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By Guy R. Johnson

It is a common observation among those engaged in the ironbusiness, that the lower (i.e., the less graphitic) grades of pigiron show a rough face on the pig. As such irons are always low in silicon, the generally accepted belief is, that this rough face is due to the absence of silicon. Certain investigations, however, made by the writer on Embreville pig-iron, and extending over nearly a year's time, seem to indicate another cause, namely, the giving-off of included gases, particularly sulphurous oxide (SO2,). It is, of course, the tendency of such gases to rise through the iron, escaping into the air; and the more liquid the iron, and the longer it remains liquid, the greater the chance for such escape. The lower grades of iron, being always colder, tend to solidify early, and before the included gases can completely escape.

Jan 1, 1898

By James Douglas

American metallurgical inventions have not always been absolute metallurgical improvements, if accurate work be the standard of comparison; but when we review the new methods and machinery which have been generally accepted, we find that some have become essential to the metallurgist the world over, while all are so admirably adapted to the peculiar requirements of our local conditions that they have entirely supplanted foreign processes and appliances. The necessity of diminishing to the utmost the employment of labor (owing to its great cost), and the inexorable requirements of our modern joint-stock corporate system, which demands that large quantities be worked up in order to secure large returns, regardless betimes of waste, have been the impelling motives to invention, and indicate the special directions in which originality has been exercised. As might be anticipated, the West has been the most fertile field of inventions by miners and metallurgists, by reason of its great and varied mineral wealth, locked up in ores sometimes lean and often of intricate composition, which must be profitably handled, at a great distance from fuel and from building-materials, by workmen who are paid wages very much higher than those received by their fellow-workmen of like craft in Europe, and in some localities twice as high as those paid for like services even in the eastern States. Moreover, paradoxical as it may seem, the technical inexperience of many of those engaged in mining and metallurgy has helped rather than hindered the progress of invention; fop while there may have been ignorance, there has been radical freedom from

Jan 1, 1894

By Horace C. Porter

Most of the bituminous and semibituminous coals of this country will coke, and all of them yield, on carbonizing, more or less marketable gas and byproducts. We need, however, a finer distinction as between various grades of coking coals and between coals of different degrees of byproduct and gas-making possibilities. There is required by the consumer or the coal producer a dependable test to show whether a certain coal or mixture of coals will make coke of good commercial value for blast-furnace, foundry, water-gas, or domestic use; whether any difficulties in operation may arise from properties inherent in the coal; and whether gas and byproducts may be expected of good quality and in profitable quantity. For determining coke quality, the most dependable test is an actual run in an oven, but for byproducts a coal may better and more accurately be tested in the laboratory or in a miniature oven or retort. As to what are the most desirable qualities in blast-furnace coke, the furnace men themselves are not in complete agreement. Some desire a hard, well-burned, "hot" coke, and others get better results from a llgreener," less hardened product that burns somewhat more readily in the furnace. But certain qualities of cell structure and porosity are commonly agreed upon as desirable. Information as to what kind of coke a certain coal may be made to yield is valuable in advance, whatever may be the consumer's ideas as to the particular kind most suitable to his needs. The question arises, Can we predict coking quality with any degree of satisfaction from a small-scale test? It used to be said that coals could not be tested satisfactorily on a laboratory scale either for the coke they would yield or the byproducts. On account of the mystery with which the coking quality of coal has been shrouded and the large determining influences that many believe are exerted by mass, pressure, and the passage of carbonaceous volatile matter through the coking material, it has seemed difficult to reproduce in the laboratory the exact conditions of commercial practice. Great progress, however, has been made in recent years in elucidating the process of carbonization and many of the factors that make for the formation of high-grade coke and the recovery of the best

Jan 1, 1920

By H. Le Chatelier

Jan 1, 1894

By William H. Case

The Bertha zinc-mines of the Bertha Zinc and Mineral Company are in that part of the State of Virginia popularly known as Southwest Virginia, and are included in that division of the " Great Valley " named in recent years the " New River-Cripple Creek Mineral-Region of Virginia." The mines lie wholly in the southeast part of Wythe county, two miles from Pulaski county on the east, and three miles from Carroll county on the south. The only other zinc-mines that are opened in the region are those of Manning & Squier, which adjoin the Bertha zinc-mines on the northeast, and the mines of the Wythe Lend and Zinc Company, at Austinville, eight miles to the southwest. A little farther southwest of Austinville, near Ivanhoe, a new company is preparing to mine zinc-ores. The mining properties named are included within a distance of ten miles along a direct line, bearing north 55' east, on the south side of New river, which here flows northeastward in a tortuous course. The greatest distance of any of the mine-openings from the river is a little less than two miles. It is not the magnitude of the operations in zinc-mining in this particular region, as compared with that of other well-known districts, that merits especial notice. Aside from the exceptional purity of the spelter made directly from the Bertha ores, some peculiar features of the zinc-ore deposih, as shown at the Bertha mines, and

