
cyclopedia on asbestos, and immediately
became convinced that here was the nDer
he was looking for. He then set about
discovering the deposits which were SAID
to exist in Staten island. These, Wnen
found, though brittle and of poor qu,-lty,
answered the first purpose; but slight eN-
perimenting with the new mineral opened
to his imagination wide possibilities OF
its future usefulness, and having urn
bel1ef that nature provides IN suhlclent
quantities all substances needed by man,
he at once took steps toward bringing to
light the hidden treasure which he was
sure existed
In order to elicit information concern
ing other deposits he advertised his as
bestOs cement in the leading scientific
and other newspapers, adding q deScflp-
ton of the characteristics of the curious
mineral, with the result that letters OF
inquiry containing samples of asbestos
began to pour in upon him from all parts
of the country. These, however, were
all too brittle to be spun or useG for the
more valuable purposes. Italian ashes
tOS was then tried, but proved very eX-
pensive and unsuitable in many respects.
The interest thus awakened in the sub
ject led in a few years to the opening OF
the Canadian mines, which supplied in
abundance the desired quality, and rem
dered possible the many applications of
it which have been made.
Asbestos has become a necessity Of our
daily life, and it's uses are innumerable.
che %1N~r,
mace pipes, appears in the form of rugs
and blowers before our freplaces, takes
the place of paper for covering the walls
and finds its way into our kitchens in the
form of stove mats, baking paper and
ironholders
Every theater is required to be pro
vided with a curtain of asbestos. But
its most important uses are in mech1n-
lcal and electrical lines where we find It
as 4 packing in steam engines, a cover
ing for steam pipes and boilers, frings-
in fact, asbestos plays q very important
part in railroad equipment. Fire felt for
tagging locomotive boilers and covering
train pipes is the only material upon the
market which fulfills all the require
ments of these purposes. 1t consists of
asbestos fbers formed into a felt-like re-
movable fabric possessing the highest
Notwithstanding power unaffected by the
excessive vibration, and practically indie
structible by moisture or other injurious
effects. The vulcabeston used IN the
Westinghouse airbrake pumps is COM
posed largely of asbestos and packings
of asbestos in sheet or rope form are
very generally employed for railroad,
marine and stationary steam engines.
In combination with other substances
1T forms the standard electrical insulat-
ing material of the world. Electric car
heaters are in common use-the electro
therm,' a flexible heating pad for use in
place of hot water bags and poultices, is
one of the latest valuable Inventions
Railroad Gazette.