Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-18
P1atinum's Rapid Rise in Value
Awakes Uncle Sans Vigilance


and air on a platinum point to make IL
glow at a red heat.
When the electricians grasped the full
import of its properties the wheels that
ground out the metal began To turn at a
much higher rate. That fact OF its re-
sistance to chemical action suited them
exactly when ii came to selecting the
apparatus for the electrolytic industry
especially in the manufacture of chlorine
alkalies. CELEBRATES and bleaching Ives.
Later on it began to find further use in
the manufacture of technical instruments
with which to measure high tempera-
lures. Along the same lines they began
to use II in laboratory apparatus for elec-
trio furnaces by Embedding fine platinum
wires in freproof material.
The greatest inroad on the output OF
TINS precious metal was made when Edi-
son finally hit upon the scheme of using
1t in the manufacture of the incandescent
lamp. Two facts caused a great deal OF
thought and experiment in the inventing
OF that lamp. one being that all the air
must be Withdrawn from within the bulb
of the lamp and the other to properly
seal it.
To do this it had to be sealed with
glass through which the wires had to be
placed. Therein came the problem The
wire that was to go through that glass
must be capable of resisting heat, capa-
BILE of conducting the current, and eX-
pand and contract at the same rate as
glass. Platinum solved the problem
This fact created in the minds of the
manufacturing dentists an idea that sent
in more orders for platinum. They found
that the coefficient of expansion of the
metal just equaled that of the human
teeth. and they began the successful
manufacture of artificial teeth which UNI
til recently consumed about one-fourti
of the total amount produced and inn
ported into the United States.
In these days of the rapid development
of ideas platinum has PLAYED a very
prominent part. In the Roentgen ray APP
paratus it was used to produce the color
and its same property has been utilized
in photography in producing the platinum
tints And the same fact that ii absorbed
gases and glowed to a white heat was
responsible for the appearance Of the
self-lighting burner.
In the early days of wireless telegraphy
rapid strides were made in the develop
ment Of that invention by platinum wire,
which had been drawn out to one-thou-
sandth of an inch in thickness. Some OF
this wire could not be seen unless under
a microscope, but it did wbnderful work
in establishing the fact that messages
could be sent through space for distances
that ran UP to thousand miles. SO sensi-
tive to the action of the current were
these small pieces Of platinum.
Just about that time, also, came the IL
PRODUCTION of the motor boat, and lit
tie later came the automobile. They
meant general use of the explosion mo-
tor, in which Platinum, as part, was an
essential Because of it's ability to re-
tain a. bright, uncorroded surface at all
times. ii had long been used in making
the contact points for electric bells and
telegraph keys, where the action of the
current on other metals would soon cause
oxidization. Such corrosion on the spark
ing plug of a gasoline motor would stop
it in short order. and thousands OF Joy
riders owe their nightly burst of speed to
those two little pieces of bright metal
that never fail.
If one should pick up small piece oil
gold from out of cast-of apparatus the
tendency would be to lay il away ana
pick up more pieces. Those little bits OF
platinum which go to make up the neccs-
sary parts of electric bells. teleGraph
keys electric light bulbs and carbur-
refers do not, however, seem to EaFe
created the same desire, though one niSht
ather an ounce together in few weeks
and thus be about $40 richer.
The amount of platinum that is con-
sumed by the manufacturing industries,
by the dentists and by the jewelers. is
rated by the government metaIlurgists as
lInrecoverable. 1t represents about one
half Of the total output. OF the other
half only about one-fOurth finds its way
back to the factory, which helps TO make
the supply less than the demand and the
creation Of the quotation OF $3.50 pound.