El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-11-21

mOndS, and all other kinds of precious
stones have been-not initiated, but re-
produced. Up to the present time the
chemist has not been able to produce
them in such size or at such cost as
will make the manufacture of precious
stones commercially feasible, but it is
probable that in the years to come
some method of diamond manufacture
will be evolved which will be profita-
bic.
1t was while experimenting with the
properties of carbon in the hope Of
manufacturing diamonds that z. @. At
Gibson of Chicago discovered the art
Of making carborundum. This is
substance harder than emery and is
widely used in lieu Of the emery wheel
and the sandpaper In electro-me
lurgy electricity is much used in the
reduction of aluminium 1t was not
many years ago that aluminium was al
most as much of a curiosity as radium
is today. Mineraloe-ists knew it exist
ed in vast quantities, but they had no
methods by which to extract it. Now
there are many methods, among them
being that of placing aluminium in watts
and by charging it with low voltage
Of electricity inducing the aluminium
to settle at the bottom.
Electricity as Purifier.
Gold and silver frequently are freed
of their impurities by the use of the
electric current, and in many other
ways it has lent itself admirably to
the needs of those who work in metal
production. In some cases huge cleo
tro magnets are so placed that as the
ground ore falls through the air. the
metallic particles are drawn away from
| the impurities and made to pass
through one chute while the impurities
pass through another This same prin-
cipal of the electro magnet is now
widely used In manufacturing estab-
| lishments. Instead of fastening a piece
of machinery by chains and ropes and
graphing hooks, to be lifted by a crane.
a huge electro magnet is attached to
I the end of a lifting chain, and as a
| child lifts a needle with a toy magnet,
so the big crane magnet will lift a
machine weighing dozens of tons
Some years ago an electric welding
/ machine was invented by an American
/ Elihu Thompson. With such a machine
| a continuous rail from Washington to
Baltimore is made possible in the
! transportation world. There is moth
4 ing more damaging to rolling stock and
roadbeds than loose rail points, and ii
! is probable that the traveller of a de-
cade hence will not be annoyed by the
J continuous click Of the wheels as they
/ pass over rail joints.
| Produces Sleep, Also.
! Electricity now is being used to pro-
| duce artificial sleep, and it is believed
l that as an anaesthesia it will prove
superior to any now in use. Its appli-
| cation results in no adverse symptoms
| in the patient. II also IS being widely
used in the theraputical world and
| acknowledgements is becoming an i'm
portant part of the world of medical
! science Yet with all these divers uses
/ the possibilities of electricity have no
been exhausted. and such authorities as
! Edison confidently believe that the
next decade will bring about the most
/ startling results in its application IN
f., medicine. chemistry and in every other
| field where it has been applied. II
| is also thought probable that entirely
new uses will be found for ii, and
! that it viii prove more wonderful thar
is even dreamed Of IN this enlightened
day.