Jan 1, 1894

By Richard Akerman

At the International Sessions of the Iron and Steel Institute of Great Britain, the American Institute of Mining Engineers and the Verein Deutscher EisenhUttenleute, held in Allegheny City, Pa., in October, 1890, Sir James Kitson, then President of the Iron and Steel Institute, presented an account by Sir Henry Bessemer of the origin of the process which bears his name.? The paper graplhically told how, after the first successes immediately following the first reports given at Cheltenham of the new process, there rapidly succceded such obstacles and difficulties in its practical application, that the whole matter was nearly abandoned in 1858. Suddenly, however, the situation changed, so that at length it became possible

Jan 1, 1894

By F. Hass, N. W. Lord

This paper gives the results of experiments conducted in the metallurgical laboratory of the Ohio State University with the objects of determining: First, the calorific powers of a number of coals in general use in Ohio; and second, how far ordinary analytical methods could be used as a basis for computing these values. Incidentally a test of the performance of the calorimeter was involved. The chemical work has been carried on in the department for some time, so that the whole investigation has extended over three or four years. The Mahler calorimeter was purchased from L. Golaz in Paris, and is practically identical with the one described and figured by Mahler in his monograph "Contribution a l'Etude des Combustibles," from the Bulletin de la Société d' Encouragement pour l'lndustrie Nationale. A figure and description is also given by William Kent in The Mineral Industry for 1892, page 97. There were furnished with the instrument three thermometers covering a range of from 7°.5 C. to 31° C. Thermometer "A" (17°.5 to 31°) was carefully calibrated by reading the ends of a thread of mercury in sixteen positions covering the whole scale, supplementing this by readings of longer threads and deducing the errors of scale by the method published by Prof. Holman in the Technology Quarterly of September, 1887. The maximum error of a single reading was found to be 0°.0042 C. Thermometer "B" (13° to 25°) was compared directly with " A " over the scale common to both, and a variation was found of 0°.0145 C. for 7°.5 (or 0°.002 for l°) of the scale. Thermometer " C" ('7°.5 to 19°.0) was omitted from the cornparison, as it was rarely used, being only required where measurements were made at low temperatures. From the

Jan 1, 1898

By John C. Branner

Inquiries are frequently made concerning the chalk- and clay-beds of Arkansas, usually with a view to the manufacture of Portland cement. The chalk-deposits were first described by Professor R. T. Hill in the annual report of the Geological Survey of Arkansas for 1888, vol. ii., pp. 153-162. Since the publication of that report I have visited localities then unknown, and have accumulated considerable additional information concerning these deposits, dl of which is brought together in the present paper. My report upon the clays of the State has never been published; only a few of the more conveniently available deposits are mentioned in the present paper. The Chalk-Deposits. Stratigraphic Position of the Chalk.—The chalk-deposits of Arkansas belong to rocks of Cretaceous age. The Cretaceous rocks are confined to a single definite area in Southwest Arkansas. Beginning on the Ouachita river, a little northeast of Arkadelphia, its southern or upper margin follows a line about five miles southeast of, and approximately parallel to, the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway from Arkadelphia

Jan 1, 1898

By J. F. Lewis

Much has been written on this great engineering work, principally from the civil engineer's stand-point. In presenting the subject to the Institute, it seems necessary to include something of geology as well as engineering. In this case, it is particularly the glacial and post-glacial periods with which we are concerned; for it has been clearly proved that the canal recently excavated has not for the first time opened the Des Plaines valley for drainage away from Lake Michigan, and that this valley, as well as the site of this city, is very closely connected with the processes and effects of the ice period. We have simply renewed a channel and a drainage direction which formerly existed. As the days of deep water-ways for commercial purposes are fast approaching, engineers may find the consideration of ancient topography and geologic changes highly useful. For what I may say on this subject I am greatly indebted to Mr. Ossian Guthrie, who has made an earnest study of glacial geology and labored especially to decipher the records of its history in this region. * Chicago is situated in the track of one of four great glacial ice-streams that swept down from the North: one moving due South from Marquette and entering the Illinois valley at Ottawa; one through the Lake Michigan valley, entering the Illinois valley near Lemont; one from Saginaw Bay diagonally across the States of Michigan and Iadiana, entering through

