The sun., 1897-01-03

tllu Ilhttu u liloTt IN safety. nut Just
then.a jewellers screwdriver rolled over IL and
bruk" ". Bstchel!or wa. an eyen-tempered
map out 1ha was too s2sS %po o 90, much
reputation for patience on n small capital"
nrI Tier, e., wN, , no giving un; however Back 70
been good teacher. md before night they had
sompi.,sd third h.amcnt; got II safely
1t glowing with the electric current.
For the Great illumination al Menlo Park,
which followed the hlamentr were made OF
pieces stamped out OF visitn cards. and many
after that we're stamped from paper. Others
were made from siiyers OF bamboo. Weston
ment for the purpose but that Is what tho
General Electric COmpauy ne to-day. This
is yirtpally the material out OF which artif
process, used no nlament maker will tell. tor
this i one NJ the last Of the trade secrets. and
the or,y one about lamp making. mixture n,
vegetable matter, rich in carbon. like PAPER
stock or cotton. is taken and Is digested with
ss abSut SR as denS6 Sh HE aaG.y
through dies, Just as vermccll Is made. and IL
comes out In endless strings; For sixteen
candle power filaments the die has nm aperture
22-lOp0 OF an inch In dametsr. The string
OF raste falls into Jar prtly filed With a Sc
cret liquid. where II lies In coils. Then Il is
on cylinders 10 become entirely dry. Thea IL
t. cat into proper lengths. with allowance for
shrinkaGo. aud taken in hunches and wound
on shG pers 10 give II the form desired and set
int, form by being heated slightly Now It is
ready for carbonizlng. This is done by pack
ing the lunches In crGcihles with sifted char
coal or other carbon ferrous substarres and
after scaling by baking It in q hot fire for one
and half days. When it IL taken ont every
thread IL black and shiny and seems To- have =
perfect surface. but IL Is not ready for use.
Now each flament is taken separately and
clhmped with each end Ia n live electric cur.
rent, and while IL Is Immersed in u vapor OF
eject is 10 deposit. uron the white.hot fla.
mcnt n coating of lamp black, or carboni2ed
gasoline. which gives T. qualities not otherwise
uhtainablc. Ia tie early DAYS u. their manu-.
faciurv oAly eight lU-candie power lamps
could he III by one;horse power. but now NJ
ts"m are used. The li"inent is now ready to be
There are th!Tt, lamp factories IN the United
own ilamSnts. TIC others hGy them them from from
syecial manufacturer. One OF the largest or
these, flamcnt makers Is in Newark. y. j.
luce alto2et her about / 900, 900 lamps year.
OF this produce. 5000. 900 are turned out a.
the factory nj the General Electric Company
CnliSc those fragile fllamcnts which Edison
produced. the new ones nre handled easily.
and although they break easily when bent
sharply. they are so sprincy that they can he
drawn straight out without danger and then
allowed tO fly back 10 shape.
With the deyelopment OF the carbon fllament
has come gradual change IN all the piu ,css.s
Of lamp making until tho pricn OF ij-cnndle
power lights has fallen Gradually from 81 25
each to 20 cents, or even trfe less when
taken By contract in large lots.
can hold equal place for value with these sim
pie bits OF charcoal hlament. Some which
Will compare WIN tnt'n are 10 lie tOuu'. how
ever, in the matchmaking industry. Two OF
these arc the Jewels which protect tho pivot
holes from wear. and the delicate steel hair
springs. Jewels for lne watches are made OF
sapphire. anu the mntcrial has u value OF pcr-
haps 81 an ounce. Outside of that all is labor.
Others. for common watches. are made OF gar.
net, and this material has har, ~ any va,ue.
just how much a pound OF the most costly OF
these might lie worth no one has figured. for
they vary greatly according to size and finish
Jewellers keep them In little vIals. each about
one inch long and quarter Of an inch IN di-
jewels or 1000 small ones. An obigiiE Jew
eller empted out a vial when had contained
900 r garnet levels ;N Of medium si2cs- there
They scaled ~ carats. ar II l-G grains.
A. ,his rate tnere would he 10000 to the
pound. and rs their value was S,s cents each.
the punrd would cost Sl4.lGU.0O Hair
springs, made of steel worth hut II few cents
n pound Grc valued at great sums hv weight,
\ I"acn Of them ot assor ed sizes weigh about
four grains, aid there would be 2l,OOO of
then TO the pound, or lao dozen. Tho
dozen. and pound oI these would be- worth
StHi.1O. TcmpcTcd springs Of II good quality
would be worth S3.9375O. There are how
ever. q, great man, hair snrinEs made tho
value Of which IS much erea,cr. There, are
which would cost $4,000. aud special small
snrings tor tiny watches which cost from
Sl."a 10 $40 carh, pound or these would
lie worth about 10000, for they would weigh
not more than three grains To the dozen,
Another Of t.9 very expensive articles Of
bon hlamcnts. with lighting, is the WeIshach
gas mantle. The nantes aie worth about 30
cents each. and when they are on the burners
and ready for use they are almost AS light as
air. They are originally woven in the form
In which they are sCch In use, of cotton thread.
They are then diprcd IN n solution OF the rare
metal chromium, and dried. In that form
they go 20 tho consumer and are neither light
nor fragile. The moment the gns i lighted
under them the cotton flames up and Is
hurncl, leaving the chromium In the form OF
an oxide, keeping the mantle form, but with
so little substance thai a pun would destroy
and dis~iuate them. IL IS because OF their
small substance that very little cas- flame
heats them TO inCandcsccncc There are also
other processes of making them, but none va.
rleS much from this. Xirconium is an OK
tremcly refractory metal, and has been used
successfully for tips On chalk pencils for the
calcium Light.