davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07
THE I'll ADDIN ST Or OF
A Record of Achievement for American, Brains
and Capital Remarkable GrOwfIlo Of (eIh6uyfrq.
nlusstions 81 Aanufacturers Record and KaxtA Mover

speech at Detroit last fall, stated that
his company was producing at that
time eighteen pounds Of aluminium,
where ten were made in 1914. This
would indicate that last year the out
put was In the neighborhood of one
hundred and forty four million pounds.
And it would not surpass the expecta-
tions of those in position to know
III the output for 1916 exceeded two
hundred million pounds, taking into
account the new plants and large ex-
tensions to the ones already in opera
ton.
Fabulous Profits Earned.
The actual profits rolled up by the
, Aluminium Company last year should
read more like fairy story than the
lplain facts taken from stakeholder Is
report. BY referring to the illustration
showing the prices Of metallic alumni
mum in New York for 1910-19l4 inclu-
sive, the reader can readily ascertain
that the average price obtained was
around twenty cents per pound. There
was q good profit at even this price,
because it is said that the production
costs are not more than twelve cents
per pound. But the Aluminium Com
pany has undoubtedly profited enor-
mously by war conditions. By the EN-
of 1914 surplus stocks had been alb
sorbed and the price of metallic alum
mum was on its way skyward. During
the latter part of 1915 quotations at
one time reached sixty three pounds
the net profit must have been in the
neighborhood Of between fifty and
sixty million dollars, and it has been
these large surplus profits which has
enabled tie Aluminium Company to fin
ance the extensions of its plants in the
ether parts Of the country and to carry
through without hitch the enormous
development work at Badin, which win
probably represent, when completed. an
outlay of twenty million dollars, in
GLIDING the sums cents per pound, and
at no time has the price been under SIS
cents in the one hundred and forty-four
million which have already been spent
at that point by the Whitney Reduc-
ton Company and the Southern ALUMNI
mum Company, whose interests were ac-
CURED last November by the Pittsprrg
Corporation
Electric Furnace Used.
The electric furnace has been the
wizard by which the wonderful prog
ress and transformation in the manu-
facture of metallic aluminium has been
brought about. It was Niagara Falls
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

49, ~ thars, 81 : par valuatish u
410NSo. $685.
Tn largest factor insthe production
Of sistellis alsminpm ii cheap sisc-
trie ssrrsA4 which can onlysbs develop
ed whore there i large rstsf power
Ovsf IA Canada in tho Province Of
Quebec. and q shavensgan Falls,
whore there is 4 very large water pow-
er, this same corporation has = large
plant which has been turning out mil
lions of pounds of aluminium, but the
entire output for 1915 and 1916 has
been eommandeered by the British gov
eminent, SO none Of it. will be used in
this country. At Niagara Falls, where
the industry. thrives, they have ire
mendous plants, and the production is
enormous. In East st. Louis also they
have. plants and the manufacture of
aluminium there ia going on steadily
At Messena, New York, there is still
another plant where aluminium plates,
bars, wire, etc., are manufactured. At
Saline Arkansas, md 1t RAuxite,
Arkaasas, are located the mines Of this
corporation, while It Edgewater, n. !.
is the rolling min, it il said, where
alumiapm ingots are heated and rolled
into sheet. aluminium, = large part Of
which is shipped to the immense steamp-
ing. plants of the corporation at New,
Kensipgton, Pa, where they are man,
ufaetured into cooking utensils and
other wares.
Ate Maryville, Tenn, is located a
small plant, where power, developed
from the. Tennessee River is utilized
for enaelting aluminium. At this point
twenty-five thousand horsepower is
utilized and 600 men are employed.
Biggest Plants ut Badtn.
But the biggest development Of all
will come to Badin, N. c., which is
situated only six miles from Albemarlc,
N. G., on the Norwood branch Of the
Southern Railway, running out frola
Salisbury. Near this point, at the mar
rows Of the Yadkin River, there il be-
ing constructed tremendous dam 22O
feet high, 1900 feet long and 200 feet
wide at the top, which will be complet-
ed early next December and will
represent an outlay Of millions of dol
lars. It is estimated that the power
at this point will amount
to ono hundred thousand horsepower
while an additional fifty thousand
horse epower will no doubt be develop
cd at the Falls, three miles below this
point, and still another fifty-thousand
horsepower viii likely be developed
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

