Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1912-12-24
SAVING PLATINUM
A Little Drama Enacted In Uncle
Sans Assay Offices.
SCIENCE IN THE STAR ROLE.

SCIENCE IN THE STAR ROLE.
Hiohbrew Professors Filled Up the
Cast, and, With Aeids and Precious
Metals a. Stage Properties, They
Scored Brilliant Success.
Even the United States government
has become possessed Of the present
day fever to eliminate any waste and
stop leaks In the methods Of doing
things. The results. particularly In
the mints and assay Offices. have been
remarkable.
For instance, the old method OF e1-
tracing gold from baser metals when
II came from the mint consisted merely
of treating the smelter bars OF gold
with nitric acid, which dissolved out
the baser metals, leaving the gold with
a small percentage Of impurities thar
could be removed by fusing with inter.
Germany went the United States one
better in this. The professors over
there, men whose genius for scientific
detail Is unsurpassed by those OF any
other nation, perfected process for
refining by electricity. Simply stated,
1t ia nothing more nor less than electric
plating. The smelter bars are placed
in the plating bath, and the gold Is de-
posted In an absolutely pure state.
leaving the base metals behind in solu-
ton.
1t was this residue that interested
the high brow professors. The fact
that platinum is frequently found with
gold has been recognized ever since
the science of metallurgy was in swad-
ding clothes; also the fact that gold
and platinum have one quality in conf
mon-i. e.. that no single acid known
will dissolve them. 1t takes q combi'
nation of nitric and muriatic acids to
get either Of these two metals in soln'
ton. Silver, on the other hand. Is
readily soluble In nitric acid. No one
ever thought Of testing nitric acid
solution of silver for the presence OF
platinum because Of the theory. sound
rs religion. that platinum could not be
dissolved by nitric acid. Therefore. 1t
was argued. II there wasn't enough
silver in the solution to make 1t worth
while to extract 1t. then, Of course.
there could not be any platinum. so
into the sewer It went
The professors began to experiment.
At the first step they uncovered the
dusky gentleman in the wood pile.
They discovered curious fact-name-
~. that. while platinum alone was not
soluble in nitric acid. some Of Its III
!oys with silver were soluble. For
Instance. a composition of per cent
platinum In silver Is readily soluble.
light there was the clew leading to the
. ,covery that for years out Of mem
:, untold quantities Of the precious
metal. essential above all others In
electrical manufactures, had been run
ming into the sewer. All solutions were
carefully tested. Salts Of iron were
added. precipItates supposedly Of silver
were analysed, and since then plati-
mum at the rate Of $1,000 month has
been offered for sale by Uncle Sam.
1t is interesting to trace the sources
of this gold in that the facts suggest
that sooner or later deposits Of plat.
mum in large quantities are going to
be found. Little Of the gold coming
from the western United states and
Alaska contains platinum. It Is found
almost entirely in the gold mined in
| Mexico and South America. Gold from
these districts Is coming In larger
quantities year after year. 1t is found
for instance. In what Is popularity
known as Guinea gold. Guinea gold
has peculiar luster all its own. It Is
highly priced in the jewelry trade for
this same peculiar color.
There are FAST reaches Of wilderness
In South America that, filed with
miasmlc swamps and lurid savages
armed with poisoned arrows, have 80
| far resisted the advance Of the white
man. 1t seems not too much to expect
| that sooner or later. when these dis.
tricts are exploited. platinum in large
quantities will be discovered. Some
Bret Harte is probably a-borning now
| to sing the romance of Platinum gulch
The romance Of gold is founded on the
material consideration Of $20.67 an
| ounce, which the governments OF the
earth have decreed must be its price
now and for evermore. They will
huve to build second story exten
sion on the romance Of the metal that
Is worth twice as much as gold.
Now that Uncle Sam Is finding this
mine Of platinum in the supposedly un
rlloyed bars that the big refining com
panies are sending in from their smelt
ers. the interesting question is arising
Who OWNS the platinum, Uncle Sam OF
the refineries? Uncle Sam bought theii
gold. refined 1t for them at cost and
paid them dollar for dollar out Of his
packet. Actually he was out on the
transaction. Now that he has stopped
the leak in his drainpipe. he is little
ahead.
Naturally. II one can play at game
two can play ut the same game. Some
of the bigger smeIter companies. whose
output Is sufficient. have undertaken
the task Of recovering this platinum
themselves. If Uncle Sam can help out
bis payroll with platinum residues
there Is no reason why privately con
Quoted smeIter cannot do the same
thing. So he electrical method Of re
filming IL coming more and more Int
use. and the highbrow professors IN
| the mints who have been searching fo'
platinum have discovered that the
smelter bars sent in for coinage are al
n.ost 100 per cent fine. without so much
ms a smell Of platinum In them.-F
Irving Anderson in New York Tribune
BLACK LETTERS AND WHITE
| The Former More Distinct at Dis
Il -. n ~