Bisbee daily review., 1909-07-04

<t CIVIL or coal, lu converting | ton or pig iron into puddle bar. Leaving out of the question the fuel used in gener- ating the power for operating the Bes- semer converters, which. however, is
 generally recovered from the waste heat of the blast furnace. the amount ' of coal saved in making Bessemer
 steel instead of wrought iron during the same year of 1906 exceeded 22,- 100000 tons.
 The MetalIursy ofs Copper
 The metallurgy of copper has bene- fited as acutely as the metallurgy of iron and steel from the combined
 science and skill of the mechanical and metallurgicai engineers. One
 recollects distinctly how. in the old
 brick furnace, campaign of ten days. with a daily charge of ten tons of ore. was looked upon as almost phe-
 nomenal; and that from the time we eegan roasting sulphide ore in heaps
 until the refined copper was turned
 out after endless handlings of the
 mates, as they were worked up from
 lower to higher grades, about three
 months was occupied. Now, by means of mechanical roasting furnaces. large jacketed cupolas. electrical cranes, the I DCSoCDhtt tOhNSitCE anu tut dihtf
 casting table, the ore is turned into
 metal in fewer hours than 1t former | ly took weeks, and at the same time almost dispensing with hand labor.
 1 While these industrial changes were
 going on in the mining and metallur- gical fields, the electrical engineer was
 bringing under control that tremend-
 ous force which Faraday investigated as dynamic electricity; and we metal lurgists have not been slow to apply it, both to the saving of fuel and oth.
 CT natural resources. and to the con seryation of human labor. The mod
 ern rolling mill, in which a motor re- places. the small engine and boiler that used to operate the rolls. and the mod. ern electrolytic plant which turns out electrically pure copper, are only the more visible benefits that electricity ! is conferring. When some of us commence our technical experience
 the deduction in precious metals made
 by the refiner of copper before any contribution was made to the miner or the seller, was S60 worth per ton of ore or metal. Under such heavy
 charges comparatively small amounts
 of gold or silver were or could be
 saved. Today. through the applica ton of electrolysis to the metallurgy of copper, about SS ,000, 900 in value
 which was formerly lost, Is now re
 covered annually and goes into com
 merce as a by-product; for the world $ copper may be assumed to carry an i average of s10 per ton in gold and
 silver.
 Electrical Transmiss.on of Power. | The last application of this myste-
 rious force, by transmitting from sta,
 tionary engines electric current for the movement of trains, aims at re ducing what is certainly one of the
 most wasteful uses of coaI-its con
 sumption in the locomotive for the generation of steam. Tn distributing our coal supply, the railroad burns from 20 to 25 per cent of the total pro
 duction of our coal mines This will
 be notably reduced, though to what eX tent has not yet been determined. But before this desirable consumption is attained if electrical engineers continue
 to extend the limits within which long, i, distance transmission can be applied
 economically, they will bring the la
 tent neglected forces of the whole con
 tinent to our doors, and the water
 powers 1000 miles away, as well as
 the winds and tides, will propel our
 railroad cars as well as heat our houses. The service which coal now
 performs will be fulfilled without the
 expenditure of human labor and diff
 fussion of so much obnoxious smoke
 and vapor. Long before UT cal sup plies are exhausted, even on the mos pessimistic calculations, onr children will gladly leave the balance in the
 ground, and charge to profit and loss
 some of what we now consider oui most valuable asset.
 Destruction of Forests.
 There is no doubt whatever that the destruction of our forests is at tended by host of such terrible con
 sequences that halt must be called In the early days at Bisbee. when We were at a distance from the railroad , We, of necessity, almost stripped ths ; hills of their scanty clothing oi
 stunted wood, for We were forced t6 use wood for the generation of steam . 1 find from one of the earliest state ments that the company burnt about 4 900 cords of wood for the year. The ; hills for miles around were completely
 denuded. with the result that disas , trous floods have ever since almost
 annually deluged and damaged the town, which is built in the troughs ol 1; two converging valleys. As mining . engineers we are sensible of the r'ii, which reckless numbering involves
 and we lower with regret every stick of timber that we bury underground , Nor are we satisfied to bemoan the fact without making some effort tc remedy the evil. It has been sus i gested, and we are trying the expert . ment. to replace wood by iron. The forests can be restored in time by re 1 forestration, but iron ores cannot be replaced. And. therefore 1t is a falss : economy to attempt to save repro } ductive material by substituting ont 2 which rusts and cannot. be regener ated. Concrete Is also being uset [ more and more in mining operations 5 and against its substitution for woot r there can be no objection; but thu !, most notable economy will result iron improved methods of mining. espe cially from the introduction of thu
 caying and slicfng systems
 i The cavang system Of Mining l These were introduced into the Can ? anea mines when Arthur s. Dwigh 1, was manager: and Dr. Ricketts ans l. MT. Kirk have extended the use O 5 the methods and applied them % sue } cessfully that less than half the tim < Der is used per ton of ore extracted [ today than was buried in the mtnt l three years ago. The following table
 kindly supplied by Doctor Rickettz - represents the saving which is goinl ? on at Cananea, and in many mine sl where the same method is applicable -l Timber consumed per ton (wet) .