Jan 1, 1898

By George W. Maynard

For an account of the discovery and the determination of chromite on Port au Port Bay I am indebted to Mr. Obalski, Government mining engineer for the Province of Quebec. He writes: " In June, 1894, with the authorization of our Government, I went to Newfoundland to examine some asbestos property. Passing through Halifax, I had interviews with some gentlemen who told me that besides the asbestos there was in the same district a big deposit of iron-ore. They handed me some specimens, and, after ascertaining that they were not magnetic, and learning that they were found in serpentine, I said they were chromic iron. I visited the place on June 27, 1894, and confirmed my opinion, pointing out at the same time the importance of the deposit, as appears in my report of July 9, 1894. I do not claim any credit for the discovery of chrome-ore in Newfoundland; but, as a matter of fact. when I came in contact with the Halifax gentlemen they did not appear to know the nature or the value of the mineral until I mentioned to them that it was chromite. "' Mr. Obalski's report was mainly devoted to the asbestos-deposits. That portion relating to the chromite was as follows: " On the right side of the creek there is a show of chromic iron of good quality, which appears scattered through the serpentine in several places on the face of the cliff for 40 to 50 feet. A few boulders are found farther up at a distance of 100 feet, and also in the ckeek itself. From this point the deposit exists on a relatively large area, the widest exposures being from 6 to 7 feet. Chromic iron deposits in serpentine rock have no regularity, and are merely pockets. In the case of the property in question this rule is not changed, but the pockets look to be of large extent, and could be easily worked." My own preliminary investigation of the property was made

Jan 1, 1898

By C. A. Stetefeldt

It will be of interest to compare the statistics of the gas-producer plant at Aspen, Colorado (recorded by Mr. W. S. Morse in a paper read at the Montreal Meeting, February, 1893*), with those at the Marsac mill, Park City, Utah, where such a plant was first introduced by the writer in July, 1890. In both mills a Stetefeldt furnace is used for roasting; but the Marsac mill has the old-fidsdshioned revolving dryers, while at Aspen, shelf-dryers are at hand. At Aspen, separate Taylor-producers are provided for the Stetefeldt furnace and the shelf-dryers; at the Marsac mill one 7-foot producer supplies gas to both the furnace and the dryers. Hence, in the latter case, the quantity of coal consumed for each apparatus can only be estimated, based upon the relative consumption of wood before gas was introduced. According to Mr. Wilson's statement, the relative consumption of wood in the Stetefeldt furnace and the revolving dryers was as 3 to 2. In the year 1892 the Marsac mill put through the dryers and the Stetefeldt furnace the following quantities of ore and salt (approximate dry weights) : ore, 22,800 tons; salt, 2262 tons. There were consumed in the Taylor-producer 2,714 tons of Rock Springs coal. We may thus make the comparative estimate as follows: Table Showing the Consumption of Coal per Ton Of Ore and Salt at the Marsac and Aspen Mills. Marsac. Aspen. Difference. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Drying ore and salt,.... 86.63 72.22 14.41 Roasting ore,.....142.40 117.44 24.96 Total,.....229.03 189.66 39.37 In making a just comparison a number of items must be taken

Jan 1, 1894

By G. Chesneau

Two great discoveries of this century have diminished the dangers of fiery coal-mines,—the sifety-lamp, conceived in 1815 by Sir Humphrey Davy and successively improved by many engineers, such as Clanny, Marsaut, Mueseler, Fumat, etc., and safety-explosives, the appearance of which is comparatively recent, hut which, thanks to the persevering labors of several technical commissions (especially the French commission on explosives), and of the manufacturers and experimental users of these powders, appear likely to play, in the protection of the miner, a part as important as that of the safetylamp itself. Brit while it is true that by the use of a safety-lamp of approved form, and the exclusive employment, with all prescribed precautions, of these new explosives, complete security should be assured, even in highly fiery atmospheres, experience has shown that the imprudence of workmen, or the bad condition of a lamp, may nullify these protective means, so that it ought to be the constant care of the engineers of fiery mines to dilute the fire-damp by good ventilation so far as to maintain always and in all parts of a mine a proportion of this gas below the lower limit of explosiveness belonging to a mixture of air and methane. Good ventilation still remains the best preventive of explosions from fire-damp, and since, even with a rational and well-controlled mine-ventilation, the volumes of air traversing galleries and rooms are liable to vary within wide limits by reason of open doors, falls of rock, or other accidental causes, it follows that but a few thousandths of fire-damp should be left in the normal atmosphere of the mine-workings, so that a considerable

