The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1918-06-15

able supplies Of this precious metal
shall be available for employment
where they can do the greatest good
In the service Of our country.
81 believe the only thing necessary
is to show the women Of the country
what really bad taste II is to wear
metal which certainly in the form of
rings, bracelets, mesh bags, etc, has
no beauty over lead or recommend 1t
and no advantage over many other
cheaper metals, except its one item of
high cost. The country is very short
of platinum and we cannot see where
the necessary supplies are coming
from. Platinum ought not to be used
in jewelry either in war time or in
time of peace. 1t is too greatly need
ed for the development of chemical
science and industry. The Russian
mines, from which 95 per cent of the
platinum comes, are reported to be
nearly exhausted The Russian sup
ply is now virtually in German hands
The United States has not nearly
enough in sight for its probable war
needs during the next two or three
years and as the jewellers now use
over SO per cent of the platinum that
comes into commerce, they must be
held responsible for its scarcity.
platinum in my opinion should be
'taboed' by all American women who
wish to see their country successful
in this war and success after the war
in keeping its lead in the Industrial
and scientific developments. The opal
has been considered unlucky. Accord
ingly, it carried in the feminine mind
little value as a gem. believe that
without ever using the phrase, the
Women's league for Conservation Of
Platinum has already begun to instill
into the minds of American women
what really bad taste it is to wear a
metal that looks like lead in rings,
bracelets, etc., simply on account of
its high price. also believe that the
Stacker wedding ring made of plati-
nun will soon be thing Of the past.
at is perhaps not realized by the
public that platinums is necessary in
the production of nitric and sulphuric
acid, the essential in all explosives.
at is absolutely essential in the
manufacture Of special promoters
and no gun can be made without the
use of pyrometer.
"Some necessary signal instruments
are dumb without platinum.
platinum is essential in the compo-
sition of certain delicate gun mech
anisms.
"The rapidly growing chemical in
dustries, engaged in war work, need
platinum in their laboratories
platinum is required in the new
plants the Government is erecting
with such feverish haste for the man.
ufacture of nitrates from the air
these nitrates being needed for fer
flizers and munitions.
with out platinum all experiments
in gases would be greatly handicap.
ped.
"The so-called platinum used In
electrical work is like the jewelers.
platinum, an alloy of platinum ant
iridium, but with this difference thai
that the proportion of iridium is or.
dinarily greater in electrical plati.
nun than in jewelers. Platinum, ant
for some work may be as high as fif
ty per cent. Unless one is Informed
he does not realize that each tele
phone and telegraph instrument has
platinum contacts, that every high
grade magenta for aeroplane, automo
bile, motorboat, or gas engine has
from two to six contacts of platinum
and that the multitude of contracts or
the telephone switchboard, on the re
lay instruments of both the telephone
and telegraph lines are of platinum.
"There are a large number Of differ
ent kinds of electrical control sys
TENS in which platinum is used. one
of the most important Of which arr
the thermocouples for the electrical
control OF heat in furnaces and oven:
for a variety of purposes. While thu
actual quantity of platinum in any
single piece Of electrical equipment II
very small and its value almost neg
ligible in comparison to the value o.
the whole instrument, yet the grea
number of these instruments, which
have been and are being made for tht
, government work, calls for an unbe
lievably large quantity of platinum
and iridium for their construction"
The marvellous ductility Of plati
mum, one OF the elements that make
1t so necessary in industrial work, II
better conceived when 1t is considered
that out of a single troy ounce Of thu
metal II Is possible to make an almos
infinitely slender wire that woul,
reach about 1900 miles. To draw on
platinum into so extremely a fin
wire It is covered with a thin layer o
gold. This new wire Is drawn to the