Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-02-09
MARvELS
Modern Giants That Raise Tors
of Metal at a Time.


net lift up pins and needles and mar |
veled not little at the unseen power !
that causes the bits of metal to jump |
might well be excused for standing
aghast at the sight of a modern giant |
magnet picking up several tons of iron
and steel from the scrap heap and con-
veying it with ease and rapidity to
the melting furnace beyond.
So great has been the commercial de-
velopment of the magnet that it can
lift i've and half tons. These giant
magnets used in iron and steel mills
can pick UP hot as well as cold billets,
and single one of this character will
displace half a hundred workmen.
A further improvement may be not
ed in the combination of skull cracker
and magnet. The skull cracker is a
huge pear shaped ball OF iron suspend
ed by a chain to a hook and steel
ropes. This skull cracker is dropped
with great force on scrap metal to be
broken up for remelting. II breaks the
metal into conveniently small pieces
and is lifted up and down by the mag
net until the scrap is reduced to prop
er size. Then the invisible fingers of
the magnet gather up the small pieces
and carry them to the melting furnace.
The entire operation is accomplished
in onehundredth of the time formerly
required by manual labor
More recently magnets have been
employed in the milling industry to
! pick out small particles of metal that
| frequently get into -four and cause ex-
| plosions through friction when they
come in contact with the big rollers.
| Not a particle Of metal can escape the
| powerful magnets suspended over the
chute through which the grain passes
In mining and metallurgical work
! the magnet has become an indispensa-
bic labor saving agent. The magnetic
separation of ores has saved thousands
/ of dollars to mining companies. When
! the rocks are crushed and pulveriZed
! powerful magnets gather up the in
| tinitesimal parts of metal released from
their beds and convey them to the
smelling furnace. Quantities of ore
can thus be saved from old taiIings
that were formerly considered pure
| waste.
! Recently commercial magnets were
| employed for the novel purpose of rails
ing sunken treasures. A big cargo OF
nails was lost in twenty fathoms of
! water. and the loss seemed irreparable
until some enterprising genius raised
/ them easily and cheaply by means of
a magnet suspended from derrick by
steel cables.
I In the most improved commercial
magnets hollow steel castings are used,
in which magnetized coils are placed.
The latter are built up of alternate
layers Of copper and asbestos and in
sulated from the cast steel frames by
thick sheets of mica. A magnet of
this construction is proof against heat
and cold and free from the danger of
short circuiting There is nothing COM
bustible used in its manufacture, and
it can gather up ton of hot scraps
of steel with comparative ease.
But the invisible fingers of the mag
net can pick up the most delicate
splinter of steel no larger than a sew
ing needle as easily as it lifts a huge
iron or steel beam weighing a ton or
two. The small magnets have there
fore found as great a field of useful
ness as the big ones. In all trades
they are employed for handling pieces
of metal too small for fingers to pick
: up easily.
In a medical way they are used sue
cessfully for extracting iron or steel
cinders from the eye and also for
! drawing out of the body needles and
! pieces Of metal that have found lodg
ment there. A dressmaker who had
inadvertently swallowed a dozen nee
: dies was operated upon in this way
with entire success. For several days
she was placed under a powerful mag
. net until every needle had been drawn
: from her body.
; In therapeutic way magnets have
: proved of value in destroying ulcerous
: and cancerOus growths, and even
blood diseases of some kinds have
) yielded to their curative effects. A
: man with the point of dagger broken
: off in his body had it removed by a
magnet. Another patient had beer
, suffering from a painful ulcer on the
chin for many years without finding
; relief. He was finally cured by treat
ment with magnet. which drew from
T his chin lot of steel filings that had
! caused all the trouble The filings had
: found Judgment in a cut in his face
: one day when working before turn
ing lathe. No immediate trouble had
followed, and the man had forgotten
ha 1na 6nv1N NI,A
them out and gave the ulcer chance
to heal.-George E. Walsh in Chicago
Record Herald