Jan 1, 1894

By Edward Keller

In order to conduct intelligently the sampling of copper of various forms and grades, solid or in molten furnace-charges, a knowledge of this subject is essential. Yet figures and tests have been persistently withheld from publication, and the books at our command give us little or no information in this regard. This gap in our copper-literature has led to a series of experiments, the results of which are given below. Nearly all gold- and silver-bearing copper, destined for shipment, is cast into the form of bars or pigs. For the sampler, the question arises, Does copper, so cast, remain homogeneous ? If it does, sampling should present no difficulties; but, from experience, we know that this is not the case, and we are thus led to study the behavior of the precious metals arid impurities in copper when the latter changes from the molten to the solid state. For the purpose of the experiments here described, all available grades of copper were selected, and all of them mere subjected to the same conditions, an important requisite for proper comparison. The molten copper obtained directly from reverberatory- and blast-furnaces was cast in a cast-iron mould, the sides and bottom of which were 1 inch thick, and would, therefore, give the copper a fair length of time to chill. The inside dimensions of the mould, and, consequently, of the block of copper obtained, were: length, 10 inches; width, 9 inches; and depth, 5 inches. Fig. 1 illustrates the method employed to obtain samples from these blocks. A was cut away, and the face so produced BALTIMORE COPPER WORKS,

Jan 1, 1898

By John R. Don

This paper, under the title of "The Genesis of Auriferous Lodes from a Chemical Point of View, Illustrated by Analyses of Samples Taken from the Chief Auriferous Area of New Zealand, Victoria and Queensland, by John R. Don, D.Sc., M.A., Lecturer on Geology in the University of Otago, N. Z.," was submitted by the author with the frank confession that its length, covering several hundred printed pages of the Transactions of the Institute, would preclude its acceptance for publication in full. But the great value of the original work which it records rendered its rejection on that ground highly undesirable ; and, after correspondence with Dr. Don, it was agreed that the Secretary should condense the paper, subject to the author's approval, omitting what was not essentially connected with the original work reported. In the discharge of this laborious and difficult duty, the Secretary's chief trouble has been his regret to cut out the acute criticisms and admirable theoretical and historical summaries of Dr. Don on the general subject of the science of ore-deposits. It should be added, that the original paper has been returned to the author, with full permission to publish it through any other medium (due mention being made of the first publication by the Institute of portions thereof), and a cordial expression of the hope that the treatise, as a whole, may be thus published, to the advantage of science. The Secretary begs to add, that many of the portions necessarily omitted from this condensed version would constitute, in his judgment, interesting and valuable separate contributions. In attempting to condense this paper, it was necessary at the outset to cut out the tint three chapters, of which the following brief outline is therefore given. Chapter I., introductory in character, indicates the importance of chemical analysis in the investigation of the genesis of ore-deposits, emphasizing the value of Prof. Posepny's Institute paper, and especially of the discussion which it aroused, and stating in general terms the theories of "lateral secretion" and "ascension." Chapter 11. describes the scope of the investigation undertaken by the author, the chief purpose of which was to determine which of the above-named theories was favored by the evidence obtained. This evidence consists chiefly (though not wholly) of analyses of the country-rock taken at various distances from the auriferous "reefs," (a) on deep mine-levels; (b) in the surface or "vadose" region : and also (c) of underlying, neighboring or connected crystallines (granite, gneiss, etc.). In addition to these investigations, there is a separate inquiry into the question of the deposition of gold in marine basins, suggested by the fact that most of the gold in the lodes of Australasia occurs in stratified deposits. Chapter 111. discusses the principles and methods followed by the author in the examination of country-rock for the purpose described. After giving his reasons for believing that careful tests of carefully-chosen samples of country-rock taken at varying distances from the ore-deposit might throw light upon the question

