The record-union., 1897-09-28

series of chambers form one long zig
gag passage, broken at intervals Dy
wall extending almost its whole width,
starting now from one side, now from
the other. Each chamber is from five
feet TO five and one-half feet high, and
from three TO four feet wide. Entrance
is obtained into the Chambers for the
purpose of clearing out the crude ar
senic or soot--through an opening IN
the wall, whic1 is closed with an iron
plate carefully plastered over around
the edges Arsenic has a great affinity
for oxygen, so that the slightest crack
in the walls viii serve ior leakage. Here
and there along a series OF fues one
sees little jets of escaping fumes, where
the arsenic-as they say III the district
is "smeeching" In this way, of
course, a considerab bic quantity IS lost.
Thus in prospecting for lost arsenic II
the fues Of Okel Tor there were dis
covered in various cracks and crannies
upward Of ninety tons e the precious
SCOT, and afterwards { further 300 tons
were dug up from undo the floors of
the chambers.
The chambers are opened at irregu-
ldf DtIICQS. L 1T ElQUE dISVlllC - LdhCl1
out by the shovelful and heaped up in
a shed. At one mine 1 saw a heap Of
the blush white SCOT. There's enough'
arsenic there" said my guide. .'to poi
son a whole city. The blush tint
which I noticed proceeded from the
carbon and other extraneous matter,
but this heap contained at least 10 per
cent. of pure arsenic, and was worth
as it stood from E17 to f18 the ton.
THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURE.
The crude arsenic has to be refiDed,
SO as to eliminate the fine dust, etc The
refining is practically a repetition of
the roasting. From the furnaces a hot
fiue of brickwork, generally about 100
feet long, leads to a series of zig-zag
Kitchens" or chambers. In the hot
fue the carbon, fine dust and other ex-
traneous matter deposit, while in the
zig-zag chambers what is practically
pure arseniOus anhydride cOndenses
from the fumes. The arsenic is then
taken to the milling-room, where, with
an ordinary flour mill, it is ground into
fine powder and discharged direct into
barrels, in which by an ingenious auto
matte contrivance it is tightly packed.
1 IAC IltIl VI llO dItCtAO III lliC lAAAAAiA4S
room wear ''nuzzles," and are other
wise protected against the dust. The
manufacture of arsenic is not attended
with danger, where ordinary precau-
tions of cleanliness are observed by the
workers. The arsenic worker, more
than other men, should keep cool. Per-
spiratiOn would open his pores and IA
cilitate the entrance of the irritating
arsenic dust to his skin. He must not
wash in hot water for the same reason.
One hears little or nothing of any seri-
Gus injuries occurring to the workers.
There was one fatality recently, and
that was only indirectly connected with
the arsenic manufacture. A little girl,
who was carrying dinner to her father
at the East Pool works fell into one of
the flues, the arsenic having cOrrOded
the iron plate on which she had impru-
IDENTIFY ventured, from the effects of
which she died some hours later.
Nor does one hear of any i'll use be-
ing made of the dangerous products by
those engaged in its manufacture. L
made many inquiries, and could only
hear of one case where a love-lorn
maiden dosed herself with an ounce of
the SCOT. an overdose, which, as usual
with poisOns. was its own antidote. 1
also heard that three barrels out of the
consignment of crude arsenic, shipped
from Portugal where some arsenic
mining has recently been started by an
English company, to a refinery at Bris-
tol were found to contain sand. One
can only wonder what use the Portu-
guese miners who stole it mean 20 Hcake
of their plunder.