The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1914-09-12
TUNGSTEN HAS MANY uses
IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIES
MANUFACTURES OF ELECTRIC
LIGHT FILAMENTS ONE
OF USES

oSoets S'Ch thO "OA
ly a combination of the names of
two well-known members of animal
society. Neither wolf nor RAM, TAX
en- separately, has anything to do
with it. There may be a great many
people who know-and again a great
many more who do not know-that
wolfram is a mineral, and that tung-
stem is a metallic chemical element
found therein, a fact which gives it
an importance 1t might other wise
not have.
In a series of pamphlets describing
the various countries Of Latin Amer
lea, published by the Pan American
Union, Washington, D. c., will be
found two, those on Argentina and
Bolivia, in which it is stated that
these countries each export annually,
among many other minerals, some
thing over 500 tons of wolfram.
That brings on the query, what is
wolfram?
Wolfram is really the most COM
monty known of the various tung-
StcH oItS, duu 10 tHc tuuotdtc " HUI
and manganese. 1t is dark brown
almost black-in color, is very dense
and heavy, being frequently mistak-
en- for iron ore, and is heavier than
metallic iron itself. 1t is said to
have been first discovered by a Swed-
ish sailing master in 1881, hence it's
name, tung, meaning heavy, and
stem, stone-heavy stone. Various
~tunsten ores are mined and exported
by several countries, the chief sup
ply coming from Queensland, Portu-
gal, Argentine, Bolivia and the Unit
ed States, some of the most prolific
deposits being found in California.
What's it good for? To make the
filaments of our incandescent cleo
trio lights for one thing, thereby saw
ing to the consumers a total of some
thing over $24O, 900 1000 a year. That
of itself is enough to establish it's
Importance. BY a method discov-
cred by one of the large electric
companies of the United States it is
now possible to draw tungsten metal
into a wire as fine as onethOusandth
of an inch in diameter so that the
wire is pliable and a be wound
upon spools like sewing thread. 1t
is used in one piece in the lamps and
is said not to be so fragile as that
produced by certain methods used
in the German product. The tung-
stem wire, as drawn out for this pur-
pose, is very strong, it being claimed
that it has more strength than any
steel piano wire that was ever made.
The specific gravity Of tungsten met
al is given as 1912, almost as much
as that of gold, which is 1913.
The discovery of this metal for
making filaments has caused an
enormous saving to the consumers
of electric light the world over. 1t
enables the to obtain two
or three times the quantity of light
at about one-half the consumption of
electricity formerly used by the old
carbon lamp.
The principal use of tungsten,
however, is to harden steel, especial
ly the steel of which tools are made.
The tool steel of the present day is
said to be nearly all tungsten steel,
having from s to 80 per cent metal
lie tungsten mixed with the steel in
it's manufacture. 1t is sometimes
called "self-hardening" steel, because
it does not have to be tempered, for,
with the addition of the metallic
tungsten it tempers itself. When
heated to a cherry red and allowed
to cool, the steel attains its maxi
mum hardness and can be used by
machinists for lathe cutting tools
and for drills. Machinists' tools can
be run at much greater speed, and it
has been estimated that at least four
times as much work car be done
with the tungsten steel as with the
ordinary kind, because the machines
can be run our times as fast, and
that without taking the temper out
of the tool when it gets very hot. as
is the case with ordinary steel. The
president of one of the large auto
mobile concerns is said to have stat
ed that if there were no such thing
as tungsten steel the cost of each
automobile would be $500 more
than it is 10Y
Tungsten and its salts are used
for making silk and cotton fabrics
fireproof; for winding electric fur
naces and for use in the apparatus
employed for the utilization OF
Roentpen RAYS Also occasionally in
the manufacture of silk in order to
add weight and to give it the desired
stiff effect. 1t will thus be seer that
from the standpoint of practical
utility tungsten is of more benefit
to humanity than gold.
In Trouble Again
Will Parker. who, under the lame
of w. M. Bradley, was arrested in
Coo ,lyc cor,o TINA 90 On q oharOa Of