Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-18

E<k EI.N
pound is the latest quotation o.
- platinum. outclassing gold by owe
so5O Rarely more than month ago \
was listed at SOL less per poui'u' 'nN
+hree months before that it was some
thing like 1923 less. Looking on uo"h Wv
line of years reveals the 1act .h'' ~
rise in price has become noticeaoie o.
within the past ten years. which sii'"'
that platinum, like all other comihooi',.'
that have recently entered the heiu VI "e
STABILITY, has come Wlthln Tue SpoN -
the general upward trend.
But platinum, perhaps, has sooo al
gument for surrounding itself Win p'o
hibitive prices. SO long as 1t remaih.o
in close association with the sclentii'
world only it retained the title OF ho
bility among the metals. Latei!. NOW
ever. the American people have mace OF
II a king. Everybody wants it because
comparatively recent Developments In tns
jewelers. art has brought 1t into popu.
larity And because the supply is ihi'eo
and the demand unlimited 1t mas gone ul
the scale of prices like butter, eggs ano
steaks. by leaps and bounds, and has de-
veloped that logical quotation OF $50
pound.
A few wears ago some enterpr-si sing jew
eler conceived the idea of fuslng soio
with platinum in order to mount a dla-
mond for the sake of durability. The ell
feet upon the stone was more than salts
factory: it shone with much greater bril-
liancv with the white background. The
example was followed with other stones
Rubies, sapphires and emeralds seemed
also particularly dressed with the mount
ing of the white metal, and its popularity
was assured. Orders came for necklaces
tiaras and sunbursts with the same
mountings. neck and watch cnalns 1oi-
lowed and in some few cases heaVy
bracelets have been made.
1t doesn't take much weight in plat
mum to mount precious stone In
ring. but it takes a great deal to make a
chain or bracelet. Weight counts Tor
nothing when it comes to possessing a
precious metal which will blend well
with the cOlors of certain gowns. Hence
the consumption of platinum in the first
year of it's introduction to its kingdom
jumped from nearly $1,000 to $4,000 troy
ounces. 1t represented an increase In
money value of over $2.oOo,OOO.
Uncle Sam is therefore on the lookout
for any black sands Of river beds that
contain the least suspicion Of secreting
platinum. This is limited in the United
States to only about 1000 troy ounces.
Russia leads all the other countries OF
the world with total output of 215,OOO
ounces, with Colombia a second, but
with the wide difference of 265,OOO ounces
less. Every other country is confined to
an output that is less than 400 ounces,
and Canada can scrape together only
thirty ounces annually.
Although platinum was discovered as
far back as 1141, it's mining has not been
characterized by any great effort, except
within the past five or six years. Most
Of it prior to that time was taken from
the ore containing the gold. Since it has
been found to be native of river gravels
and black sands of river beds in mineral
regions Russia has gone after 1t with
placer mining hydraulic outfits and
dredges, and Colombia has followed her
example. In the United States most or
the precious substance is worked from
its hiding places in California and Ore
gon. and a small quantity from Nevada
Most Of this is done by placer mining
among the river Eravels of those regions.
and in some rare instances nuggets
about the size of a pigeons egg have de-
lighted the hearts of the miners and
filed their pockets to the extent of
about $500. The record in nuggets, how
ever, is held in the Trial mountains of
Russia. where one miner once picked
up a lump that tipped the scales at
twelve pounds and made him $500
richer.
Platinum, howe -er. had to travel a
long and weary road among the lesser
lights of the peerase before it reached its
kingdom. But its progress presents
most natural sequence in the discoveries
of it's usefulness. and since it has reached
its present stage of general use and has
been found to fit most perfectly in any
notch in which it has been placed. there
is wonder how we could ever have gotten
along without it.
One of the first facts discovered I'm
separating it from the ore was that it
melted only at the high temperature CT
:,:s25 degrees Fahrenheit. Next 1t was
found that it possessed high resistance
to the action of all chemicals, which
meant also that after having been work
ed into metallic form its surface was
unaffected by the air and remained al
ways bright.
These facts being established. chemists
bounced upon it and stocked their labora-
tories with crucibles, vessels and spoons
made of it, Some of these apparatus rep
resent a snug little sum. ranging in
weight from 5 to Is ounces and in value
from $50 to $500. But they allow the
chemists to do all kinds of experimental
work in the concentration Of acids. and
the cash value, therefore, represents only
q small portion Of the real value.
1t is just along these lines that plat-
mum was discovered to be the main factor
in the manufacture of one Of the most
useful. acids known to the commercial
world The manufacture of sulphuric
acid is a rather complicated operation.
and not more than a score of years ago
was even more SO, because the acid itself
attacked the tanks in which it was
formed AS far back as 1878 Clemens
Winkler made the discovery that the two
gases used in the creation of this COM
counteracted each others effects
il they were passed over finely divided
platinum at high temperature. 1t re-
uuired a long time to develop this fact
to a commercial possibility. but platinum
Is now responsible for the manufacture
Of more than three-fourths of the sui
phuric acid of the world.
On similar lines another drain on its
output was created when the pyrograph
.raze came into existence about ten years
ago. II was found that finely divided
platinum would absorb gases. SO that the
LADY who wshe; to display her art by
r-ni1r fgrres into wood and leather