New-York tribune., 1901-01-06
INCREASING MINERS PROFITS.

an unexpected source of revenue The inse-
nuity of the mining engineer in procuring the ore
from depths where the heat limits human iaDOE
has been paralleled by the skill of the chemist
in devising methods capable or separating cue
copper in state OF extreme purity molI 49, inS
gold the silver and the base metals with Whlch
cyanide method. Ore heaps regarded as Vatue-
less yield in paying quantities Inc snVsl
ores even the refractory tellurides' are Ilaus
more profitable than before ny the he"ei
Lead is used both as metal and in chemical
combination. White lead is the basis Oh 'tiae nsa
diversified class of industries known as tne
paint and color trades. Zinc, nickel and a rev
other metals have been brought into common
use during the century. Tin, still derived from
the ancient mines of Britain and the straits
has not as yet been found in extensive amounts
within borders. Aluminium is, however, the
newest metal of the century. LIT alreaay rivals
copper and will soon contend with iron for the
supremacy. Unlimited beds Of clays, kaolns
and bauxites are ready at hand TO yield TINS
beautiful metal. The raw material mined IN
Georgia is prepared for the furnace in Penn
sylvania and subjected to the electric current at
Niagara.
The nitrate deposits of India and Chilli are still
the great sources Of the nitrogen needed in the
manufacture of gunpowder, dynamite and
snOkelesS powder. Our universal resources nave
been made available by the use or explosives IN
mining operations, while the civil engineer mas
made transportation by highway, canal or rail-
group of industries of gigantic proportions
has come TO the fore in the last quarter OF the
ucts OF chemical character. The refineries con-
sumo the output of great chemical factories The
industries OF the gas region are chemical .is Lne
composition. They have revolutionized the con-
struction OF our roadways and made our cities
more sanitary.
THE HANDMAIDEN OF ART.
Light and cleanliness are prime essentials of
our homes. The light of day streams through our
window glass while this same material forms
the envelopes Of our sources Of artificial light
Chevrenl's researches on the fats gave the ada
mantlne candle to replace the tallOw dip early
in the century. Gas produced by the carboniza-
ton of coal or wood supplanted candles and oil
lamps between the forties and ffties. Petroleum
and It's derivatives reached Importance in the
seventies. Electricity came TO the fore IN the
eighties. During the last ten years gas re-
ceived fresh impetus through the use of the in
candescent mantle. The carbon rods Of the arc
lamp are the product OF the sashOuse. The
slender filament of carbon of the incandescent
lamp is a transformed cellulose of chemical
manufacture. II is proposed. to substitute the
metal osmium for the carbon filament, and
thereby quadruple the light giving power.
Mixtures of rare earths are found to conduct
electricity when once heated. and 70 become
luminous Gases and solids win soon be forced
20 give light without heat and then our dwell
inSS VIII be Suffused with artificial daylight.
For cleanliness. resort TO those best ad-
vertised of all chemical products. the soaps.
Though lie Blanc devised a process for convert
Ing salt into alkali. during the last quarter of
the century the SOlvay ammonia process has in
great measure supplanted il. Using salt as
raw product Also the great beds OF that material
IN New-1ork and Michigan are to-day the seats
OF the new industry. We manufacture the soaps
from the alkal and fats or oils.
Sulphuric acid remains still the chief acid but
by the contact method. wherein sulphur diOxide
and oxygen are made TO combine through the in
fuence OF platinum. important and recent i'm
provements have been introduced in its manu-
facture.
Chloride of lime. the sulphites. hydrogen
peroxide and ozone are now the most commonly
used bleaching agents. Their manufacture is
connected with that of the acids.
DYES THAT DELIGHT THE EYE.
Two classes of dyeing materials have for the
last forty years been contending for the SUI
premacy, the natural and the artificial. The
natural dye stuffs held the market until in 1856
Perkins obtained the first coal tar color. Since
then alizarin has displaced the red from mad
der root and artificial indigo is now a full
iedged offspring OF the industry. Scien-
tifiC research riot in the German and other
universities until the industrial establishments
rivalied them In equipment and in the original
ity OF their corps of scientific workers. In no
department of science have the discoveries been
OF greater theoretical and practical value The
beauty. variety of shade, permanency, adapta-
bility TO various fibres. of manipulation and
economy of the artificial dyes stamp them as
pre-eminently the best.
Pigments are receiving great attention from
the chemist. The adornment of our buildings
and of our homes has fostered these manufact-
uleS. ine pcdutA1ul wares IN grass ana porcelain
and the canvases of the artist demand the finest
type of chemical manufacturing skill
When soda ash was obtained from seaweed a
Partisan soap boiler discovered in il the element
of iOdin. In the hands of Niepee and Daguerre
this iodin was found TO render a silver surface
sensitive to light. The developed and fixed inn
preston on the plate gave the daguerreOtype.
The French Government purchased the secret
and made il sree to the world.
From the coOrless picture thus produced we
have advanced to the colored photograph of
Lippmann. The most recent work has brought
about the reproduction in color of natural Oh
jects by the aid of photography. Thus light as
we'll as heat is a tool in the chemists hand.
In the year 1900 Nicholson and Carlisle OBJ
served that water was separated into its eie-
ments by the voltaic current. This is the first
record OF electro-chemical decomposition. Pur-
suing this line of work. Berzelius and Hissinger
decompOssd saline solutions. Sir Humphry
Davy isolated the metals potassium and sodium
and also those of the alkaline earths. while
Faraday formulated the laws of electrolysis
was for many years the only application of the
power of electricity TO effect chemical change.
Then came the dynamo. Cheap water power
replaces the costler sources of energy TO drive
the machines and at Niagara, the falls of the
Rhine and elsewhere great electro-chemical in
dustries have developed. Soda, chlorin, pOtas-
sum chlorate and other products. organic and
inorganic, are the result of this type of action
of the electric current.
Electricity has been utilized in vet another
manner. The high temperatures attained in the
electric furnace have been shown by Moissan
and others to be the only means of compelling
chemical union between certain elements. The
commercial production of carDorundum from
sand and coke. of calcium carbide from lime