Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-07-29

ihcfue In the commonplace tnuR wv"
rattle of the concrete mixer. Every
one Is conversant with the orhinary 1
uses of Portland cement. PefbaPs
some first Impressions OF this ma,etia'
date back to the delights OF coastihe
on a bicycle over the even surface oi
"A cement sidewalk---back In the days
when cement sidewalks were consiuef-
cd more or less Of q luxury. Perhaps
a was n cellar floor, or foundauon' |
or the sight Of workmen mixing ce-
ment mortar. Years ago cement vas
nn established member OF the CON
siruction family, but the development
of tie uses during the last few years |
has been so varied and remarkable
that n IL doubtful IL the average citi-
zen has even the remotest idea OF II.
The historical incident which
brought about. the need for Portland
cement was the construction of the
Eddystone Lighthouse In the English
Channel In 1896 by an engineer named
John smeaton. who while looking for
a mortar for this purpose discovered
that an impure limestone containing
a certain amount Of clayey matter
contained hydraulic properties when
calcined, or roasted. The cement used
by smeaton marked the beginning OF
modern cement making practice, but
the early cements were different from
the Portland cement of today, Tor
natural cements depend on nature 10
prepare their material and are corse-
uuently restricted to the rocks hav-
| Ton ftf FnHfQri4lg
| In their makeup. and any variation
lin the composition cannot he regulated.
! Smeaton's discovery apparently
stimulated interest In the industry.
About 1896 James Parker Of North
! feet, England patented process for
manufacturing cement by turning inn
pure limestone almost to vitrihcation
in ordinary lime kilns, and grinding
the resulting ciinker 10 powder He
gave this material the name Of Ro-
man cement. In France there had
been experimentation along similar
lines.
The first record manufacture Of this
product in the United states was in
: 1919 in Madison county. n. y, for the
Erie Canal project and was develop
ed by Benjamin Wright and Canvass
White. All Of the above cements may
be Ciassed as natural cement because
J they were prepared by burning
> natural rock without previous preps
ration, and by grinding the burne'
- product to a fino powder.
b. Almost n Century OId.
Almost 100 years ago, in 1924.
bricklsyer Of England Joseph Aspd n
=. took out patent for what ne caile'
= Portland cement. He gave IL thl
name because when hardened il re
: sernblsd the famous stone found or
n the Isle Of Portland off the coast q
n England Aspdin's patent specifie'
4 that definite amounts II clay and lime
q stone be used. and described the pro
. tcess Of amaIgamating and clarifying
n these two materials in the manu- q e
h lture Of his product. This constitute
= tho distinction between natural am
Portland cernents.
4 Few attempts were n1sde to pro
, Iducs Portland cement in the Unite'
3 States until about 1870. During tn
{ 70's. however. plants were operated a
l. several points. including wampur
I and Coplay, Pa, Kalamazoo, Mich.
t South Bend. Ind. and Rockport, Me.
j. The remarkable growth Of the in
s. dustry. and tho consequent develop
z. ment Of new uses for the material
y best shown by the annual outpJ
l. figures. In 1880 production Of Port
ie land cement in the United States wa
4 L.,
ut 1886 900 barrels: in 1900, s,4s2.020 bal
N reis: in 1919, 7s.549,951 barrels and
Y. 1920. 100. .302 900 barrels.
in One hundred million barrels
Id cement--the 1920 output--would |
Id sufficient to build nine transcontinent
,. highways. 8 inches thick and IS fe
TX wide. from New York 10 San Fral
III cisco. Or It would build 1000, 900 si.
in room concrete houses with a pore
r and sidewalk thrown in. Or it wou
build 2312 great pyramids like tho
Of of Egypt. Or IL would build sid
{. walk feet wide and inches thiC
lie that would reach from Washington
ry the moon--a distance OF 243, o
u miles.
n The quantity OF the output
g. shown by the fact that in 1921 the 4
De dustry required nearly 100000 10
of coal. The amount Of coal burn
{. in manufacturing a barrel of ceme
re varies from $50 to 200 pounds. so tn
oi when purchasing a sack Of cement t
eF consumer is paying for nearly
pounds Of coal.
he Almost anyone who builds no.
q adays uses concrete in some form
other. Concrete piles are the found
Gu tions of thousands OF our large Off
buildings, and the same material &c
into the skeleton and framework.
=, bungalow or skyscraper. concrete
\ as common to the contractor as flo
/ is to the baker.
Il ReyolutIonized Paving Industry.
/ During the last 10 years Portla
/ cement has revolutionized the paw
industry. Thousands Of miles of &C
crete roads have been built. and eve
year sees an increasing number &C
tracted for. Last year almost g.
miles of 1s-foot concrete highw
were constructed IN this count
City streets are paved with concre
alleys are paved with the same n
terial. curbs and cutters. sidewal
fence posts, ornamental light
standards. park benches. statua
swimming pools--into every sort
civic improvement cement enters
some way or other.
Il Portland cement has accomplish
wonders for the farmer. The "a
kind of cement that paves his 70