The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1913-01-17

A Little Drama Enacted IN Uncle
Sans Assay Offices.
SCIENCE IN THE STAR ROLE.


Ws9TAs@ ~ S&A3& TFopeF<ss&y tuWr
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 minis and assay Offices, have been
remarkable
For instance. the old method OF ex-
tracing gold from baser metals when
it 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
small percentage OF impurities that
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.
&c ii nothing more nor less than electric
IN the plating bath, and the gold is de-
! posted In an absolutely pure state,
leaving the base metals behind In solu-
ton.
It 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 COM
moni e., that no single acid known
will dissolve them. 1t takes comb
nation of nitric and muriatic acids to-
get either Of these two metals III solu-
ton. Silver, on the other hand, Isl
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
az religion, that platinum could not be
dissolved by nitric acid Therefore, it
was argued, IL there wasn't enough
silver In the solution to make it worth
while to extract 1t. then, OF course,
there could not be any platinum, sol
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 al
Toys with silver were soluble. For
Instance. composition Of 5 per cent
platinum in silver is readily soluble,
Right there was the cIew leading to the
discovery that for years out OF mem
DRY unit quantities OF the precious
metal. essential above all others In
electrical manufactures. had been rum
ninggizito the sewer. All solutions were
carefully tested. Salts OF iron were
added, precipitates supposedly Of silver
were analysed, and since then platl-
mum at the rate Of 5000 a 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 plati-
mum In large quantities are going to
be found. Little Of the gold coming
from the western United states and
Alaska contains platinum 1t 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. tits found.
for instance. In what Is popularity
known as Guinea gold Guinea gold
has q peculiar luster all its own. 1t Is
highly priced In the jewelry trade for
this same peculiar color.
There are vast reaches Of wilderness
In South America that. filled with
miasmic swamps and lurid savages
armed with poisoned arrows, have so
far resisted the advance OF the white
man. It seems not too much to expect
that sooner or later. when these dis
tricts are exploited. platinum 10 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 evermofe. They win
have to build second story extern
sion on the romance Of the metal that
- worth twice as much as gold.
Now that Uncle Sam Is finding this
mine Of platinum In the supposedly I'M
alleged bars that the big refining com
panies are sending In from their smeIt- |
ers. the interesting question is arising, |
Who owns the platinum. Uncle Sam or
the reflneries? Uncle Sam bought their
syn1a rafsY,nd ~ fnw than az s.f,cAl as,d |
paid them dollar for dollar out Of his
pocket 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 at the same game. Some
OF the bigger smelter companies. whose
output Is sufficient. have undertaken
the task Of recovering this platinum
2as -sI