Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1925-04-25
ONLY LOST ART"
REDISCOVERED IS
CEMENT MAKING
Discovered By Romans Who
Used 1t Extensively For
Arches And Temples

Arches And | emples
Of all the much discussed "lost arts"
of antiquity, cement making is the on
ly one which has been rediscovered
in modern times.
For centuries scientists-real and
pseudo-have puzzled over malleable
glass, which was form of glass said
to have existed in the days of Rome's
grandeur and which could be bent or
worked like metal without breaking.
Early historians had quite a little
to say about this substance, alleging
that it was introduced to the court of
Nero by Roman who had been held
a prisoner in Africa. According to
the account, the ex-prisoner brought
back a glass goblet which could be
tossed about freely, and could be
Strengthened easily whenever dented
or crushed Modern glass makers are
skeptical of the existence of such a
glass at any time, and all efforts to
red; scover the art of making it, if
there ever was such an art, have fail
ed completely.
That copper was tempered to the
hardness of steel centuries ago is now
pretty we'll established. Copper CHS
els have been found in Peru of hard
ness far greater than any which it is
possible to impart in this day, altho'
modern metallurgists have tried dill
gently to find method, and in one
or two instances it has been possible
to harden the metal sligtly. Every
once in a while someone announces
the rediscovery of one of the lost arts,
but the fact that such claims are not
followed by the appearance of manu-
featured tempered copper on the mar
ket is the best disproof of the asser-
tions. Could copper be tempered to
the hardness of steel there is no doubt
that manufacturers would utilize it
for some purposes in which iron and
steel labor under disadvantages.
The dyemasters of ancient Tyre are
asserted by historians to have evolved
a shade of purple so beautiful that it
was eagerly sought all over Europe
and northern Africa by nations which
had themselves progressed we'll in the
art Of dyeing. Except that the ex-
traordinary shade was obtained from
clans or other mussels, nothing is
known of it's manufacture, and all eff
forts to reproduce it failed. With the
fall of Tyre the secret was lost and
has never been brought to light.
Cement was discovered by the Ro-
mans, who used it extensively for the
foundations of their triumphal arches
and temples. Excavations in the Fo-
rum clearly show on the concrete,
marks of the ancient wooden forms,
much as present day concrete shows
the same patterns. AS with Tyrian
purple, the art of cement making was
lost when Rome fell before the Van
dals, and during all the Dark Ages
and the Renaissance the secret re-
NAMED buried.
But enough information remained
so that some time prior to the Ameri-
can Revolution investigators in vari-
Gus parts of Europe began to make
cement of varying qualities in small
way. The first notable use of cement
in modern times was in the Eddystone
Lighthouse off the English coast.
This was in 1855. 1t was also employ
ed in the Erie Canal about 1920.
These cements were much like the
Roman variety, which has stood for
nearly 1000 years. They were made
of materials which nature had already
mixed in the proper proportions. But
in 1924 an Englishman, Joseph Asp
din, succeeded in making a stronger
cement from materials which nature
had not already prepared for him.
This he caleld Portland cement, be-
cause it resembled a durable building
stone from the isle of Portltnd, used
in building Westminster Abbey.
A highly developed form of this
early Portland cement is the cement
of modern commerce, so that the Sc
cret of the ancient Romans in this in
stance has not only been rediscovered
but also has been improved upon.