x4.a@sS =
named after the mineral whore, aseosd-
ing TO reports, thers are deposits "a
large and so availabls that railroad
tracks are laid over the beds of the
ore, which il then mined With aasteam
shovel in manner similar to the iron
deposits in Michigan, and the famous
porphry copper deposits Of Nevada and
Utah. It is said that Of the other min
erals used in the manufacture, the fuo--
tie is brought from France and India,
and the cryolite from Greenland. The
amount Of metallic aluminium recover
ed from Bauxite ore is said to be from
twenty five to thirty per cent, which il
a very high average when compared
with the different processes for treat
ing other ores for the recovery OF gold,
silver, zinc, copper, tin, lead, etc.
The. development of. the industry in
foreign countries dates from the pat
enting. Of the : Heroult process in
France in 1883, but the process gen
orally used in Europe today is said
to be the Bayer process, which the
Southern Aluminium Company intended
to use in the plants at Badin. But,
according to reports, when the ALUMNI
mum Company Of America took these
properties over it was found that the
Hall process, which they used at their
other plants, was cheaper and more ef-
fcient, hence the original plans Of the
French syndicate have been consider
ably changed.
There are various other processes
which have been patented, known as
the McCulloh, License, Serpek, Tone,
Sinding- larsen, Moldenhauer, Belts,
Cowles, Childs, Peacock, Kissock pro-
cesses, ETC., all named after the various
inventors, but the Hall process, in
vented by the late Charles M. Hall,
former president Of the Aluminium Com
|pany, is said to be the best and most
efficient, and ninety-seven per cent OF
the aluminium produced in this country
is manufactured by this process.
Many Uses Of the Metal
Side by side with the increase in the
production of metallic aluminium kept
step the uses to which the white metal
has been put. Aluminium is being
utilized in a hundred different ways,
which accounts for the enormous de-
mands for the metal. It's greatest use
is probably for kitchen and cooking
utensils, but it is being more and more
employed for surgical appliances, jew
elry, fancy articles, bearings for ma
chinery, piston rods for automobiles,
sheets Tor automobile bodies, etc. The
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

at the different power sites below the
Falls. AL OF this current win doubt
less be used for the smelling Of alImi-
mum, and when it is remembered thai
the same corporation using twenty-five
thousand horsepower at it's Mavsv;lle,
plant for the same purpose, employs
600 men at that point, it is Z simple
process OF arithmetic to, figure out !.
working force for the smelling and
aluminium plants alone at Badin of
thousands of men, which would mean
new city for North Carolina at tnat
point sef from fifteen to twenty thous-
and people, after the full plans have
been carried out, and all the plants are
in operation.
It will be rmembered that in the
first part Of this article it was sisted
that the original plans Of the Frenc,.
Syndicate. called for the development.
OF OVER ninety-thousand horsepower.
and an annual production Of "a million
pounds Of metallic aluminium 40 th.t
with the development OF two hundred
Thousand horsepower there should b.,
IN annual capacity Of fifty million
pounds Of metallic aluminium an OF
which issperfeetly clear in the not dis
tant future to those men who are On.
tireiy familiar with the growth an
development Of the industry.
The building Of this dam win create
an immense lake some eight nils lsar
extending to Whitney, and no doubt
in Che next Few years ii is liier 10
create assummer playground along its
shores which may compare with cake
Toxawsy and the famous Sapphire
Country near Asheville, in the Land 81.
the Sky.
worhins Night and Day On oonstrue-.
tton.
Over IN Badin the construction .vork
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

