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By B. F. Fackenthal

The earliest history shows that, in the reduction of iron-ores, natural draft was used to supply the blast, and that, when artificial blast was first used, it was supplied by leather bellows, usually made of skins, which were worked by the feet or hands, the blast entering the furnace through one tuyere or nozzle. The prehistoric bellows and its tuyere or nozzle are still in use in some form wherever iron is made. The original Durham furnace, built in 1727 at Durham, Pa., which was one of the earliest blast-furnaces in this country, was blown with a bellows, the power being supplied by a waterwheel. The old records show the purchase of leather at various times to repair the bellows, and mention the freezing of the water-wheel as one of the causes for going out of blast. In the early days of our iron manufacture but one tuyere was used; in fact, a cousiderable number of charcoal-furnaces continued to use but one tuyere down to recent years. I am

Jan 1, 1899

By William Hutton Blauvelt

An official of one of the prominent iron companies of the South recently made the following statement during a discussion of the present conditions of the Southern iron business: " The trouble with us in the South has been that we have been satisfied to buy iron and coal lands, build blast-furnaces, and make pig-iron. We stopped at pig-iron, and as a result we are all poor. The South needs diversified industries, and needs to work up its raw products into articles the Southern market can use. If we had realized this sooner, some of us might now be rich." The South is awakening to this view, and in the Birmingham district alone one basic steel-mill is already in operation, and in a year's time another and much larger one will be turning out rails and shapes, with rod- and wire-mills in prospect. It is to chronicle another metallurgical step forward in the same district that I have prepared the following description of the new by-product retort coke-oven plant recently put in opera-

Jan 1, 1899

Frank Owen, El Perú Venezuela (communication to the Secretary): Mr. Cragoe's accurate description of the rich and extensive mines of the Frontino and Bolivia Co. is of much interest to those acquainted with Colombian mining. While the labor in that part of Colombia is, of course, admittedly far inferior to that of white miners, it is,. nevertheless, decidedly superior to that available in other parts of the republic, and in the northern mining regions of South America generally. The Autioquenos have been miners for several generations, and many of those employed at the Frontino Co.'s works have been brought up at the mines, which is a distinct advantage. The ground encountered in the surface-workings of that district being very treacherous, they are skillful timber-men, every miner being able to put in his own timber in tunnels, stopes, etc., so that, except for the main shafts, where sawn timber is used, special timber-men are not required. In the shallow workings it is the custom for a miner to come out of the mine into the thickly-wooded bush and select and cut the timber he requires, which he will then take into the mine and put in

Jan 1, 1899

By C. W. Bildt

During many years of service in the iron and steel industry I have frequently found, as have also many other engineers, that the common devices used for feeding coal into gas-producers are not what they ought to be in order to secure the best economy. The hopper-and-cone so generally used is familiar to all, and a brief study of its action will surely satisfy everybody that this device has several serious faults. In the first place, the charging is intermittent, and depends entirely upon an attendant. When the hopper is frequently emptied, it may work fairly well, but even then it suddeinly discharges into the hot producers a large body of coal, which is often violently converted into gas that rushes into the furnace, and, as the damper for the combustion-air cannot be regulated every time the producer is charged, there will be an excess of gas, which goes up the chimney unburned. Between the chargings the quantity of gas generated decreases, and there will often be an excess of air in the furnace,

Jan 1, 1899

By Herbert C. Hoover

While the importance of the superficial alteration of golddeposits is recognized in pure science, it seems often to be singularly disregarded among engineers in practice. Its great practical bearing lies in the exploitation of new regions; and nowhere are the disastrous results of ignoring it more vividly shown than in Western Australia, where the impoverishment of the ores, and their frequent transition from free-milling' to refractory character in depth (things, as a rule, neither anticipated nor ascertained by exploration beforehand), have brought many companies to ruin, or caused the loss of much money squandered on machinery adapted only to temporary conditions.

