New-York tribune., 1911-11-29
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS. SPECIAL ANNogNcEMEN1s:
ALU UMINUM
THE IMMUTABLE METAL AND ITS MULTITU-
DINOUS USES
HOW A GREAT INDUSTRY HAS GROWN FROM SMALL bEGlN'
MING

name was taken), is found In consider.
able abundance In aeveral OF the states
of the United States, the most impor-
tant deposits being in Alabama, Georgia,
Tennessee and Arkansas. The deposits
are usually pockety in formation. and
open cut mining is mainly employed
The crude material Is calcined, namely.
the surplus moisture driven off, and is
shipped TO the ore refining plant at East
st. Louis for concentration, where pc
culiarity in the metallurgy Of aluminium
determines the first step. AS Is well
known, with the ores OF most other
metals IL Is simply necessary TO concen-
trate and separate the true ores from
the gangue by mechanical means based
on the different densities Of the constit-
uent parts. the resultant ores being then
smelted and the impurities worked out
by various methods OF refining. Bauxfte.
however, contains aluminium oxide, not
metallic aluminium, and the concentra-
ton employed necessarily consists in
separating this oxide from its accom-
panying clay and metallic impurities,
such as iron oxide. silica, titanic acid,
etc. and the process employed at East
ST. Louis takes advantage OF the fact
that alumina aluminium oxide) forms
with soda a compound called sodium
illuminate, which is soluble in water,
while the impurities above named are
insoluble. Sodium illuminate, formed
either by roasting the bauxite with car
Donate OF soda or by digesting with
caustic soda in a closed vessel under
pressure, is then separated from its i'm
purities by filtration and by washing the
residue with hot water and is then de-
composed, the alumina being thrown out
OF solution as a hydrate and carefully
washed to free IT from soda salts. This
hydrate is then thoroughly dried. and Is
a pure white powder not unlike fine
sand This powder is shipped to the
various reduction works at Niagara
Falls and Massena, where II is subjected
TO the Hall process OF reduction previous
ly described, the product Of these works
being metallic aluminium obtained from
the electrolytic baths In the form OF pig
After melting this pig and recasting the
metal in a more convenient form OF
ingot. aluminium Is ready for the mark 4.
Much Of the company's product is sold
in the form OF ingot for fabrication by
other metal working concerns. though a
substantial portion goes to the rod and
wire mill ar Massena for the making OF
electrical
amount is supplied 20 the great sheet
mills operated by the company at New
Kensington and Niagara Falls, where.
after a long course through a series OF
roughing and finishing rolls, the alumni
mum emerges in beautiful, polished
sheets and plates OF various gauges,
lengths and widths II can be rolled
into sheets Of .00O7 inch. II can be
beaten into leaf equal TO the best leaf
manufactured in the world.
The Aluminium Company OF America
has been not only a pioneer in new
fields, it is the virtual creator OF the
vast aluminium industry. and its work
Will stand in Industrial history as
classic case OF a supply creating a use
and demand-an exception TO the usual
rule Of economics.
The radical reduction in price brought
about by the Hall process and by the
cheap water power at Niagara. as we'll
as through the vastly enlarged produc-
ton Of metal, enabled aluminium 70 be-
come a competitor Of other and more
common metals, and the one time silver
from clay" has had its field OF useful
ness 80 broadened that II now enters
largely into the everyday life OF the
people in thousands Of diversified ways
and has won for itself distinctive place
in the metallurgy OF the world.
The nations meals are best cooked
in aluminium utensils; II materially aids
in making the best steel; il makes en-
gine bases bodies and other automobile
parts; airships employ IT in many ways;
aluminium novelties are everywhere seen
and used: it is rapidly supplanting brass.
zinc and other metals in surprising and
manifold ways. II serves as a con-
ductor Of electrical energy and trans
mits over thousands OF miles Of glisten-
ing cables the power Of falling water to
hundreds OF cities throughout the broad
republic. It was carried by Peary TO
the North Pole and by Shackleton TO
"farthest south.
What NAV be said Of the future OF
this young giant Of the metal world?
It is a far cry from the aluminium tipped
Washington Monument tat SIG pound)
10 the swift moving aeroplane cat p
cents a pound, yet that change has
been wrought within a quarter OF
century,
The gigantic strides Of the past two
decades clearly indicate its more i'm
portant mission in the world Of COM
nerce as the years roll on, and some
recent uses but foreshadow its coming
supremacy. Among these are the grow
ing importance Of aluminium 10 the pa
per trade in the manufacture OF sulphide
pulp, in the production OF ammonia
from by-product coke ovens as a con-
denser material; in the brewery business.
as containing vats Of enormous size; In
condenser tubes. where other metals are
rapidly corroded and attacked by liquors
or fumes; as a container for the rap
idly advancing and highly important in
dustry Of nitric acid fixation from the
atmosphere as material for the es-
sentiany lightweight gas engines for
motor boats, automobiles and the newly
developed aeroplane and dirigible bal
loon.