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By Edwin A. Sperry

At the request of some of my engineering acquaintances, to whom the results became known, I submit the following description of the survey made by me for the underground tunnel-connection between the Riverside and Home coal-shafts, at Leavenworth, Kansas. The State law requires an escape-shaft; and as neither of the shafts had one, the two companies decided to make this connection in order to comply with the law and still escape the great expense of sinking

Jan 1, 1895

By Franklin Bache

It is appropriate to the place of meeting, and of interest to those members of the Institute whose attention has been more or less directed to Virginia during the past eleven years, to know the result of recent developments of the Virginia coal-field. While, during the late " boom," the attention of the industrial pioneers of Virginia was mainly directed to iron-ore deposits and manufacture, it is safe to say that the coal to which, at that time, comparatively little attention was turned, and which did not directly foster a growth of " boom " towns, will prove the most reliable source of mineral wealth in the State. At the time of the last Virginia meeting of the Institute, held at Roanoke, in 1883, the Wise county coal-field was untouched by a railroad, and its economic existence was scarcely considered. Although, in the meantime, a number of reconnaissances had been made, and a fair estimate of the value of the field formed, it was not until 1891, when the Norfolk and Western and the Louisville and Nashville railroads, respectively, completed their Clinch Valley and Norton extensions to a junction at Norton, Wise county, that any development took place, and not until 1892 were shipments of any importance made. The coal-measures of Virginia are confined to the seven counties of Buchanan, Tazewell, Dickenson, Russell, Scott, Wise, and Lee,

Jan 1, 1895

By Frank L. Nason

During the months of June and July of the present year, the writer made a special geological survey of the mining property of Messrs. Cooper and Hewitt, at Ringwood, New Jersey. Some of the results of this survey are presented to the society through the courtesy of Hon. Abram 8. Hewitt.

Jan 1, 1895

By John A. Church

When, in 1879,I examined the mines of the Tombstone Mill and Mining Company, at Tombstone, Arizona, I found a bed of tailings containing 12,000 tons, which had a value of 9 to 12 ounces of silver per ton and some gold. The ore had been amalgamated in pans, in which each charge had been ground for four hours, having been pre viously stamped through rough-punched screens, which gave a pro duct varying from 1-100th to 1-20th of an inch, according to the state of wear of the screen. It was certain that a large proportion of the tailings must be in fine slimes, and the question of recovering their value was difficult. Even now the concentration of slimes is . an unwelcome task, and at that day very little was known about it. Nevertheless, after considering the results of a test by repanning the tailings, I advised the company to concentrate and smelt, although they had to face the difficulty of making a smelting-product from slimes containing only 3 per cent. of lead. Limestone was abundant enough, but no iron suitable for flux was to be had for hundreds of miles. One of the company's claims con tained an argeutiferous manganese-ore, which gave but poor results by amalgamation. This was one reason for recommending smelt ing ; for if manganese would play the part of a precipitant, as iron does, the company could smelt by combining two of its silver ores, without other flux than the small amount of lime that might be needed. At that time no smelter had ventured to trust manga nese as a precipitant, though large quantities of this ore containing silver were bought and used by custom-smelters, who looked upon the manganese solely as a basic flux for silica. I believe that no other furnace has been obliged to trust this metal, and that the man ganese practice of Tombstone remains unique among the records of smelting lead-ores in the shaft-furnace. The bright side of the problem was given by the fact that the mines were shallow and that the enterprise would at least begin with oxidized ores. The tailings contained about 85 per cent. of silica,