Jan 1, 1899

By T. A. Rickard

The interior of West Australia is an arid table-land, elevated 1400 feet above the sea. This plateau is flanked to the south by the Tertiary limestones which fringe the Great Australian Bight. It is bordered northward by the Carboniferous beds of the Fitzroy river and westward by the granite of the Darling hills, while to the cast this wide area, about 900 miles square, slopes downward imperceptibly into an undulating plain of sand, which stretches with dismal persistence across the boundary of South Australia. The waters of the ocean receded from this tract of land long ago; it is probably the oldest landsurface on the globe, and represents the basal wreck of a much larger continent. Fig. 1 is a map of this region. The Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie gold-fields are situated in the southwestern part of the region. The rock-formation consists of granite penetrated by diorites and andesites. The latter are occasionally associated with tuff's, which have been readily mistaken for sedimentaries. There are no fossil-bearing rocks, such as would afford a datum-line from which to measure the relative geological age of the prevailing formation. On the extreme edges of the mining territory there are, it is true, remnants of sand-rock which are considered identical with the " Desert Sandstone " of Queensland, determined by Daintree to be of Mesozoic age. But even this formation has evidently been laid down so long subsequent to the underlying rocks that it serves merely to emphasize their much greater antiquity. In their characteristics and in their relations to each other, the granite and the diorite of the Coolgardie region appear to me much to resemble the Laurentian granite and the Huronian

Jan 1, 1899

By Archibald Blue

JUST one hundred years ago, in a paper read before the Royal Society of London and published in its Transactions, Rt. Hon. Charles Greville established and named the mineral species, corundum, the crystalline oxide of aluminum; and we have it on the authority of Professor Judd that in an appendix to Greville's paper the Count de Bournon correctly defined the crystallographic characters of the species. The names of its

Jan 1, 1899

By H. H. Stoek

Among the mining and metallurgical achievements of the latter part of the nineteenth century, not the least is the incep tion and successful prosecution by mining men of a technical educational movement which in magnitude surpasses any similar movement ever before set on foot. The following account of this undertaking has been prepared at the request of the Secretary of the Institute :*

Jan 1, 1899

R. H. THURSTON, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. (communication to the Secretary): The " tri-axial diagram" was, I think, first employed by me in the work of the " U. 8. Board Appointed to Test Iron, Steel and Other Metals." A model was exhibited to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the diagram was first published, and the model described, in a paper presented to the same society at its Nashville meeting in 1877." The problem then presented to its inventor was to find a method of planning a research involving proportions of ternary compositions in such manner that, a limited number of such compositions being tested, the results should give the law of variation in the physical properties of all possible combinations of the three elements, and the actual numerical values of such as were important to the investigator. The investigation of the binary alloys, copper and tin, copper and zinc, and tin and zinc, had been completed and satisfactorily discussed, employing the usual bi-axial diagram, of which the ordinates represented the one, and the abscissæ the other, of the characteristic properties to be studied, the composition being commonly indicated by the abscissæ. In these cases it was easy to ascertain, by the study of a limited number of compounds, the law of variation in strength, ductility, etc., with composition; but, for a long time, the ternary alloys were not attacked, because no simple and satisfactory method presented itself of securing results significant for the whole field by the investigation of a comparatively small number of alloys. The tri-axial diagram was finally hit upon as a means of representing and interpreting results, and researches were at once begun, and in due time satisfactorily completed.

Jan 1, 1899

By Bernard E. Fernow

About eight years ago a comprehensive study of American timbers was begun in the U. S. Division of Forestry with a twofold object. On the one hand, it was desired to deternliiie the working-qualities of our numerous economically important timbers, and to furnish reliable standards of strength. 011 the other hand, it was intended to get a clearer insight into the properties and behavior of wood in general, with a view of establishing more rational methods in its use, and to furnish data for physical inspectioil which would permit an intelligent application of the standards of strength, and place upon a rational foundation the so-called " factor of safety," which is at present a mere baseless guess. The first object, namely, the establishment of standards for any given species, requires a very large series of tests, since Wood is an exceedingly variable substance, so much so that in the same tree a variation of 50 per cent. in strength may be found; hence the greater need of rational data of inspection. So far, the insufficient appropriations and facilities at our disposal have permitted us to establish really reliable standards for five species of southern conifers only. These have been deduced from nearly 20,000 tests. Besides these, 10,000 other tests have furnished indicatious regarding some two dozen other species. This work is now entirely abandoned, waiting for more prosperous times. The study of wood in general, however, can be carried on with smaller means, and has this year yielded not only very interesting, but highly important results, which will soon be published in detail. It is the purpose of this paper to make to the Institute the

