The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-23
CEMENT MAKING IS AMERICAN INDUSTRY Is Now Close Rival for Coal
 and Iron USED FOR EVERYTHING Portland Cement Produced in This Country Last Year Amounted to
 4e,4oo,ooo Bsrres-some
 of It's Uses.
USED FOR EVERYTHING
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.

has come to rank with the first mineral industries of the land It now has the claim to the first place in the honor roll of those mighty commercial forces which are operating to make the United States the foremost of the nations Only coal and pig iron rank ahead of cement in the value of productions from the earth, and cement and iron ore are now running neck and neck. Cement long ago passed the gold mines, lead and zinc together are not nearly so valuable, and silver and copper are no longer considered In the race. The United States began to make Portland ce- ment In 1875. Five years thereafter the 1 annual product had reached 42000 bar rels By 1896 the output had reached the million barrel mark, and last year the Portland cement produced In this country | amounted to 46,40000O barrels
 1 Portland cement is the most versatile material man has ever used in construc- ton. It is taking the place of timber for piles. telegfaph and telephone poles, rail- road ties, fence posts and even shingles. It Is used for building bridges where steel was the only possible material ten years ago. It Is used for dams, locks, retaining sea walls and breakwaters where stone masonry was imperative few years since. It Is used for chlmneys and side walks instead of brick It is used for grain bins instead of any other material. Reinforced with bars and rods of steel the Portland cement concrete goes into a monolthic building twelve stories high | Pressed Into hollow blocks 1t goes into small cottages which initiate houses of stone.
 There are three kinds of cement which are of mportance-Portland, natural and Puzzolan. Natural cement has been made In the United States for nearly a hundred years, having been employed in construct ing the Erie canal In 1S19 The industry | flourlshed, showing a gradual growth 1 from year to year, until two years ago, when it began to show an actual decrease | and 1t is now on the wane. Engineers do not condemn 1t, and they regret that the Industry is dying out. Natural ce- ment is made by burning a naturally inn pure limestone of clayey nature at a comparatively low. temperature, about such as is used in burning ime The burned stone is ground to a powder and is then ready for use.
 Puzzolan cement is the oldest of cements and was made by the ancient Romans. It Is prepared by mixing powdered slacked lime with volcanic ashes In the United States the slag from Iron furnaces is substituted for the volcanic ashes, there being little or no chemical difference This cement Is better for use under water than in air
 | Portland CamnOf 0f ro+i cent origin. It was first made In Leeds. | England, by Joseph Aspdin in 1924. On ac- | count of It's similarity in appearance to a certain building stone known in England | as Portland stone' 1t was at once call ed Portland cement. It Is made by burn | ing a finely ground artificial mixture of lime with silica, alumina and iron oxides. in definite proportions. at a temperature approximating 5000 degrees. The mass Is thus reduced to a "clinker," which Is then ground Into very fine powder ready to use. It will harden under water but will not successfully resist the acr.an of salt water. Quite recently 1t has been found that by reducing the amount of alumina and increasing the iron. the cement may | be used in salt water, the alumina being the vulnerable portion of the compound when attacked by sea water.
 The figures given in this article relate to Portland cement only The manufac- turers who sold sS0,ooo.0 900 worth in 1905 sold $0,0000o0 worth the next year and the increase for 1907 Is expected to be in the same proportion. From 1870 to 1890 the price of Portland cement was the 1 price of the German product, plus the | freight, going from s4 to g barrel in that time. With the growing importance of the American industry. the prices dropped sharply after 1890, reaching the lowest average about 80 cents a barrel. in 1904 The demand in the last two or three years has been so great, however, that the price has again risen. and for the | last year the average was about H.15.
 The manufacture of cement has proved to be very profitable business, but only | when undertaken on a large scale. Ac- | cording to experts, the smallest plant which could be expected to pay a remu- nerative return would be four-kiln mill which would cost $500, 900 to erect A ten kiln plant would cost s1 ,0O0, ,0O0 to s1 800 00O Half of the Portland cement of the coun- try is made In Pennsylvania, the largest plant being at Northampton, In the Le- high valley. The Missouri and Kansas plants come next, while in California there is a wonderful growth of the in- | dustry. due in part to the enormous amount of cement being consumed in the | reconstruction of San Francisco
 The chief fault to be found with con- | crete for construction purposes is that a | mistaken idea has been spread broadcast | in the minds of people that anybody can work with it even to erecting buildings 1 Therefore, when no engineer is employed, | the advice of a concrete expert is not | asked, and common labor is put to work l a building sometimes collapses before 1t | is finished, just as a brick or stone or steel building would collapse under sim liar circumstances. Where the concrete building is properly constructed it is al- 1 most perfectly safe, as was proved in the Baltimore fire and in the earthquake and fire at San Francisco, the most severe tests to which any building could be sub jected
 For smaller houses and residences, the use of the concrete building blocks Is spreading rapidly. As the blocks can be made In any desired shape or fashion. the increasing use of this material is adding to the artistic merit of small cottage con- struction Thomas A. Edison has a scheme which he declares will soon be in every day practice. whereby the building of a cottage will be the work of one day He proposes to make rsAoulds of metal which can be taken to pieces and carried about
 These moulds will be set up and screwed together and the cement pumped into them. When 1t hardens. the moulds are to be unscrewed and taken away. and there will be the house; roof, walls. fioois, stairways, porches, columns, chimneys, everything but the doors and windows. | This will re1upe Drica of cOttaise