The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-03-09
rour Footed Llama Of the Andes Won
the War, the New York Evening
Sun Says-TeiIs How AMI
NAL Did It
VALUE OF HIS METAL
twenty Times More Valuable. Thar
Gold Twenty-six Years Ago
Used for Many Purposes in
the Great World War.

looted llama Of the Andes won the
word war, says the New York oven.
ing Sun. Furthermore, he and va.
nahum Will win greater victories in
peace. And this is just how it Isl
treat is civilizations debt to the
llama, to the even-toed, ruminant
ungulate quadruped of the Andes,
sometimes called the American
camel" Credit is due him for an
almost incalculable advance in the
industrial arts and sciences. Indeed,
but for the llama's humbly prosaic
but worthy efforts future historians
might have had occasion to write a
vastly different termination of the
world war.
Those even toes OF his make the
llama the most sure footed beast OF
burden in the world. Flooding Sc
renely UP and down the almost in
credibly precipitous trails Of the
Andes. he seems to defy the law of
sravitation at times, walking without
slip or mishap on treacherous in.
clines little short of perpendicular.
For centuries before the advent of
the Spaniards in South America, and
since then, he has been carrying on
and officiating as the original and
only thick-haired, 'four-footed Andes
mountain freight line. But his
claim for fame rests not upon
his dignified record as domestic
Peruvian beast Of burden, but upon
the fact that he, within the last few
years, has linked the workshops Of
the world with it's principal supply of
one of the most useful materials
known to man--vanadium.
3fs, vi T., - ~ 81 "
Big Aid to Transportation.
By thus rendering available this
metal the llama has been a factor in
bringing to their present perfection
tho high speed tools, and in ensuing
marvellous industrial expansion and
production he has assisted in i'm
measurably increasing the efficiency
OF steel; improving the ransporta-
ton by land and water: reducing the
risk of accident by travel; has -revo-
lutionized airplane construction; has
helped to turn the tide of battles on
land, in air and on sea, and has GER
tainly saved thousands of lives that
but for vanadium steel must have
passed into wars dreadful toll.
For years past scientists of the
world ever have known the beneficial
effect vanadium exerted on steel
when used as an alloy, but little
more than a wistful interest was
taken in the subject, as vanadium
was thought to be not much more
plentiful than radium. 1t was .discov.
cred about one hundred years ago in
of tho load OP
Mexico, the probable date being
1904, although scientists Of that day
discredited its presence until 1880.
Twenty-six years ago vanadium IN
crystal form, fused, was listed as the
rarest metal in existence. According
to a table published at that time
vanadium's value was $4.792.40 a
pound avoirdupois, or twenty times
that of gold
Vanadium did not fully come into
it's own, however, until the coming
of the world war. In 1913 the pro-
duction of vanadium steel was about
80 900 tons, an amount far exceeding
that of any previous year.
Two years later, in 1915. the pro.
duction was approximately 100000
tons. In 1916 the total amount made
almost doubled, statistics showing
that there were 100000 tons Of va
nadium steel produced.
Doughboys Had Vanadium Hats.
This was a direct result OF the
manifold uses to which it was put
by military engineers. II T"as 1".''1
to make a better armor plate than
had been known before, and fron as
hardness and toughness the plates
could be made thinner. This was an
factor in armoring ships,
and made possible the carrying OF
larger offensive weapons. Armor
plate as thin as ifteen-hundredths or
an inch was also made for protective
shields and for airplanes. Vanadium