The good old North State. on one oe-
casion, furnished the entire world with
new industry, of now mammoth pro-
portions, which is doubtless familiar IT,
those who resided in Wilson in the
nineties. It was in that city that q
chemist, who since has become rich and
famous, was carrying on experiments
with a small electric furnace in his
search for cheap process for manufac-
turing metallic aluminium. One day
into his furnace he put mixture of
lime and coke, turned on the current
and awaited results. He was disap-
pointed to find only greyish looking
substance, which was not all all what he
was looking for. Disguised, he threw
the mass into bucket half filled with
water and went on with another ex-
pertinent. About twenty minutes later,
lighting a cigarette, he threw the burr
ing match into the bucket of water
and was utterly surprised to see it hurst
in a mass of flames. Investigating
closer, he found that this substance
which had been produced, and which
he thought was worthless, was calcium.
carbide, which is now universally used
for the making of acetyline, employed
today all over the world for lighting
purposes. Thus was recorded the birth
of the carbide industry, in which mil
lions and millions of dollars are today
invested.
Great Aluminium Plants.
With this in mind, it is peculiar
oocidence that over in North Carolin:,
at Badin, which is less than $50 miles
as the crow flies, from the birthplace
of the carbide industry, there is being
developed probably the largest plants
in the world for the manufacture OF
metallic aluminium. This may be Gale
the twin brother Of the carbide indus
try, as it also depends on the utiliza-
tion of thousands and thousands of
horsepower of electric current for the
smelling of aluminium ingots, which n J.
doubt will be shipped away to be used
in many ways not even dreamed Of be-
fore the white metal became a com.
mercial possibility With an estimated
development of nearly two hundred
thousand horsepower on the YaIkir
near this point, it is believed that the
ultimate capacity of these plants will
be fifty million pounds of metallic
aluminium annually, when it is remem
bered that the plants of the old French
company called for the development of
over ninety thousand horsepower and
an annual production Of twenty four
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

tboth on theSdam and on the aluminium
smelling pdants is proceeding with ire
mendous and feverish activity. Undue
ed no doubt by the remarkably high
price Of the metal, which is at this
writing around 60 cents per pound and
at which figure there is an enormous
production under such circumstances:
The Manufacture Record Of BHlti-
more sometime ago stated that there
probably would be one, plant Of steel
and reinforced concrete construction.
covering twenty acres of ground.. Work
On building is now going on day and
Eight, electric lights being strung over
the area for this purpose. &
There is already water ands sewer
sysetm in the new town, and electric
current brought in over nesfrom the
sub-station of the Southern. Power
Company, in Albemarle, and which Will
be used for lighting purposes Ind as a
source of power for construction. work
and the smelling Of aluminium II the
plants already constructed until tho
next December. The company has al,
ready provided a club house ana nearly
current from. the large dam is available
800 cottages for the comfort of it's en-
ployees, and modern up-to-date in
dustrial tomn is the making. e*
The company's own railroad runs di-'
rectly on the property from Whitney,
some six or seven miles away, andilt is
freely predicted that the Winston,
Salem Southbound. Railroad will build
branch from its main line from Pales-
tine, while an electric trolley will
doubtless be built from Albemarle.
Immense Equipment Being Used.
The equipment onw being used IL
the construction of the dam is prob.
ably the largest and most remarkable
ever seen in North Carolina. The inn
mensity Of the job can be realized from
the fact that there are already in uses
for this work twenty miles Of standard
gauge railroad track, over thirty. HOS
foot cranes, the same amount Of hoist
ing engines, two locomotive cranes,
over twenty locomotives and nearly leo.
freight cars, besides large amount of
the various kinds Of machinery neces-s
sary for an enterprise OF this char :
acter.
As long ago as 1914 it was said il
responsible circles that this was to be.
North Carolina g greatest single pro.
ducing industry. With the. events
which have transpired in the last six
months, there can be no doubt of thisa
fact. An expenditure of twenty mil.
lion dollars is bound ito produce large
results The magnitude Of the enter
prise, however, naaF be greaterj~ as
rolling mills for b;t's wire and tubes
can be added, as vel as saetoriess to
turn out numerous aftie,es, FOR ws.teh
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

