The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-09
NOTES or ELscTRICAL PROGRESS.

Platinum IL peculiarly the elec,Iieian's meAt Its
quality Of resisting oxidation Indefinitely and ifs
ability 10 make a tight Joint With glass. when fused
into the body Of that material OF even through The
thin wall Of an Kay tube. make II absolutely invalu'
able, and no other material can take It's place for
these uses. The largest part Of the worlds supply OF
the metal comes from the Ufal Mountains, perhaps as
much as o5 per cent Of the platinum used In the arts
being found In the Russian and Siberian mines or
placer deposits Of that range. The metal Is found in
grains and uggels In the sands OF river and creek
deposits and In the moralnes Of glaciers. and Is either
quite pure or IN the form Of an alloy with Iridium or
some Of The allied metals Of the platinum group. such
as rhodium or ruthenium. while the demand for II Is
steadily increasing. largely on account OF the increaS-
} ing manufacture Of incandescent lamps. which use
bits OF platinum wire for leading In the current TO the
nlament inside, the output Is steadily keeping pace
with It. In 1890 the Ursl region produced only e.sos
pounds OF the metal, while in 1900 the production
was no less than iS.242 pounds
In many copper mines the richer bodies OF ore have
been exhausted and the remaining rock IL OF q
character too poor In metal - nepay the expen~ OF
bringing II TO the surface and working II for It's
metallic contents II hiss been sug gested that an
eleetrolytic process will be able TO CLEAN copper from
such mines with the minimum OF ~ penso and labor
II IL proposed 10 bury deep In such a working a large
electrode OF coke or similar material and near the
surface TO In stall another electrode OF sheet copper
The mine Is 10 b, flooded with water and II enough
soluble salts, such as copper sulphaie, copperas OF
salt, do not exist. TO ncdify the water in the mine
with ~sulphuric acid or some ether equally good con-
ductot OF electricity A powerful dynamo giving
a very large current n electricity al a
low voltage Is TO be connected so that the
current shall now from the lower electrode TO the up
per through the waters nlling the mine and the orc
bodies In the int.rstitial rocks. BY this process cop
per. or such other metal as may exist In the mine. will
be deposited upon tho upper electrod. precisely In
proportion TO the total amount Of electrical energy
supplied. After an Interval OF ~perhapss year or two
the workings may be pumped out 80 that the upper
elecifode may be reached when Its deposit Of metal
may be extracted and the mine again flooded and the
process repeated. In this way Il Is thought, that
many lean deposits, especially II they are In the
neighborhood Of water powers. may be worked to
great advantage and at considerable pront, since the
resulting metallic deposits will be practically pure and
will require little OF no further treatment
In Austria the use " electrical power distribution
In mills and factories Is becoming widespread and
almost universal In the important textile industry.
Recently a plant has been installed atRoyeredo. In the
South Tyrol, in which 400 velvet weaving looms are
operated by polyphase electric motors from a central
power station. Severe practical tests are said 10 have
shown high efficiency and entirely satisfactory opera.
ton
Electric power transmission Is giving . new i'm.
petus TO ind ustries In the south and east Of Europa
At Sinala, the summer residence Of the King OF
RoumaniA a nne water power on the river Prahova,
has been developed and its energy will be Transmitted
forty.nve kilometre twenty nine miles,, and dis.
trlbuted TO a number OF industries in the lower valley
OF tho river, In the extensive petroleum nelds in
the nelghborhood a considerable demand for curren,
has aHaen A hi0h tension sVstfm of distTibutlOn
Is used, the pressure on the main Transmission cir
cults being 1900 volts
Itis stated tina, the British Lighthouse Board viii
adop; a new form OF electrically lighted buoy 10 70
place the old bell and gas buoys stationed at various
dangerous points along the channe,. The interior Of
the buoy Is a miniature electric light plant, the mo-
ton OF the waves working the piston OF an air com.
pres$or. whicN drvesan engine and mail dynamo.
The electricity thus generated either works a power
ful fash or nIed Hight. or Is used 10 control an auto
matte syren apparatus II Is said that under severe
tests the apparatus has shown satisfactory results.
The subject Of electrical propulsion for medium.
nted passenger boats Is now being discussed az
some length In the foreign technical journals. For
vessels accommodating from $50 TO 200 passengers
the electrical system possesses many advanta ges when
the course Of the boat Is short All OF the dirt the
heat, the odorS and The danger Of steam are entirely
eliminated, ana the attendance necessary Is cut down
10 an absolute minimum Indeed, one man may
safely and easily handle such a boat The jarring
and shocks which shorten the life OF storage batteries
on automobiles or street cars 10 such a marked e1-
tent are practically absent in the easel OF n
boat. and the depreciation OF the battery Is
much less rapid. In addition to all
these advantages, the entire p~ropelling machinery
may he In stalled In small compass well below the
water line, adding stability to the craft and giving the
largest possible deck space for passenger, or freight
OF oourS e. the distance over which such boats can
travel In a single charging of their batteries Is limited
1T Is generally abou, thirty mlies-bui for river ser
vioe and comparatively short runs such boats are
nearly ideal, both from the point OF view Of the public
and regarded as paying Investments
A plan Il on foot 70 develop a large water power In
the western Highlands Of Scotland by building a
canal across country from Loeb Erich, TO the head.
waters Of Loeb Leven. where a fall OF ITO feet would
be had, producing sbou, $4,000 horse power Great
success has already attended the utilization OF the falls
OF Foyers in tn. same nelghborhood, the water power
there Developed being used TO operate dynamos fur.
nj shing current for aluminium making II Is also pro-
posed To establish steam power and electric generating
Of very large size In the Scotch coal nelds,
where fuel may be had al tho pit mouth for a mini.
mum cost, and to transmit the power TO Glasgow and
the large cities near by As this scheme has excellent
financial and en- gineerng backing. II Is thought that
Il will succeed fully.
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