Jan 1, 1895

By W. Kennedy

THROUGHOUT northeastern Texas we have an extensive series of iron-ore deposits, occupying portions of nineteen counties and having approximately an actual ore-covered area of 1000 square miles. The existence of these ores has long been known. Kennedy* says: "Iron-ore is distributed in profusion throughout Texas, being found almost everywhere except in the level region of the coast." Before this, C. Newell† had mentioned the existence of these ores thus: " Iron is found in abundance in the eastern, northern and middle portions of Texas;" and in 1849 Edward Smith‡ said: " We met with immense hills of iron which were said to be, and appeared to be, of excellent quality, in Cass and Titus counties.. . .. It is well known that Texas abounds with iron of first-rate quality." In 1859, Dr. Shumard? reports that detailed surveys had been made in several counties, and says: " Our labors have demonstrated the important fact that we have a vast iron-region in the eastern part of the state, embracing considerable areas in Cass, Harrison, Rusk, Panola, Smith, San Augustine and Shelby counties. The ore-deposits belong to the Tertiary era and consist chiefly of hematites and limonites, of which there are several varieties. We have also found in this district extensive beds of carbonate of iron." Dr. Shumard gives no very exaggerated description of Cass county§ as it then existed when he says : " Cass county alone is capable of supplying a number of furnaces with an abundance of excellent iron-ore for many years." Of Rusk county he says: "Our de-

Jan 1, 1895

By Lytle Brown, Thomas C. Meadows

The rock now known to almost every Middle Tennessee farmer as " phosphate," was but recently recognized as such. The existence of a stratum of black siliceous rock in the hills surrounding the Nashville Basin has been known for many years to Dr. Safford, the State geologist. Nothing about it, however, would lead to the conclusion that it contains a considerable amount of bone phosphate of lime. The only feature that might attract attention is its very dark color; and since it occurs near the " black slate," one would naturally infer nothing more of interest to be connected with that feature than that this rock and the " black slate " derived their carbonaceous matter from a common source. Many of the country people have mistaken it for coal, or for an indication of coal; this impression being strengthened by the fact that, when a piece of the rock was thrown into a blacksmith's forge, a slight combustion was observed. As will be more fully explained, the phosphate-rock is of two kinds: (a) loose or separate boulders, occurring in a stratum of clay or blue shale; and (6) solid rock occurring in a continuous stratum. The boulders have been known for a long time as "balls," "kidneys," " stink-stones," etc. ; and as early as 1887, an analysis made under the direction of Dr. Safford, at Vanderbilt University, showed one of these boulders to contain 64 per cent. of bone-phosphate of lime. This information awakened no great interest in the matter, for the probable reason that at the same time it was known, or supposed to be known, that the boulder-beds were of limited extent as

Jan 1, 1895

By Henry Louis

The present paper comprises two parts, which have but little con nection with each other. The first is practically a continuation of the investigation on the specific gravity of gold liberated by means of acids from its alloys, on which subject I had the honor of presenting a brief note to the Institute in 1893 (Trans., xxii., 117); the second describes a series of experiments on the behavior of amorphous gold under the action of heat. By the kindness of Prof. W. C. Roberts-Austen, C.B., F.R.S., chemist to the Royal Mint, I have been permitted to conduct these experiments in the mint assay-office, all the splendid resources of which institution were freely placed at my disposal. I desire at the outset to express my obligations to Prof. Roberts-Austen and to all the staff of the mint assay-office for their kind assistance at all stages of my experiments. I.—The Specific Gravity of Gold in Alloys. In the note already referred to, I published my discovery that the gold left on dissolving out the silver from an alloy of gold and silver (which I shall here term " residual amorphous gold ") has a higher specific gravity than ordinary molten gold. I also pointed out that I had worked on very small quantities of material and with balances and weights on the accuracy of which I could not implicitly rely, and that in so far my numerical data were inconclusive, although I had but little doubt of the correctness of the broad fact. The experiments now recorded were made under the most advantageous circumstances and with various refinements. Particularly, I found that the ordinary form of specific-gravity bottle was responsible for several small sources of error; and I accordingly designed an improved form (Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry, April 30,1894, vol. xiii., p. 322), which I used for this work. The

