The Opelousas courier., 1897-12-18
|ALUMINUM'S NEW USES.
A CATALOGUE THAT Is MARVELLOUS
IN ITS EXTENT.


Rapidly Taking It's Place With Iron and
Steel as the Most Useful of Metals
Its Greatest Claim to Preference Is
C~heapness Odd Uses.
Aluminium bids fair to become, with
in the next half century, one OF the
most useful of metals. Scarcely q
week goes by that some new field OF
usefulness for it is not discovered.
From a strong possibility Of becom-
ing the metal which enters most large
ly into the subsidiary coins of the
United States government to the new
est of shoes for the feet Of horses, it
runs through q catalogue of uses that
is marvellous in it's extent. Iron and
steel have long been known as two of
the most useful metals. Aluminium
must now be given an equal place
with either of them.
The odd uses to whish this metal is
put are almost innu1Aerable. The
gruesome metallic caAet of cop
per and steel that is used to hH1TfS--MaT
forever the mortal tenapents of hu>
manity Is gradually being replaced by
the lighter aluminium affair, which an
swers the purpose more satisfactorily,
and at the same time may be hermeti-
cally sealed.
Almost a revolution has been ere
ated by aluminium among the litho-
graphers. The chances are that nine
persons ont of ten suppose the old
stone process, as it is called, is still in
vogue. This consisted of tracing on
a slab of stone, known as lithograph-
ers' stone, whatever it was desired to
take q Autograph of. To print these
Autographs under the old system de-
scribed necessitated the use of q fiat
press, and this meant slowness OF
speed. With the u~p-to-date aluminium
photographic plate it is different. The
aluminium plate may be bent SO that it
will fit upon the cylinder Of a fast
press, making the speed full 100 per
cent. greater, and thus saving expense
on the basis of the fact that time is
money.
So far as Uncle Sam and aluminium
are concerned there is much to think
of. Should aluminium, as seems very
probable now, succeed copper as the
metal in use at the Mint, every person
who ~utilizes the penny will be affected.
When that day comes, each cent will
be light weight and a thousand times
more convenient to carry about. For
this use aluminium is also preferable,
it is said, from a hygienic standpoint,
as copper affords a resting place for
the microbes of various diseases,
which aluminium certainly would not
do.
Some months ago a series of exper-
iments with aluminium were carried on
at the United States Mint at Philadel-
phia, and, although not as extensive
as they might have been, were suffi-
GENTLY SO toprove that the substitution
of aluminium for copper in money was
entirely feasible. The matter was re-
portedupon by the Congressional Com
mittee upon Coinage, Weights and
Measures, and in view of its report it
is very likely that some some action
in the matter will be taken at the next
regular session of Congress.
Speaking of hygienic purposes of
aluminium, it is said to be as excellent
a purifier of water IS there is. The
salts of aluminum are insoluble in
water. Consequently, it is plain that
when these salts are formed the water
can be strained and the impurities re-
moved from it. Perhaps the most
popular method of publication of
water by means of aluminium is what
is known as the trough method. The
trough is composed of plates OF alumni
mum and zinc Or iron six or eight
inches apart.
One end of the tank affords an en-
trance for the volume of water which
passes over the top of n plate and
thence under the plate next to it, this
being accomplished by the fact the
elevation of the plates is different. In
connection with this tank or trough
there is a moderate-sized electrical
generator. Aluminium will not form
the negative pole Of acurrent, but the
other plates used will. It is always
the case that when an electric cur
rent comes in contact with water in
this fashion it decomposes a certain
portion of the fluid, as it were.
The result of this decomposition is
that ozone is formed and oxygen freed.
This means absolute extinction to any
microbes or organ matter which the
water might contain, leaving it, after
meeting the publication the salts of
aluminium occasion, as clear and health
full as the water which flows from the
purestspring. There are other methods
of purifying water by the use of alum
mum, but they are not adopted to any
extent, the trough Or tank system al
ways having been productive of the
best results.
Possibly n of the greatest claims
of aluminium to preference is that it is
cheaper, for, although the demand for
it has tremendously increased, there
has been no notable increase in price.
It costs much less than zinc or cop
per for instance, and it is replacing
them in many instances, such as in the
manufacture of paper and celluloid.