The herald., 1897-08-18
THE INVESTOR
A.
OFFICE OF THE HERALD,
Los Angeles. Aug. II, 1897.

OFFICE OF THE HERALD.
Los Angeles, Aug. II, 1897.
The organization of the Bankers Mu-
tual Casualty Company of Des Moines.
Iowa, is reported as lone of the most i'm
portant events in the banking business of
this country" The new company will issue
policies of burglary insurance to bankers
and will insure the transmission of cur
rency and securities through the mails
The concern has secured the insertion of
some clever reading notices in some of the
Eastern financial papers. on the strength
of which many local journals have jumped
to the conclusion that the company is as
big as it pretends to be. A conservative
opinion would incline to the belief that
as Des Moines is considerably smaller
city than Los Angeles it would hardly be
the headquarters for a company of such
large pretensions and national Importance,
SO far as banking interests are concerned.
A receiver has been applied for in the
United States court at Boston for the
American Legion of Honor. The applica-
tion is made on behalf of dissatisfied
Of numerous others, who find the assess
ment plan more rksome than they had
ever imagined. 1t is stated that more than
a year ago some sixteen councils or
branches of the organization in New York
and Brooklyn seceeded because of the in
creasing number of assessments. There
were in those branches about $1,000 Ger
mans. They contended that the assess
ments were made so frequently that they
were unable to bear the burden.
+ = +
Referring to the production of aluminium,
the Philadelphia Ledger says: "It has only
been a few years. comparatively, since
aluminium was practically classed among
the precious metals having a value nearly.
if not quite, that of gold. Indeed. until
about 1858 1t was almost exclusively a
laboratory product, and it was not until
the Introduction Of electrical appliances
that it became possible to regard the
metal as one to be used for general pur-
poses. Since cheaper and better methods
of producing aluminium have been en-
ployed the output has steadily and
rapidly increased, until now it is con-
fore another year is gone only three
commercial metals-iron. lead and zinc
will be rated at a cheaper price. Practi-
cally all the aluminium in the worlds mar
ket, UP to and including 1885, was pro-
duced in France, Switzerland and the
United States. The three countries, with
slight additions from others, produced in
1895 about 1000 pounds daily of which the
largest amount was furnished by France,
the next by Switzerland, with the United
States as a close third. Each of these
as well as Great Britain, added largely to
their aluminium plants in 1896, with the
result that the output reached about A.
674 pounds daily. The additions to the works
at Neuhausen, in Switzerland. when COM
pleted, will add about 5940 pounds to the
daily production. A German-American
syndicate has planned the erection of
works for the manufacture of aluminium
at the waterfalls of Sarpfoss, in Norway,
to be ready for operation by the beginning
of next year, and these works are to have
a capacity of some 5000 pounds daily. 1t
is estimated that the additions in Switzer-
. land the new plant in Norway and the
increased capacity Of the Niagara Falls
plant, the output of aluminium is 1898 will
average AZ, 460 pounds daily, or about six
times the amount produced in 1895. If the
figures are correct they exhibit almost
an astonishly early increase in the worlds
supply of this useful metal. The mallea-
bility of aluminium, its exceeding lightness
and its immunity from rust render it a
favorite metal for many purposes, and its
-,
through it's costing considerably more than
iron."
Speaking of the electrical industries of
San Francisco the Pacific Electrician says
that there are in that city today: "Electri-
cal machine works. 8; men employed, 100;
value, 1000; electric lighting companies,
4; men and boys employed, 400; number
of incandescent lights, 80, 600; number of arc
lights, 1900; horsepower and motors, 1900;
coal used daily. $4,000 tons; value, $1,000
900; electric supply manufactures, Is; men
employed, 120; value, $3.50, ,O00."
! \ i
In an article in Timber Gondon) on the
value of teak for structural and mechanical
purposes, the claim is put forth that such
wood is really the most durable timber
known and of especial Importance to ship
builders, being very hard, very light, easily
worked, and, though porous. strong and
lasting. 1t is soon seasoned, shrinks but
little. and on account of its oily nature
does not injure iron. In Southeas tern Asia
1t is not only considered the best material
for ship construction, but for house car
pentry and other work where strength and
other lasting qualities are required. 1t is
rarely attacked by ants of the white
species, and its durability renders it spec
tally valuable in climate like that of
India. where the elements causing decay
are so numerous and powerful where
dampness brings on rapid decomposition
and where the white ant devours without
scruple. In the operation of cutting t. N.s
wood is frequently girdled one or two
years before it is felled.
+ +
The London Financial News says: If
Indian railway companies can buy Amer
lean steel rails at Al per ton below Eng
lish prices they practically must buy Them
1t is disgusting in the extreme that because
they obtain, under protection, extrava-
CANT prices at home. the American makers
are able to underbid us in India and in
Egypt, whose railways ought to be solely
and wholly English handiwork. If the
Americans are beating us in economical
processes 0f pr01nciDp steel rails the fla ct