pub dxu.a -N@@a0 and

Hhhon pounds, and that the final plans
OF the Aluminium Company of America
VIII likely be on scale at least dou-
Die those of the old company, whose
properties they have recently taken
ever.
enormous Growth of Output.
NO chapter taken at random from
the Arabian nights is SO entertainino
or fascinating as an account of the de.
Veiopment of the aluminium industry
from It's infancy less than generation
ago to its present stupendous proper.
tlons. 1t is one Of those economic and
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07
Crushing and Concrete II. "a 100 oo
m at Badin. N C. -. ~-o %HO1tONo

scientific marvels of which the public
has heard very little, as the process of
manufacture is highly technical, and
n'nety-seven per cent of the output is
controlled exclusively by close cor
poration which has, as rule, kept its
affairs to itself and courted but little
publicity save for the advertising of it,
cooking utensils and other wares which
ere made in it's plants at New Kensing
ton, Pa, a suburb Of Pittsburg.
The evolution of the industry has
been the transformation of what was
chemical curiosity in 1888 to what has
become great necessity commercially
speaking, in 1915 and 1916. In 1885
III all the United States the production
was only SD pounds, while in 1914 .herc
was. produced, according to the United
States Geological Survey nearly eighty
million pounds Of the white metal. The
remarkable and steady growth is apt
~ and clearly shown by the table of
production prepared by the United
States Geological Survey, Washington
D. c., and illustrated in this article. Ac-
cording to the Boston News Bureau,
Mr.. Arthur b. Davis, president Of the
Aluminium Company of America, in a
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

that practically all the industries 40
Intimately connected with the electric
furnace had their beginnings. This
was because of the Tremendous electric
current developed and made CONNER
claily feasible by the international
Power Company at that point. Carbon
undum and its allied industries were
developed there by Mr.. Henry Atche-
son, likewise the greatest growth of the
carbide industry was also witnessed at
Niagara Falls.Th real development OF
the aluminium industry starts in the
late eighties, from the Hall process,
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

powdered metal, known as aluminium
bronze powder, is used in printing.
hthographing, and in the manufacture
OF explosiv es. Aluminium foil is also be-
ing used to replace tin foil in some
cases: AS an alloy Of certain kinds OF
steel it is almost indispensable. In
brewing plants it is used for large yes
sells, and probably the next drink Of
beer you take came out Of an aluminium
vat. 1t is also used for vessels in var
nish and sugar factories, soap and
candle plants, and is largely employed
in dye works and explosive plants,
where vessels are required of metal
that will not corrode or tarnish nor
become affected by certain acids en-
ployed In these industries It is also
used in connection with the production
OF peroxide Of hydrogen, citric acid.
giycerine and a number of less known
chemicals. It is the ightest metal
known, being only little over two and
= half times as heavy as water, while
~'>A--~AA%SDA0 ply cAO0A PIOPGILlC0
many respects make it exceedingly val
liable for various uses to numerous to
mention here.
Powerful Corporation Behind tho
Enterprise.
+ The aluminium Company OF Ameries
has large plants scattered all over this
country, and even in Canada. It is
backed by some Of the largest financial
interests in Pittsburg, including Henry
G. Frick, the famous coke king and
millionaire, the Mellon banking inter
ests and others. It is considered one
Of the most efficient and richest cor
porations in the entire country. The
capital stock is twenty million dollars,
all Of which has been issued and Is
closely held. At the last sale made
several months ago the quotation was
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

between two and three hundred million
pounds annually at a manufacturing
cost not to exceed 10 cents, which will
still mean an exceedingly profitable
business even should aluminium sell at
twenty cents per pound, which is mol
probable in the next five years.
Not Depend on War Conditions.
The Aluminium Company is not e1
actly war baby, because it was
grown-up before the war began. 1t is
digesting its profits as it goes along
and is getting steadily bigger. There
!; will be no slump at Badin nor at any
of its other plants in various parts Of
the country. The demand for the metal
us growing faster than the supply ant
it is destined to become the, great rival
of copper, especially in the electrical
industries, due to its superiority over
the red metal in many respects. And i
is entirely possible that the output in
this country may amount to a billion
pounds annually in the next ten years
if the past growth of the industry is
any criterion by which to judge the
future.
/ Al all events North Carolina is to
share in the. prosperity of the white
metal trade, and is to be congratulated
on having in sight the fruition of tw"
previous attempts and several years OF
development work at Badin, which wi
not now be abandoned, as the work is
in strong hands and will be rushed to
completion. A town of which every
"Tar HE'LL may be proud is assured
before many months have gone by and
years hence when stranger asks
"What have you got in North Caro-
lima ~ the answer will be: "Well, will
tell you about the biggest thing first ;
and then whoever tells the story will
relate how after the Whitney failed
and after the French failed. Badin grew
to be the location of the largest plants
in the world for the manufacture OF
metallic aluminium, producing over
fifty million pounds annually, and jus'
" earning its title. ssThe White Meta
City of the Old North State"
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

