The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-14
MUCH MORE MICA USED.

Once Seen Chiefly I'm the Stove
Now Employed 10 Insulate Wires.
There was time when mica, OF
lsinglass as It was far more com.
monty called, was familiar in one
limited use In every household in
which there was parloi or sitting
room stove, thin, transparent sheets
OF this mineral being set In the stove
door. Through the "isinglass," not
destructible when subjected to heat,
as glass would have been, the glow
Of the fire within could be seen.
With long use the mica might be-
come smoked up and opaque. or it
might become marred and bro
ken. Then the head of the household
would get and set into the stove
door fresh isinglass, from the stove
Dealers, whilc the fragments of the
old were very probably turned over
to the children, who were likely to
be surprised to find into how much
thinner sheets still the thin old
pieces from the stove door could be
divided. AS matter of fact mica is
dlyisible into sheets one two-thou-
sandth OF an inch In thickness.
Now there are many who don't
know mica at all not even as It is
used in stoves, people born and
raised in houses that are heated by
steam, in which no stoves are used
for heating purposes; but while the
number Of these is large and all the
time growing, the number OF people
who yet use stoves iG larger STILL
and so while mica may have passed
entirely out OF the sight and mind of
many who once knew It in this use,
and In this use only, the preparation
of II for stove use still constitutes a
regular branch of the mica trade;
and thus one OF the old uses of mica
still, continues.
The chief use to which mica is now
put Is one not dreamed of until with
In comparatively few years, name
ly, as an insulating material in the
construction of electrical apparatus,
for which purpose its use is now
general and constantly increasing,
and far larger than In any use to
which II had ever before been put.
Mica is now used also for making
chlmneys for incandescent gas lamps
placed where they would be exposed
TO drafts. or out of doors, subject to
the weather. Mica is used to make
protectors for ornamental candle
shades, and 1t is used for making
fancy boxes, and, In place of glass.
fon covering the labels of drawers,
as In desk, Ground up mica Is now
used In the manufacture of lubri-
cants and of fertilizers, and of dyna-
mite, and In other forms It is used
for boiler coverings
Mica was long used for windows
and for lanterns, and It is still used
In lanterns where such use would be |
advantageous. II is used in place of |
glass In spectacles worn by stone |
and metal workers, and in miners |
lamps, and Il has been In the past |
or stu is put to various other, in
Guiding ornamental, uses; but among |
It's various modern uses the chief is
n its application to electrical ma
For this the mica is cut
mo huhureds OF dlnerent shapes |
and sizes.
India is the chief source of the
worlds supply of mica, with Canada
next, the United States next, and
Brazil and other countries following
Mica, from one source and another
ranges in color from white or trans
parent, through various shades to
black.
In the formation in which II ex-
sts II is found In more or less scat
-ering deposits, r In pocaets. It's
value depends, with regard to the
uses to which It may be put, on its
,olor, its freedom from impurities
and the size of the sheets that can
be obtained from II.
Now this ancier tly known mineral |
'or many years put to varied though
comparatively limited uses. nnds
more extensive use than eyor In ap
Dlications peculiarly modern.