The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-03
COPPER SMELLING
HAS ITS TROUBLES
Montana Court Reviews Expert
Testimony in Adverse De-
ciSiOn to Farmers.
Il. P. MATHEWS0N GOES
INTO EXTENSIVE DETAIL
Tells Why Various Methods of
Relief Would Not Act
Successfully.

VIII the playhouse system properly
handle the fumes and poisoDs from cop
per smeiting, as IL does In lead smeit-
ing? This Is a decidedly 1.-Two subject IN
Utah right now. T.. + Mathewson, SUI
parintendent of the Washoe smclters and
general manager OF the International
Smelling and Rcfinins company. believes
that this new system will not succeed IN
copper smelling. In the recently decldeo
Montana smoke cases. when the farmers
got n sad blow amdships from the court
the opinion Of the court handled this
phase or the matter as follows. as ap-
pears In the Anaconda STANDARD;
"ln obedience To a subpoena Issued, Nh
Mathewson. superintendent oi ths wa
considerable length. Reduced 10 tne
briefest statement. the substance Of the
evidence given by Mr.. Mathcwson was
that there are several principal means
known TO science FOR the extraction OF
arsenic from fumes, and that none ol
them could be made applicable 10 me
conditions existing at the Anaconda smell
ter, owing 10 the size OF the works ana
attendant difficulties TO be overcome. lie
said the process of cooling by water
spray could not be used FOR the reason,
among others, that the product would be
Il mixture OF acid water and mud, the
quantity of which would be so enormous
at Anaconda that ~ could not he dis
posed OF In safety 10 the community, ana
that the drainage from this mixture
would find It's way to the streams, ana
make the waters dangerous TO all animal
'tIo testified regarding a method OF
cooling by the admission OF air into bag
houses. bu, said that II Is an impracti-
cable way, because the gas in the smoke
would destroy the bags as fast as they
could be supplied. The playhouse method;
as It is called. is successful in lead ana
zinc smeltcTs. but. owing 10 the quanu-
ties OF acid in the fumes from copper
smeit9rs; it Is lmgoIssible &c, TO prevent the
"lIc also explained radiation pre-
cess. saying. however. that. as by the
methods nov now " employed in the W., MasnSe hoe
cept the very finest so far as known. the
radiR ton process would not be effective
To catch the particles that are not now
The witness also said that there is
a freezing process. but that could only
be used by counting upon very large
toforc explained. could not be left eN-
posed without great danger TO animal
life. Where the quantity Of mud pro
duced by this process is small, IL can be
buried, but at the Washoc smelter. ow-
ing to the enormous amount that would
be produced, burial would be impossi-
",rhe so-called electrical discharge
method was explained by Mr.. Mathew
SON and II was made quite clear that.
countered thus far, practical application
Of this process. as attempted in Califor,
MA, mas not DEen SUCCESS, anu tOulu
not be made effective at the Washoe.
where the velocity OF the gases Us ap-
proximately. at the slowest. twenty times
greater than at Seby. Cal. Prof Cot
the Washoe smelter. and after study OF
conditions there. was not willing to as
first making further experimentation.
which he said he could conduct In Cali
forrnia. ,., ,
mr. "
structed at the Boston and Montana cop
per smelter at Great Falls, Mont. The
OF wires from the ceiling Of large cham
bers in a way 10 cause friction OF the
gases. and thus bring about a settling
OF the dust Nj. Mathewson himself
hut says that Il demonstration OF Its eff
iiciency Is had, it viii be used by the
tinal tests TO be made during this year.
Another system testified TO Is the Al
tering OF the gases through finely pull
verized Stag. mostcned with water. This.
the production Of immense quantities OF
poison mud, and. moreover, has not been
successful In Utah where it has been
"The feasibility OF decreasing the We
locity of the gases was explained This
the construction OF huc twenty time,
as great as the present Washoe fue TO
decrease the velocity 10 sixty feet per
minute, GS isilS ueNlct. lDc product EG-
covered would be dust. but. comparative
~ speaking, the excess over that now
saved would be so slight not to make
the. process worth very serious consld-
GRAFTON
"The use Of centrifugal gas cleaners
was mentioned; but that process would
also mean the accumulation of great
masses OF acid mud, and thus involve the
same problem OF how 10 dispose of the
poisoned mud and liquids therefrom with
out the utmost peril TO life.
MI Mathewson closed his testimony
by saying that the result OF his own study
and OF the extensive Investigations and
experiments made by engineers and sci
entists in Europe and America in behalf
OF the defendants. is that the Washoe
company has g system nearer perfection
than any other yet devised for the pur-
pose OF treating arsenic fumes, He added,
however. that he knew the system was
not perfect, and that the defendants were
still experimenting and Would continue to
study the question I'm the ahope that some
day some Improvement OF PRACTICAL value
will be devised. which we will promptly
adopt
10 - =.