Jan 1, 1899

By B. Stoughton, H. O. Hofman

Before examining a fire-clay in the labori~tory for its resistance to heat or to fluxes, the sample is always ground to an impalpable powder. But when the clay is actually used for the manufacture of bricka, blocks, pots, etc., it is not ground to a uniform size, the particles varying from coarse grains to the finest slimes. The natural inference is that the tests with finely-ground substances mill give lower results than if the materials are tested just as they are going to be used. The, following experiments were made to find out how far this inference is justified. The method employed for fusion was Seger's direct method,* and, for fluxing, the modified Bischof method, described in the paper on that subject presented at the present meeting, The first question to be decided was, how large the test-cones ought to be made, to include representative proportions of the diflerentrsized particles colnposing the mixture. This was subjected to a screenanalysis with the following results :

Jan 1, 1899

By William P. Blake

The occurrence of the manganiferous variety of wolframite at a new locality in Arizona was announced in the month of May last." It occurs in the granite hills of the Dragoon mountains, in Cochise county, about 6 miles north of Dragoon Summit station, on the Southern Pacific Railway of Arizona. It is found in veins of white quartz, traversing a coarsely crystalline granitic gneiss, and, so far as yet determined, is without association with other metallic minerals in the same veins, except small quantities of scheelite. It is a very pure form of the mineral, and contains but little iron, the base being manganese oxide. The color is brownish-red; it is nearly the same as the color of the mineral originally described by E. Riotte from Mammoth District, Nevada.† Thin films or plates on the broad cleavage-surfaces, and thin cleavage-flakes, seen by transmitted light, are ruby-red, or rather more like the color of red zinc oxide or the mineral known as clintonite. By long-continued weathering the surface becomes less deeply colored, and assumes a bronze-like luster, like the dull oxidized surface of

Jan 1, 1899

By Forbes Rickard

Gilpin County, the cradle of mining in Colorado and the Cornwall of North America, is too well known to need much introduction; get, for the benefit of those not familiar with the district, it may be well to premise that it comprises a tract of country of about 122 square miles, lying between the counties of Jefferson, Boulder and Clear Creek, and hounded on the west by the main range of the Colorado Rockies. It is located centrally in the State, 40 miles west from the city of Denver. During the 38 years since the first gold-discovery, Gilpin county has contributed about eighty million dollars in gold and silver to the world's supply of these metals. Many mining districts have had their rise and decline in half this time; but, very far from being exhausted, this mining district is still in the ascendant; its output is increasing (it was $3,600,000 for the year just closed), and it was never more prosperous nor productive than to-day. Taken generally, there does not exist anywhere in the world so great a number of permanent veins within so small an area as in this district. Gilpin is practically a " poor man's camp." Its veins, with few exceptions, outcrop at the surface. In the oarlier---days of the camp these outcrops were worked in many instances by sluice-mining; particularly is this the case with regard to the veins of the Russell gulch. Discoveries are still made in the heart of this district, and the productive area is every year extending its limits. The districts of Yankee Hill, Hawkeye and Pine Creek, which used to be isolated, are now part and portion of the one gold-field of Gilpin county. Within the last year sensationally rich gold-discoveries have

Jan 1, 1899

By John M. Hartman

An examination as to irregularity of wear around the nose of the Witherbee tuyeres showed a section through the nose near the top as per Fig. 1, and a section only a half-inch beyond as per Fig. 2. The molten iron flowing over the nose of the tuyere had melted off the metal until the water in the tuyere prevented further melting. These tuyeres have a division in the annular water-space (see Fig. 2) to turn the current of water at the top, and the watersupply pipe is carried to within 1 inch of the nose. The constant supply of cold water in the nose of the tuyere kept it well cooled and preserved. But half an inch on the other side of the division the metal had melted off, as is shown by Fig. 1. There was no means of effecting a circulation at this point so long as the water was discharged from the butt of the tuyere. A pipe having been placed on the discharge-side of the division, the same as on the supply-side, in order to secure a circulation of the water at the nose on the discharge-side, it was found that the metal did not burn off. The nose being found to give out at the bottom, a division was placed in the annular water-space at the bottom, terminating 1 inch from the nose. This made a sharp current of circulation in the nose at the bottom, and prevented the burning of the metal there. A positive circulation at the nose, top and bottom, is a necessity with the present fast driving of furnaces, and prolongs the life of the tuyeres. The proper metallic composition of tuyeres is a question constantly agitated. A trial of ordinary yellow-metal* tuyeres was made 12 years ago. They did their work just as well

Jan 1, 1899

By G. M. Roberts

During the six years that the writer was connected, as chemist and chief assayer, with the Proprietary Mines, Broken Hill, N. S. W., several interesting experiments were made in the sampling of the silver-lead bullion obtained from the waterjacket smelting-furnace.

