The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1911-04-20

of great popular interest, and here
again the same quality of ightness and
rigidity recommend it.
Aluminium is the most abundant of all
the metals. it is an essentinal con-
stitusnt of all important rocks except
sandstones and limestones. It is found
chiefly in the silicates such as the field
spars, micas, clays, ETC., and as the
hydroxide in the mineral bauxite, from
which is now produced on commeric-
al scale. Its oxide makes up between
IS and 16 per cent of the earth's crust.
In spite of this great abundance the
metal itself was, up to 1880, chemic-
al curiosity, and one of the early re-
ports of the United States Geological
Survey quotes it at $1.25 troy ounce
SIS pound. The reason for its rarity
and high prices was the lack of COM
mercial method of extracting it easily
and cheaply from its chemical combin-
alton with oxygen, for which it has a
remarkable affinity. With the intro
duction of electrolic process the metal
has now taken high place among the
commercial metals, and from a pro-
duction of 50 pounds in 1883 its con-
sumption amounted in 1909 to the
enormous total of 34.210,000 pounds,
valued at approximately 23 cents
pound for ingot metal.
The use of metallic aluminium, par
ticularly in bimetallic tubing, which is
employed in paper making and in
chemical and other lines of manufac
ture, is making steady growth, and
promises large and substantial vol
ume of business in the near future.
The manufacture of aluminium cooking
utensils is also sound footing. These
utensils have won their way into favor
by sheer force of merit, despite their
rather high price.
aluminium is extensively used in the
iron and steel industry for removing
oxygen from iron and other substance
and in welding. Metallic aluminium
has also the power of combining chemi-
cally with the gases imprisoned during
the cooling of metals, thus preventing
porosity. Its use in castings, where it
is allowed with copper, zinc. or nickel
is also growing. It is one of the most
malleable of all metals. It takes and
retains very high polish and is there
fore employed in the manufacture of
articles of everyday use almost without
limit. Some of these newer uses are
for wall paper" ceiling panels, stamp
ed or hammered trays, etc., as sub
stitute for lithographic stones and zinc
plates, and in the panels of car and
car1iag bodies. AS powder it is used
in the manufacture of nontarnishing
metallic paints and varnishes. Alumi-
mum paint is valuable in protecting
iron and in rendering woodwork partly
freproof.
But although aluminium is now with
in reach of the general public's purse
really only the first stage has been ac-
complished in wrestling the metal from
it various rock combinations. Alumi-
mum is commercially recoverable
only from bauxite, a comparatively
scarce mineral. The next step in or
der to place it in the forefront OF the
common industrial metals and increase
its usefulness hundredfold is to obtain
it cheaply from ordinary clay. In an
advance chapter from Mineral Re-
sources of the United States for 1909
w. c. Phalen. of the United States
Geological Survey, mentions group of
recent patents for the production of
elementary silicon from clay, with the
formation of pure alumina as by-pro-
duct. The production of the metal
from clay, says Mr.. Phalen, is a goal
which has long been sought by many
experimenters.
The present prices Of metallic alumni
mum are among the lowest yet recorded
and it is Mr.. Phalen's belief that these
figures will result in stimulating the
consumption of the metal.
Mr.. Phalen also presents figures show