The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-12-09
MINING BUREAU
BOASTS OF BIC
ACHIEVEMENTS
Report of the Department
Shows How Lives and
Money Were Saved.

of radium worth more than a million
dollars; a saving of more than $780,
900, 900 worth of natural gas in the
Blackwell field Of Oklahoma; manu-
facture of gasoline at cost of six
cents a gallon; development of an
electrical furnace which promises to
wipe out losses of $10,000,O0O a year
in the melting of brass, and the saw
ing Of many lives through the promo
ton of scientific mining methods are
among the achievements of the fed
eral bureau Of mines outlined to-day
in the annual report Of the director,
Van H. Manning.
The manufacture of radium was
accomplished in cooperation with the
National Radium Institute which fur
nished capital Of 100000 necessary
to develop an economical method Of
extracting the precious metal from
the carnotite ores of the west Eight
and one-half grams of radium were
produced at q cost less than $4,000
per gram, which in open market would
have cost between 100000 and $780,
900 a gram. The greater part of the
product was turned over to two great
hospitals for use in treatment Of can
Ger, from which it is estimated there
are 5000 deaths each year in the
United States.
The institute supplied the ore, plant
and machinery and the bureau Of
mines spent $4,000 developing the
process For it's part, the govern
ment received at least 100000 worth
of radium which will be used for sci
entific purposes. The method evolv-
ed has been patented for the govern
ment and may be used free by any
one within the United States.
The saving of $2o,00O,0O0 worth Of
natural gas in the Blackwell field was
accomplished by use Of the bureaus
new method Of drilling wells. It in
cludes process of sealing the gas in
its original reservoir until marketing
time. Oil operators in Kansas and
other states have adopted the method.
The new process Of manufactur-
ing gasoline was evolved with the Ritz
man furnace which makes it possible
to take the waste gas oil Of California
which is worth two cents a gallon
and make from it gasoline at a cost of
six cents a. gallon. The report an
nounces that the Rittman process is a
commercfat success and that the bu
reau is ready Ito give to the public
a commercial cracking process, free Of
royalty which will make available for
internal combustion engines large
quantities of otherwise unavailable
fractions of petroleum"
In the District Of Columbia, by adj
vising the government in purchases of
coal the bureau effected a saving of
$4,000 and the report estimates that
if the same thing were done
throughout the government service the
annual saving would total, 1878, 200
a year. The entire country, the re-
port says, could save millions annual
ly by following the same methods.
In studies for recovering metal
wastes in brass melting, the bureau
has developed an electric furnace
which gives promise Of eliminating
wastes of. $10,O00,00O year at the
present rate of great production and
high prices. -. - 8.
In it's work Of safety for miners,
the bureau has approved types Of cleo
trio miners lamps which are being in
stalled at the rate Of 10000 year
and will eliminate the cause of many
fatal explosions.
The iron mines of Minnesota, the
report says, may in the future obtain
power for their operation from fuel
taken from the nearby peat boys in
stead of transporting coal thousand
miles.
In California, investigation showed a
large number Of deep gold miners af-
fected with hook worm. Measures
were installed which are expected to
stamp out the disease in a few years
Investigation also was made Of miners
consumption in the Joplin, Mo-, dis
trict and recommendations were made
which promise to lengthen the lives Of