Arizona republican., 1910-03-25

Denver. Culo.-N Not x" bong ago such metals as tungsten. molybdCnum. va nddium and uranium were So rare that the commercial world knew moth- ing about them. and as a rule only students were aware that they had been diScoNe cred. Few people ever saw boron. silicon. titanium and chromium except in museums.
 Goethc's dying cry for more light has been echoed around the world un- til cities now blaze at night with the glory of the monday sun. and this has been made possible by some of these rare metals So to" automobiles ow" their present perfection in part to the once rare metals that temper and touGhcn steel. In other industries also these metals play an importar. part
 Uutn comparatively short time ago these rare metals were left in the dump heap at the mines. being deemed not only valuclcsS. but actually dct- rmental to the concentration of the orc which Was considered of value. In Boulder county. Colorado. the miners used [" throw away what they called black jack. Now that they know black jack to be wolframitc. an ore "f tungsten. they are carefully smelt- ing the dump heaps. as tungsten forms a valuable branch of mining.
 In Cornwall. England. the miners found tungsten ore but called it mock lead because of its high specific gray ty. and they too left it in the dump Upon learning the value of the stuff they are working over the refuse heaps to recover the valuable tunEs- ten.
 In 1S42 this ore was found in Lanes mine at Trumbull. Conn. and Eben Smith discovered it in 1S76 in Colo rado. but it is only within the decade that it has become of value cummer- CiallN. In the summer of 1904 some prospectors working their way along through OkanOgau county. Washing ton. with pick. shovel. drill and pow der staked q claim which abounded in new ore that they believed to he filled with gold and silver. Much excited. they filled their pockets and hastened to an asSaycr in L"omis to secure an analysis
 When neither gold nor silver was found they gave up their claim. But the assayer noticed unfamiliar crystals in the ore and proceeded to invcsti gate and found it impregnated with tungstic acid. When this fact became kn"wn there was soon new industry for the region.
 Tungsten is now in demand for in- candeScent lamp filaments. In the form of sodium tuuGstate a fircproof ing of value is produced. Tungsten brought joy to the heart of the house. wife in that it fixes dyes so that wash goods will wash. Silk merchants rejoiced for other tungsten salts add ed weight to silk
 Tungsten steel is extremely tough Pruiectiles made from it have pene trated through fourteen inches of thc best armor plate. Tungsten compass needles are the best ou the market.
 Tn the form of fcrrotungsten it has produced d high speed tool steel that was never thought possible by me chanics. Even pianos have been bene- fitted. as tungsten gives added strength and quality to the wires. It's high melting point gives il value in the manufacture of tho ighcst grade cruciblcS.
 Tungsten ores have been melted in electric furnaces. but the problem now is to produce it by direct pig iron blast furnace smelting. The American Smelling X Refining com pGny has recently appropriated sl0,- O0O for experimental work on the treatment of tungsten ores.
 Tungsten is now mined in Arizona, California. Nevada. Montana. Idaho and Colorado. which produces so per cent of the output The tungsten belt in Colorado is three miles long and eight miles wide The worlds pro- duction of this ore in 1905 was 3.I9l tons. in 1906 4.20i and in 1907 5.I9l tons The production in Colorado in 1907 was valued at &5o0.000. and the market for tungsten has become all most as staple as that for copper. zinc or lead.
 A possible rival to tungsten is molybdenum. a metal discovered in ITS. but as yet found in such scant quantities that the uncertainty of the supply makes it commercially second to tungsten. Alloycd with steel. it has the same effects as tungsten. and there is the very great advantage that only half or q third as much is required.
 Its chief use is in the manufacture of chemical reagents. It is highly valued in the artistic world. Tor m the manufacture of pottery the salts impart d fine. rare. blue color. An important use is in rifle barrels. large cannon. propeller shafts, wires and high speed tool steel
 Though Tantalum has been known for a century, it was not commercially useful until Moissan in 1908 brought it into the limelight through the ciec- tric furnace. It is found m the Black Hills of Dakota. and it's most important minerals are columbite and tanalite. small quantity has been kept in this country for experimental work, but the yearly output, amount