The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-11-06


largely a matter of heredity. Here
is chance for great results, and
our children will see some great
changes.
Neither is there time to even
touch on astronomy, geology, mete-
orology (the science of the weather)
oceanography nor many others. In
passing, may say that recent work
shows that probably the oceans can
be made to yield more food for
man, both vegetable and animal.
than the land has ever yielded or
can yield.
But you will perhaps be interest
ed if ! tell you about few things
that are being done in the common
things around you.
Take coal tar: A sticky black
mess that is made in every coke
and gas plant. Formerly waste
product and hard to get rid OF.
From it are now made about 3d.
| 900 products, including the beauti-
| full dyes in your socks and necktles,
| medicines, perfumes, explosives, dis
| infectants, preservatives, lubricants,
solvents, motor fuels, Photographic
developers, and other products al
| most without end.
Rubber is another thing that has
become essential to civilization.
They can make artificial rubber out
| of corn oil or Soya bean oil, but
so far the natural product is cheap
er and better. / presume you know
that you almost never see pure rub
Der. All rubber articles are COM
pounded out of rubber gum or latex,
with sulphur zinc oxide, lead, an
timony, clay, chalk, whiting, analln
oil, and hundreds of other sub
stances, depending on the use to
which the final product is to be put.
The rubber on the tread Of your
tire is a. wholly different substance
from that in the side walls.
Glass is another wonderful thing.
Probably to most of US, glass is
glass, but here's something to make
YOU think a little. In 1900 each
American Railway had its own
standards for the glass used in sig
nal lights. There were 80 shades
of green and fourteen of red in use.
Robert Kennedy Duncan, professor
of chemistry at the University OF
i Kansas, began an investigation to
find out. which kinds transmitted
most light and which shades led to
least confusion. In fog and storm
the engineman on a fast train must
be sure of what he sees. Some
glass that gave correct color from
an oil flame did not do so with the
modern storage battery incandescent.
Finally, after some three years of
trial a chrome green, a selenium
red and a carbon yellow were de-
veloped and are now in universal
use. Formerly yellow could not be
used.
We have paints and varnish about
us. Probably some of you still
think paint is paint, but some house
paint will last seven years, while
some is gone in two years. If you
are going to paint your house, bet
ter find out which kind you are get
ting.
One of the largest American
users of paint, the international
Harvester Co. had so much trouble
that a rese arch department was or
ganized. In eleven years they had
tested nearly 100000 little wooden
squares, each painted with differ
ent material, then exposed on the
roof to wind, rain, sunshine, sulphur
gas, coal smoke and whatever else
might come along. Their machin-
cry is as well painted today as 1t
: is possible to get it, and at far less
cost than was formerly the case.
All the larger paint-making con-
Germs know of these and similar re-
suits, and you can get just what
you are willing to pay for-simply
paint, or paint plus perfection.
Up in this region our children
grow up without ever seeing one of
the most wonderful plants in the
world-the cotton plant. 1t is not
too much to say that the cotton
plant won the war. Here are some
of the reasons. 1t gave food, cloth
ing. housing and ammunition.
Food-The lard was cottonseed
oil, so was the oleomargerine large
. ly. The meat they ate came from
cattle fattened on cotton seed.
Clothing-Not only suits, but hats,
celluloid buttons, artificial leather.
Housing mattresses and
bedding
, Ammlnition-Cell AMI glyc-
erides, from which nearly all ex-
plosives were made.
Today you can add all the artifi-
cial silk made from cotton cellulose,
and paper from stalks and hulls.
Glance for moment at the fuel
situation, made important today by
the anthracite strike. Anthracite is
rapidly becoming a luxury. There
are less than 100000 tons on the
docks at Chicago today and every
railroad owned dock there has gone
permanently out of business. Why?
The answer is substitutes. Coke,
semi-anthracite from Arkansas, spe-
cially prepared smokeless Goals from
Kentucky and West Virginia, are
already in extensive use. Gas is in
creasing in domestic use, and domes-
tic oil burners are being installed in
greater and greater numbers. A
new development is called "carbo
coal'. 1t has been found that by
low temperature distillation a beau
tiful smokeless fuel can be made
even from Ignite. the by-products
paying the cost of distillation. This
fuel is already on the market in a
small way.
Some day our peat Dogs will
come into use in much the same
way, but it may not be for some
time to come. Oil is one of our
most attractive and efficient fuels.
Many large industries have hesitated
about using it for fear the supply
would rot prove permanent. No oil
contract can be made today for
longer than one year. The enor-
nous deposits Of oil shale in Col
orado, Utah, Wyoming, Kentucky,
Ohio, New York and other states in
sure this. There are already two