Jan 1, 1895

By John Birkinbine

This piece of Carpenter crucible steel has exhibited a tensile strength of 116,000 pounds per square inch, an elastic limit of 89,170 pounds, an elongation of 25 per cent., and a reduction in area of 42 per cent. The test-specimen had a length of 2 inches between fillets, and was an inch bar reduced to an area of 0.504 square inch. This unusual tensile strength was determined before the bar had been hardened so as to show the remarkably velvety fracture here exhibited; but a piece of the same, tested after hardening, is reported to have stood a stress of 214,000 pounds per square inch. Another test-piece is said to have shown 136,000 pounds tensile strength, 97,300 pounds elastic limit, 20 per cent. elongation in 2 inches, and 40 per cent. reduction of area. Mr. Carpenter claims that this steel, containing 2.27 per cent. chromium and 1.04 per cent. carbon, can be welded like iron, and has proved most desirable,for the highest class of die-steel.

Jan 1, 1895

Jan 1, 1895

By E. J. Schmitz

The mining of the Triassic coals of the Richmond basin has been carried on, upon a larger or smaller scale, for more than a hundred years. Notwithstanding the close proximity of the field to a large city and to tide-water, assuring both a good home-market and cheap transportation, and notwithstanding the good quality of the fuel and the great thickness of the principal bed developed and worked, operations in this field have been conducted with but limited success. The basin comprises about 189 square miles, being from 24 to 31½ miles in length by 5½ to 10 miles in width. Not much more than one-tenth of this area has been explored in a practical and efficient way, and not over 1200 acres have been worked near and along the outcrops or edges of the coal. The practical mistakes which have been committed undoubtedly in a number of the mine-operations of the past, do not alone explain the unsatisfactory success and progress of the industry of this field ; nor can it be ascribed to the lack of local enterprise. Other reasons have to be looked for; and, as a principal one, the irregularity and the faulted conditions of the coal deposits must be pointed out. As a second cause, the indifference of the State government, which leaves the development of the field entirely to private enterprise, instead of aiding it by systematical and practical geological investigations, deserves to be mentioned. Nothing has been done by the State since the excellent work done more than fifty years ago by Professor Rogers, who could not at that time enter into the details of such

Jan 1, 1895

By Arthur W. Sheafer

MR. ECKLEY B. COXE, in his able and interesting paper on " The Preparation of Small Sizes of Anthracite,"* read and discussed at the Glen Summit Meeting, October, 1891, refers to the reputed immense amount of coal contained in the culm-banks, which are the unsightly accompaniment of every mining operation in the anthracite coal-regions. Mr. Coxe thinks the available amount and value greatly exaggerated, giving among his reasons (1) the spoiling of the culm by mixing with other refuse; (2) its deterioration; (3) its destruction by fire ; and (4) frequent failures to realize expectations as to the size of the banks. These points are undoubtedly important factors in determining the advisability of working any individual bank, but they have a varying influence in the several regions, some prevailing more in one than in another. Although the amount of fuel lying waste in these banks is still an uncertain and undetermined quantity, yet no one can visit the Schuylkill region without being impressed with the fact that a considerable amount of culm, too valuable to be left merely to the mercy of the elements, surrounds and encumbers each site of an old or present colliery operation. The rapid increase in the number of washeries, and the demand for leases on old culm-banks, shows that, in the Schuylkill region at least, the question of deterioration doès not play an important part. The proportion of coal to refuse, the relative percentage of the sev-

Jan 1, 1895

Jan 1, 1895

Jan 1, 1895

By Jos D. Weeks

On the extreme fringe of' the great Appalachian coal-basin is a long narrow detached coal-field, which is, in some respects, one of the most important in the United States. This field, about 90 miles long by 2½ to 16 miles wide, extends from the southwest corner of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, through Allegany and Garrett counties, Maryland, Mineral, Grant and Tucker counties, West Virginia, into Randolph county, West Virginia. In this distance four distinct sub-districts are recognized, the Wellersburg in Pennsylvania, the Cumberland-Georges creek in Maryland, and the Elk Garden and the Upper Potomac in West Virginia. The output of coal from the whole field including steam, domestic, smithing and coking-coal of the best quality, is about 4,500,000 tons annually. It is the nearest to tide-water of all the bituminous coal-fields which supply the great coal-markets of the Northern Atlantic seaboard ;