Jan 1, 1899

PROF. COURTENAY DE KALB, Kingstou, Oat. (communication to the Secretary): It. may be due to some lack of carefulness in expression that Mr. Upham seems to imply that there

Jan 1, 1899

J. M. HARTMAN, Philadelphia, Pa.: Mr. Fackenthal can remember some queer things that occurred at Durham, Pa., Aug. 3, 1876, while he was superintendent. The furnace was working stiff, i.e., blast-pressure 10 to 11 pounds, which was high pressure for those days. With this pressure there was some circulation through the stock. At 9 p.m., flushed cinder. After flushing, air was thrown off' for a moment to " bot up "; the keeper turned the lever and threw on air just as the scaffold dropped, which eased up the pressure to 4¼ pounds. The air-receiver is twice as large at Durham as at other places. The air from this receiver, added to the two seven-foot blowers, gave an extra large volume, which, rushing into the furnace, fired the finely-divided carbon, causing an explosion that threw part of the stock in the furnace out into the open air, threw up the bell-and-hopper with the tunnel-head plates, and gave off' a large volume of carbondust. The bell-and-hopper going up first, the stock followed, and, striking the bell-and-hopper, was deflected in a shower over the cast-house roof, breaking the slates. Sitting at the corner of the engine-house at the time, the stock pelted me, when I ran around the corner to get rid of it. Remembering there were two men at the furnace-top, I shut down the engines, and, running to the top, found them sitting in the hoist-house enjoying the fire-works. The explanation of this explosion is simple. There is in the blast-furnace a bed of fuel extending up, say, 16 to 18 feet above the tuyeres; in this bed of fuel some stray pieces of limestone are found, and a few pieces of unreduced ore; but, generally speaking, it is all fuel. On this bed of fuel is the zone of fusion. In this zone the descending stock is liquefied, except the fuel; the iron, melting, drops out of the ore, and the gangue unites with lime, forming cinder. The iron falls in the form of shot, and, with the cinder, trickles

Jan 1, 1899

By William Braden

In view of the current discussion of a proposed change in the United States mining law, abolishing the feature known as the extralateral right of a lode-location, it is an interesting circumstance that in the neighboring Province of British Columbia this feature was tried for eight years and then abandoned. The results of that abandonment have been such as to disprove the proposition, so confidently advanced by many

Jan 1, 1899

By Joseph Hartshorne

The attention which this process has attracted, especially in Europe, has led me to believe that members of the Institute would be interested in a report of the progress which has been made in the year and a half that has elapsed since my paper on the subject was read at the Colorado Meeting of this Institute. As already described in that paper (Duns., xxvi., 380), this process is a modificatioii of the open-hearth steel manufacture, whether acid or basic, collsistillg essentially in the division of the charge between two furnaces, one of which is charged about two hours earlier than the other, and tapped into the other after the charge in the latter has become fluid, the slag of the first bath being removed from it during the transfer. This description still remains true as far as it goes, but further experience has demonstrated that circumstances will very materially modify the relation of the two furnaces to each other, and the character of the work done in each of them. The function of the primary furnace has become more clearly and entirely that of doing the rough work of desiliconiziug and dephosphorizing, while that of the second or finishing-furnace has become almost entirely that of decarburizing and finighing the heat. To indicate these developments and their results is the object of this paper. In order to avoid needless repetition, I shall try to accomplish part of this object by giving a short resume' of what has been published elsewhere on this subject since my former paper was read. This will at least enable those interested to study the matter for themselves from original sources. Since that time the following papers have been read and published: " The Bertrand-Thiel Process of Making Steel," by Percy C. Gilchrist (Cleveland Institution of Engineers, Session of 1896-

Jan 1, 1899

Jan 1, 1899