Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-08

mines have been making spe-
- cial Investigations as to the
minerals which Uncle Sam
requires for the war; They
are numbered by scores. Some have
q part In explosives, some are used In
shells and projectiles, others are in
oispensable to the airplane and the
battleship. and others have to do with
increasing our food supply. In fact,
everything connected with the fight
ing In Europe depends upon mineral
resources of one kind or another.
The war is fight OF metals as we'll
as OF men, and the forces that can
produce the best combinations and
10 SO will come out victorious.
The necessity for the principal min
erals Is well known. We have these in
abundance. We were producing 40 per
cent OF the worlds coal output before
the war began. and almost three
fourths Of the petroleum. Neverth4-
less. we had famine in coal last
winter, and there Is now danger Of
q shortage in gasoline. AS to iron.
IN transportation and lighting ma
,ohinery, 40 per cent of that mineral
comes from the United States, and
our shelters have been proucing half
q the worlds copper and about one
All of these minerals are Of enor.
nous value as to the war. but in tho
use OF them to make the best fight
Ing machines other minerals are re.
CURED, some of which until now we
have been importing from various
parts Of the world. Our output Of
iron ore last year was over 100000
tons, but that used in making high.
speed TOOLS ordnance, armor plate and
the stronger parts of airplanes and
automobiles had to be mixed with
other metals, the names of which are
hardly known to the ordinary reader
dunn and uranium. cobalt and chrom-
1um, tungsten and manganese.
Vanadium and Chromium are em-
ployed to make steel hard and tough.
and able to resist the shock of an ex-
plosion. We have vanadium in some
Of the ores of Colorado and Utah, but
the most of our supply comes from
Peru, whose yearly output is about
5000 tons. The chief mines are high
up in the Andes within a short dis
kAuSo VI tHo 3 ICdI SllteI anu COppCk
deposits of Cerro de Pasco. I Wis
tied them during my last trip to the
Andes. They were owned originally
by an italian, but were sold by him
to capitalists in Pittsburgh, who now
control the chief source Of the worlds
supply. We are now producing about
one-sixth as much as Peru.
The Germans are using chromium
also to make up their shortage OF
tungsten. 1t is especially valuable for
making hard cutting tools and for
automobile axles and springs. 1t Is
used for cannon Innings and in armor
plate. and is one of the metals spec
flied in certain parts OF the liberty
motor. Chrome steel can be made so
that 1t will not rust, and altogether
1t is so valuable as military metal
that the bureau of mines recommends
that the government provide for at
least one years reserve supply. Until
within the past two or three years
nearly all of our chromium came from
British South Africa and the French
producing thousands Of tons. the most
Of which comes from Shasta and Fres-
no counties, California. We have the
metal in Oregon and other western
states as well. and q, so some e., has been
As to uranium the Germans nave
taken all of that metal they can find
and are using 1t in their steel works
for some military purpose which mas
not vet been discovered. 1t Is proba-
bly, in connection with tungsten In
combination with which 1t Is valuable
as a ferro-alloy. The stuff brings
about $3.50 q pound or $4,000 q ton.
We have the largest deposits in exist
ence and are using it to make high
speed tools.
A metal which is of much the same
class as those above mentioned, and
perhaps the most important of all. Is
tungsten. It's value was known be.
fore the war in Europe began. but
since then 1t has become almost tndis-
pensable and the price has risen from
1850 to $4,000 ton. Tungsten. Is used
in shells and projectiles. but its chief
value Is for making high-speed tool
steel, It Is estimated that one man
equipped with tungsten steel tools us.
ing q single machine can do as much
work as I'VE men with five machines
equipped with the carbon steel tools
that were formerly used. One of the
makers Of cheap automobiles says
that his company would have to add
5000 to the price of each automobile
If 1t had to use the old-style carbon
steel tool. e
The metal Is used also for flaments
in electric and incandescent lamps. 1t
can be drawn out into wires one
eighth as thick as q human hair and
almost as fine as the finest strand Of
a cobweb. BY tungsten flaments one