Jan 1, 1895

Jan 1, 1895

By Werner Langguth

SINCE the introduction of the improved method of precipitating gold from chlorine solution by SO2 and H2S at the Golden Reward chlorination-works, Deadwood, S. D.,* this modern method has been further adopted in the chlorination-works of the Portland Consolidated Company at Deadwood, and in those of the Black Hills Milling and Smelting Company at Rapid City, S. D. It has proved practically most successful in the handling of large quantities of gold solution, and constitutes up to date, with Mr. John E. Rothwell's most important improvement, namely, barrel-leaching under hydraulic pressure, the principal progress made in gold chlorination. The method of refining the gold sulphides which result from this method of precipitation, was introduced by me in 1890 at the Golden Reward works, and in 1892 at those of the Black Hills Company. It has not suffered any changes during the last three years, and is substantially as described below:

Jan 1, 1895

By William Glenn

The Ritchie grahamite-mines of Ritchie county, West Virginia, were situated near the central part of the upper barren coal-measures

Jan 1, 1895

By R. A. Hadfield

The present tribute to a great pioneer in the steel industry, with the accompanying remarks upon the town of Sheffield, which has remained to this day what his invention made it, an important center of that industry, originally formed a part of the paper on "Iron Alloys," prepared, at the invitation of the Council of the Institute, for the Chicago meeting of August, 1893. That paper, begun with the intention of dealing with many alloys of iron, became, of necessity, through the limitations of time on the part of the writer and of space in the Transactions of the Institute, mainly a discussion of the principal modern commercial alloy of iron, manganese-steel; and much introductory and general matter was consequently omitted. The Secretary suggested, however, that this particular portion would be interesting and appropriate as a separate contribution, and I therefore present it as such, offering the foregoing statement simply as an explanation of its incomplete character. If I had undertaken to write a paper upon this subject alone, I should have felt myself bound to bestow upon it more elaborate research and to treat it with more abundant details. It was in the immediate neighborhood of Sheffield that the first successful process for the fusion of steel on a commercial scale saw the light. The late Dr. Percy, a leading authority in general metallurgy, says: " Formerly, so far as I am aware, steel was never melted and cast after its production; and in only one instance, viz., that of wootz was it ever molten during its production.....Now, by the fusion and casting of steel after its production its heterogeneousness is remedied, and ingots of the metal may be procured of perfectly uniform composition throughout; and for the practical solution of this important problem we are indebted to Benjamin Huntsman, of Sheffield." As a recent American journal appropriately remarks: " Huntsman's patient efforts, at last rewarded with success, entitle him to an elevated niche among the heroes of industry. The invention of cast-steel was second

Jan 1, 1895

By Erik G:Son Odelstjerna

ALTHOUGH the Swedes have not taken as prominent a position in the open-hearth as in the Ressemer industry, the successful development of which in Sweden has been described by Prof. Åkerman, in a paper read before the Institute,? nevertheless our work with the Siemens-Martin method may possess some interest, even for countries outside our own, and especially for the United States, where the charcoaliron industry competes with that of Sweden for the first rank in extent and importance. I take the liberty therefore of giving in

Jan 1, 1895

Prof. Dr. H. Seger and Mr. E. Cramer, Chemisches Laboratorium fur Thonindustrie, Berlin, Prussia (communication to the President)* : We have learned, with much interest, from the pamphlet sent to us, of the work of Messrs. Hofman and Demond, particularly as we observe from their experiments that these gentlemen recognize the usefulness of the Seger cones, and that this method of determining temperatures in the furnaces of the ceramic industry and in the tests of refractory clays is valued, not only in all parts of Germany, but also in other countries. Permit us to say, with reference to the crucibles employed in tests for refractoriness, that we have used of late, besides the magnesia crucibles, also those made of Zettlitz kaolin, with the addition of alumina, previously calcined, with regard to which we beg to refer to our article in the Thonindustrie-Zeitung of December 9, 1893.

Jan 1, 1895