The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-21
SOME MODERN MIRACLES
SCIENCE REALIZES THE DREAMS OF
THE ANCIENT ALCHEMIsTs.
The Magic That Converts Waste Ma
Beauty, and of Great Value.


comes nowhere so near the literal truth
as in the various processes devised by
modern science and Industrial art for the
| conversion OF material once regarded
worthless refuse into articles OF real value
and usefulness Here the modern spiris
may well be typifed I'm the form OF a ma
| gcian, who waves his wand over heaps OF
dust and garbage when. Presto. change."
we have before astonshed eyes an
| ray OF beautiful forms for great variety
OF uses Applied science has thus realized
the dreams OF the ancient alchemist. ana
in It's crucibles the meanest and coarsest
! substances are transmitted II not literally
into gold, yet into things which have q
| high cash value.
What substance. for example would seem
to be more completely useless than the re-
fuse of mines and furnaces. or Stag. as q
is called? But Stag is now treated In a
variety of ways and converted into nuns
| Der of useful things. such as paving blocks
| Stag glass. Stag shingles and Stag sand
| Stag bricks are one OF its chief &C
| present, and for these there is a consid-
cradle demand. Mortar for building pur-
poses is another method OF utilization. sim-
| ply achieved by grinding the Stag sand
| with about per cent Of slaked limes
artificial stone, nodded into chimney pieces,
| window heads and sills. wall coping and
ether ornamental work for builders; ant
the last use which has been found for IL -
in making Stag wool or silicate cotton, 80
called from its resemblance TO cotton WOOL
This is snow white i'm color. and is chiefly
used for covering boilers or steam pipes.
and being a nonconductor OF heat. IL -
admirably adapted for these uses. Coal Stag
has been for years another Troublesome
waste Now, however. this is being used for
building purposes The builders in Lyons,
France, are credited with being the first
10 use the waste which surrounds every
coal mine. They wished TO find a cheaps
| durable and healthy material for the coa-
struction of suburban houses, and coal Stag
mixed with slaked lime. treated concrete.
was adopted The mass hardened rapidly
and even after a few days the walls wers
firm enough to support the joist Trainings
The strength and .fire-resisting properties
of this new composition have been well test
ed, and one case is mentioned where nitro-
benzine factory was burned down. the great
heat even melting the machinery, and yet
the walls, built of coal-slag bricks. were
unconsumed-their surfaces having a glazed
appearance-and they sustained without re-
pair the ceiling and roof of the restored
| building.
BRASS AND IRON WASTE.
An establishment that works up brass
| and iron i'm about equal proportions for
more than a year mixed the drillings. turn
| ings and filings OF both metals indiscrim-
| inately and dumped them out OF doors
| as useless rubbish 10 be got rid of. A sep
| arating machine Was suggested and IL
| paid for its cost within three weeks. IL Is
| self-operating. requiring only the occa-
| sional supply of the chips and the removal
of those already separated. The mixed
| chips pass through trough in a thin
stream before a revolving cylinder COM
posed Of horseshoe magnets. the brass
chips drop in front into box and the
iron and steel chips are carried on the
magnets 10 the under side and are brushed
off by fixed brushes into another box. Be-
fore being separated these mixed chips
are worthless. After being separated the
iron chips had a marketable value and the
brass chips a value ten times as great.
In certain machine shop worn out and
broken files are placed I'm transverse
holder on the grindstone frame. held
against the face OF the stone by springs.
given a traverse by a belt and spiral cam,
and the result is bits OF smooth steel just
adapted for forging boring bar cutters and
keys with further result OF keeping ths
stone trued. In brass manufactures there
is unavoidable waste OF the metals In the
scoriae of the melting furnaces, IN tho
rolling mill department and the wire draw
ing. Whatever Of this waste. with tina
sweepings, can be gathered is put into
large mortars and subjected to the impact
OF pivoted pestles. until the whole -
pounded 10 a dust. Then il Is fioated in
a running stream Of water through a
chute over rifles. which catch the heavy
trash TO pass or The metallic resIdum.
packed in crucibles with lutued covers,
gives a profitable percentage Of solid brass
TO be reused
THE DEsPIsED HOOPSKIRT.
Tin cans and scrap tin. like the old and
much abused hoops kirts. for a long time
resisted all attempts TO convert them 10
second use. The empty can has at last a
mission, and a profitable at that.
Emptied Of its contents Of peaches OF to-
matoes. discarded and thrown OUT at the
back door ii may soon be sent in al the
front door and md an honored place I'm ths
house. Thousands OF these cans are gath
cred in our cities every week and made
into shining sheets, which arc used 10
decorate or cover large travelling trunks.
a number Of factories for the conversion
OF old. buffeted and battered cans and other
up In recent years, and the business Is a
growing The cans collected ia
various ways, but principally from the city
ash heaps and the hotels and the large
boarding houses At the factory the
soldered seams are subjected 20 an in-
tense heat In such a way that the SOLDER
! runs into a receptacle and Is carefully E
saved and sold. IL brings twelve cents a
pound. and the profit from this source alone
almost pays the expense OF the gathering
and handling OF the cans. The tops and
bottoms OF the cans are melted and turned
into window sash weights The labels on &
the tin plate easily taken OF after hav-
ing been thoroughly soaked I'm water, and
the plates themselves are rolled fiat by ma
chinery. AS the insides Of the plates are
not much discolored by the contents OF thu
can they present clean surface and make
excellent coverings for trunks. the seams
being hidden by the trunk braces. either OF
wood or sheet iron.
In a report recently submitted 20 our