The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-11-22

CHICAGO, Nov. 2l-Next Monday
morning, II his plant at the intersection
of Thirty-nInt street and Low avenue
can be made ready In time, E, c. Brlce,
metallurglst, chemist, inventor and
president, as well as general manager,
Of the National Metallurgist company,
declares that he will there commence on
a large scale the manufacture of pure
gold,
The process by which this will be ac-
complished is the invocation OF Mr.,
Brlce, who makes no secret OF his for
mula, protecting himself by patents
covering the machinery and appliances
necessary to make the artificial ore
from pure antimonV, This metal sells
pt the rate OF eight and one-half cents
per pound, while gold 1000 fine is quoted
nj so 81 per ounce, Brice announces
tina, he will be able to make 10000 tons
Of O.. q day with each OF his four fur
naceS, Chs ore, II Ia claimed, will
yle,d, when refined by the usual pro-
ceas Of lehning base bullion, $3.50 to
the ton. The cost OF producing a ton
OF o.e, the inventor OF the process says,
is very little, while the cost of refining
Il Is also OF small Importance.
Br!te Is n native of Dayton, o., and
has long studied chemistry. He came to
Chicago four years ago and now lives at
1910 Calumet avenue. All his life Brlce,
who Is still in the th.rtles, has been de-
clded IN his opinion that gold is not an
element, but Is the result OF chemical
action. Upon this theory he has labor
ed for years, and has, go he insists, at
last solved the process by which the
yellow metal is formed In nature. II
am not all alchemist nor q believer In
alchemy" he says, but / have found
how to manufacture gold p~roftabiy and
Practically"
A year ago. with money he possessed,
the alleged %dlscoverer OF the process
sought for ages, erected a small plant
at 4O2S Wentworth avenue, and started
the 'Illinols Chemical Association"
Friends who were confident OF his sue
cess stood by him and In a small way
the manufacture OF gold, so he claims,
was begun and carried to a successful
issue. Some 565 ounces OF the base bull
lion which he claims to be able to make
were sold by Brlce "a the National
Smelling and Refining Company. a con-
Germ whose offices are In the Western
Union building, and the bullion was re-
fined by them. Officials OF this COM
pany bear out this statement, but say
that they Of course are ignorant OF how
the bullion was made or secured by
Brlce. Finding the Wentworth avenue
plant too small and not adapted to MS
use, Brice organized the National Met
allurgical company, receiving papers OF
Incorporation on July II. Who the 9TH
er in%corporators are or with whom he
is associated in his enterprise, he will
not tell.
The plant at Lowe avenue and Thir-
ty-ninth street was designed as soon as
the company was organized, and work
started at once. Some $4,000 worth OF
stock In the new concern was sold at
par, 800, to pay for the work. All the
capital stock, amounting TO $4,000, has
been paid for, so President Brlce claims
and none Is for sale at any price. In the
office OF the factory Is a sign. announc-
,ng that all persons are prohibited from
Offering stock certificates for sale on
the premises.
Briefly described the process Gs repre-
scented by the inventor is as follows;
Pure antimony is placed In a furnace
md subjected to destructive dlstillation.
The fumes arising from this process are
driven by means of air blasts from fans
into a shaft six feet In diameter and
lO5 feet long. At the end OF this shaft
the fumes are run into wool bags, to the
sides OF which the anthony collects In
the form Of n gray colored sand, the
fumes arising from the coal being al
lowed to escape through the meshes OF
the cloth. This sand is mixed with
water to the consistency OF modelers'
,lay and cut into small; blocks, which
are placed in a furnace and subjected
10 a heat approximatInE 5000 degrees,
This is to secure as nearly as possible,
volcanic action. Oxygen, 80 Mr.. Brice
explains, Is the medium Of change. For
forty-elght hours the blocks are allow
ed TO remain in the furnace, which Is
patented, and which Brlce claims is the
secret OF his success, inasmuch as he
has In II devised a means OF securing
great heat in large amounts.
An o~re-crusher OF the dry-pan kind
then grInds the blocks into "A gritty
sand and this Is put In another furnace
and covered with two portions OF lead
TO one ot the sand, which Brice calls his
artificial ore. AS Its specific gravity Is
greater than that OF the so-called ore,
the lead is preclpltated 20 the bottom
Of the furnace. The intense heat causes
the lead to form a "%Ietharge.' which
acts as o caustic on the ore and eats up
nearly all Its constituent elements eX-
cept the gold and silver alleged to be
thus produced. The lead. as mixed
with the gold and silver Ia base bullion
and II was a quantity OF this substance
which was sold by Brlce to the Ma
tlonal Smelling and Refining Company,
This ends the proccsG which Brlcc
claims the honor OF inventing.
To refine the base bullion II In nodded
into small pigs. which are placed In
bone-ash cups. Thirty OF the cups are
put In a furnace and fused. Forty min
utes Is all the time necessary to cause
ne bone-nsh 10 absorb all the impur-
Ties In the bullion, leaving u mixture
OF pure gold and silver.
Ftom hundred and sixty ounces
bt the mixture thus acquired IL obtain
"a twcnty-slx ounces Of silver and tho
tWo are separated by n Of tho
methods In common vogue, II Is stated
by Mr. Brlce that he will be able to
make 10000 worth Of gold n week after
hlH plant Is started and that he Inns 81.
iec'ch arrangements by which che en-
we output viii be taken by the Bank
OF England, lIc does not cnrc TO dis
cn's the disastrous result which the
discovery Of a practicable method OF
making gold, would, according to imam
cler7 have upon the monetary Bygtema
hhl Che finances ~ the world.
am not a ~vlslonlEt, am not n
mhhnclet, nor A politician" said Brlco,
out think that II viii take thirty
years, even Mt the ratio which will be-