mum Company has no doubt ,ou
an enormous surplus out Of na. a ?
being financed the new plants .ns n !,
extensions to the old ones y
Thus after the war is over ~.
gantic American industry will Is .
less find itself sin a position to ~, s'
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

Chile, which would be Immediately cut
off if our coasts should be blockaded
by an enemy in time Of war.
} The aluminium industry, it is true, has
been immensely stimulated by war con-
ditions, but the remarkable rise in the
price of the metal was not caused by
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07


which was invented by the late Charles
NJ Hall, former president of the Alumni
mum Company, and it is by this process
that practically all Of the aluminium in
this country is made. This process has
been improved from time to time. and
the one which is now used was first IN
stalled at the company Is plant in East
st. Louis several years ago. Briefly
speaking, Bauxite, the ore from which
the metal is extracted, and technically
known as hydrons oxide of aluminium.
Is ground up fine, then mixed with
caustie soda by means of steam under
pressure. This mixture goes through
several processes, then is mixed with
two substances technically known as
cryolite and fuorite, after which It i
put into shallow watts containing elece
trodes charged with electricity. and
after treatment thus for certain time
it goes to the electric furnace. and
finally energies from the plants as the
white metal itself in the form of in
gots.
Made From Bauute.
The mineral Bauxite is produced
chiefly in Arkansas and Tennessee. and
there is . town. IN the former STATS
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

aluminium 10 better suited than any
other material. A different process. for
the publication of Bauxite may be ad
ded later, which involves tie hxation
OF atmospheric nitrogen that i. reeov-
cred in the form of ammonia and nj
trates and rendered available as fer
tllizer in time Of peace and is very
necessary element of explosives in
time Of war. This seems very pertiaent
at the present, when the question of
producing nitrates by the electrical
process i' before the country, remem-
Der'ng that our supply il now from
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

stated some time ago that his corpora
ton had not sold dollars worth OF
aluminium for war purposes. What
then caused the advance in priees Moth
ing more than your old familiar law, of
supply and demand.
Previous to the war a large amount
Of the metal, and even Of the materials
from which it is manufactured, were
imported from foreign countries. AL,
thsse sources of supply were automat
isealy cut off shortly after the be-
ginning of hostilities, and prices have
gone steadily upward, and the ALUMNI
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

any. use of this material in the manu-
facture of munitions of war supplies OF
eny kind. In fact, according to the
Boston News. Bureau, President Davis
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07

s osa1d on by Amtauun Company Badn NJ C.
e. aoa power house 4nde In
0e oassance Smother
0rasoy electrodes shops At Badn
The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1916-07-07
Made From Bauute.

The mineral Bauxite is produced
chiefly in Arkansas and Tennessee. and
there is = town in the former stats
The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1916-03-24
Ty,u ioGiCA,. MAN w ".

80 MANY Illogical things hay,
- happened in and 10 the Re
publican party OF New Mexico
that 1t ~ with genuine pleasure one
discovers something connected with
II that ~ logical
We have the word of the Las Vegas
optic for 1t that
"Romero-is becoming sec
nized as the logical mar To- head
the Republican ticket this year
The optic made this discovery tm
mediately after Guadalupe county
Republicans had endorsed See.
II looks as If the Optic were right,
In view OF the record. history ind
tradition of the Republican o%rganis-
alton IN New Mexico. Sec Romo'
undoubtedly IL the logical man "a
head It's ticket--and 1t looks yer,
much ns Il he might do it, too. ca
II. Sec.