The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-31
EDISON'S LATEST FEAT.
CRUSHING MOUNTAINS AND TAXING
OUT mon WITH MAGNETS.
S1cnns by which Vn,t Iron Dcpo.i,.. hitherto
tisriess. Arc Ttttncd ITO Account-Ov~r
a, 900 Tons or Rock Made to Weld $500
Tons of Iron without Human Toucb,

u, 900 Tons or Rock Made TO Weld \. o
Tons or Iron without Human Touch.
Thomas A.. Edison has just completed what
may prove TO 10 the greatest achievement Of
his life. After eight years Of inCessaht work
night and day, in tho face OF discouragomcnts
which seemed almost insurmountablc. in spite
of obstacles which only n genius could over.
como, no has given 10 the world an industrial
Invention which in the seriousness of It's intcn-
tion mny como to rival the kaleidoscope, the
phonograph or even tho electric light. Nothing
DO has done heretofore has required so much
OF his individual attention, taxed his inventive
ingenuity so fully. or In the aggregate con-
Dumcd his vital powers moro than this latest
accomplishment. Thousands of poor workmen
vii! bless the s,oNdfastncss OF purpose which
made him carry his ideas TO u successful Issue.
lie has. in short. at last pointed out u CONNER
cial way Of utilizing the immense deposits of
iron ore which lie under the New Jersey hills.
Billions of tons of iron ore lie scattered
through the rocks of the eastern spurs of the
Allegheny Mountains. Edison himself made
this remarkable discovery years ago, and gcolo-
gists ever since have amused themselves with
proving how inoxhaustible is the supply. But
the orc is scattered about in such fine particles
that it could not be mined by the ordinary
methods and hence has been looked upon as
one OF the few great wastes of nature. This
state of affairs was aggravating in view of the
peculiar conditions which prevailed in the iron
trade OF the extreme East. For somc,years the
bulk OF tho Bcssemer steel trade has been drift
Ing westward by reason of the discovery and
opening up OF immense deposits of high.gradc
ore in tho upper peninsula Of Michigan, suit
able for making Bossemer steel, cheaply pro-
duced, and carried at small cost by water
transportation 10 furnaces contiguous to the
lake ports. The furnaces east of tho Ale
ghcnics were compelled to depend on a few
small, isolated deposits OF Bessemer ore in the
East and ores imported from foreign countries.
The ore deposits Of the Southern States, as
well as the non-magnetic ores of New Jersey
md New York, are unsuitable for making Bes.
semer steel.
For q time the cost OF the orc at the Eastern
furnaces was not greatly different from the cost
in the Pittsburg district; but In the last few
years the cost of foreign ores, which arc APP
proaching exhaustion, has reached the prohibi.
tory point. Then the discovery of the great
deposits in, the Mesaba range of Minnesota in
the last three years, and tho tremendous cheap
eninG in the cost of mining and transportation
of these deposits have apparently raised insur-
mountable obstacles in the way Of the Eastern
iron mills meeting the competition of the great
mills Of tho central West, even in the Eastern
market, and many mills have ceased to operate.
The condition is not o trivial one, for many
thousands OF persons depend upon these mills
and furnaces for a living.
Elison's interest in the matter dated from a
romantic episode which occurred sixteen years
ago. Ike was walking along the seashorc on
Long Island one day when he noticed a strange
pie OF black sand high up on the beach. He
had never seen such remarkable sand. Ho
examined it, suited it, and even tasted it, but
he could find no reason for its inky hue. With
thc "eal or tho scientific INVESTIGATOR he carried
some III ii home to his laboratory for the purpose
OF testing 1t. He was on the point of putting it
idea. He procured an eIectro.magnet and
held 1t near the mass. immediately little dark
s spd so,s Sgpadaf ssros the I9Es We from the {, heap
to the spot over which the magnet was held.
the little ants were really grains of iron ore.
covered a bed Of nnely divided iron ore cast up
by the sea: This sand covered the shore in
was due to the erosion of Connecticut rocks by
water, for magnetic is one OF the constituents
= Edison calculated that. the deposits must con.
taln millions of ions of iron which, il it could
On the basis of his find he evolved his famous
in rffn ? ore separa'ipg MACHINE, which he
no let out the privilege of using, it to q con-
tractor, who set up a plant on the beach and
projected TO separate the iron ore. from tho
SAND, with every prospect of developing an ex-
tensivc industry. But the sea proved less
generous, than il had at first promised to be.
had not visited the place for many years, and
UaI, , tine contractor ont came to visit his plant the
remained. 1t had all been been swen II into TtaG he sa sea
whence it came.
When the aforementioned curious condition
ot Affairs in the iron trade was brought to Mr..
Edison attention eight years ago, he thought
or the Inflated Long Island enterprise, and of
MS 'dlsCardcu magnetic separator, and won
dered If IL might not present in the end n truo
solution Of the difficulty. In order to assure
IN the East, he made II tour of the mines in
New Jersey, for the purpose of seeing how
1t would last. 1t was on this memorable trip
that he made the discovery that most OF tho
Tochs OF New Jersey were underlaid with i'm
net!c needle which would dip toward the earth
Whenever 1t was brought over a large deposit
OF iron ore. lie was driving along in a buggy
one day, between two mines. The needle Was
on his lap, and his mind was drifting away
from The subject in hand when suddenly he
noticed the point of the needle dip violently
toward the earth and remain pointing down
ward. He wondered how this could be. for. as
far as he knew, there wa' no iron ore anywhere
nGaI him. lie testcd the needle and found it
the time, and he noticed that whenever he was
above TINS rock the needle continued to point
toward, thc earth. His amazcment became
great, for if the needle did not err, it simply
meant that the ground under him was under.
lad with immense. deposits of iron. Deter.
81 men at work making n magnetic survey of
the rocks of New Jersey. AS a result of this
divided state, existed in nearly. all Of tho older
rocks of New Jersey. He then planned u
m"Snctlc survey or INC WNOle East, and IL re-
mains probably tho most comprehensive under.
taEiilg 0. its kind ever accomplished.
With hi magnetic needle, or, as he calls 1t,
his magnetic eye" he leSlld every large body
oil gneiss, rock extending aIOng the eastern
coast OF the United states, from lower Canada
TO the great Smok" Mountains of North Caro-
lima. lie found immense deposits OF iron. For
instance. In the 5000 acres Immediately sur
ronniiLig the village of Edison, there are over
2Ou, 100000 toas OF lOw-grado ore. In tho en-
tire district there arc 5000 acres in which
tbs deposit is., proportlonatcly, as large. The
NDf.l ! HlnllI. ultIut OF iron pTn dom mt nt
ihc prc.cAt time, reach Go. uO1, 900 tons, so that
~ INC lnltry two miles surrounding the village
oil Edison, there is enough iron ore in the rocks
TO kcep the whole world supplied for one year
or tEe | nI:od states 10" three years, even with
lnc natural Increase la dolnanG. Sixteen
Thousand acres or twenty-five square miles OF
world supp.4sd for seventeen years, allowing,
Or COURSE, for all. natural increase OF demand
,Miitc To The needs OF II growing population.
Ihc.a acres would more than supply The Unit.
eH states with iron, including necessary OK
port, Tor Inc next seventy years, and they con-
Yam more Than has been mined heretofore in
thl3 country since its discovery.
rms MAS a rcIuarkabip pnHitinn-spoItip tho