Jan 1, 1898

By F. Pošepný

Part I.—General Facts and Theories. PAGE 1. Systems of Classification Employed Hitherto, . . 199 2. Standpoint and View of the Present Paper, . . . 206 3. The Xenogenites in General, ...207 4. The Subterranean Water-Oirculation, . . . 212 A. The Vadose Underground Circulation, . . . 213 Filling of Open Spaces Formed by Vadose Circulation, . . 217 B. The Deep Underground Circulation, . 220 Ascending Waters Encountered in Mines, , 222 Related Phenomena near the Surface, . 225 Mineral Springs at the Surface,. . 230 Chemical Constitution of Mineral Waters, . 232 Minute Metallic Admixtures in Mineral Waters, . . . 238 Alterations Produced by Mineral Springs, . 240 Structural Features of the Deposits of Mineral Springs, . . 244 5. Origin of Ore-Deposits in the Deep Region, . . . 247 Manner of Filling of Open Spaces in General, . . . 254 Part II.—Examples or Classes of Deposits. 1. Ore-Deposits in Spaces of Discission, .. 264 General Features and Illustrations, a. Ore-Veins in Stratified Rocks, .. 269 Clausthal, 269; Andreasberg, 270. b. Ore-veins in the Neighborhood of Eruptive Masses, 271 The Erzgebirge, 271; Przibram, 272. c. Ore-Veins Wholly Within Large Eruptive Formations, 274 Hungary, 274; Dacian Gold-field. 275; Verespatak, 276; Vulkoj, 276 ; Comstock lode, 278.

Jan 1, 1894

By J. F. Kemp

PARE Introductory Note. ........... 147 General Topography. ..... ....... 148 General Distribution of the Mines. .149 General Geology.............151 The Non-Titaniferons Ore-Bodies. .1. 54 The Lee Mine. ..........154 The Cheever Mine...........15.5 The Pilfershire and Pease Pits.........1.56 The Mineville and Barton Hill Groups........1.56 Introductory. ........... 156 The Mineville Group..........157 The Miller Pit..........158 Old Bed or Mine 23 .........166 Relations of Old Bed to Miller Pit. ..168 The "21 "-Bonanza-Joker Ore-Body,......168 Summary. .......... 170 O'Neill Shaft and Cook Shaft, .......171 The Barton Hill Group..........172 The Mines on Barton Hill........172 Fisher Hill and Burt Lot........173 The Chemical Composition of the Ores. .. 173 The Geological Relations of the Ores. .176 The "21 "Gneiss..........176 The Orchard Gneiss. . . . . . . . .178 The Barton Gneiss..........178 The Gabbro and Gabbro-Gneiss. . . . . . .180 Minor Rocks...........182 Mineralogical Relations of the Gneisses. ..183 Stratigraphical Relations of the Gneisses. . . . 183 The Origin of the Ores. ..190 Review of Hypotheses . . . . . . 191 Interpretation of the Ore-Bodies as Contact-Deposits on Gabbro,. 193 The Mineralogy of the Mines. . . .......195 Bibliography.............201

Jan 1, 1898

By Charles Catlett

Much has been done of late years to facilitate preliminary stratigraphical investigations, and for examination at considerable depths and in a certain character of material the diamonddrill, in its general forms, certainly stands pre-eminent among the tools for such work. But there are large classes of deposits —indeed, I may say the larger proportion in which ordinary. prospecting is done—which lie near the surface and are interbedded with soft and fine material. The method usually employed for prospecting these is by means of small shafts. These are sunk with considerable slowness and at considerable expense, depending largely upon the character of the material encountered, and are greatly interfered with by water. In this region the smallest are 3 by 4 feet, but they are usually considerably larger. Having had occasion during the past year to do a large amount of prospecting work, I have found the use of a hand-auger and drill of immense value in this respect, and in my practice it has largely superseded, and always preceded, the other forms of investigation. I believe that the information desired mas

Jan 1, 1898

By Axel Sahlin

Jan 1, 1898

By Frank Clowes

This lamp has been devised to burn oil from a flat wick in the usual way for lighting-purposes ; and also to burn a hydrogen-flame of standard size instead of the oil-flame, when delicate and accurate gas-testing is to be carried out. The change from the oil-flame to the hydrogen-flame, and vice versa, can be made with great rapidity, and without opening the lamp or running any risk in the presence of gas. The oil-flame serves for illumination; and when the wick is drawn down by the " pricker," so as to abolish the light, the pale blue reduced oil-flame serves to detect fire-damp or "gas," in any propor

Jan 1, 1894

By Walter P. Jenney

An investigation, conducted by the author, was begun in September, 1889, by the United States Geological Survey, having for its object the study of the questions bearing upon the occurrence and manner of formation of the deposits of lead- and zinc-ores in Missouri and the adjoining States. The field-work was completed in December, 1891. During the first season the State Geological Survey of Missouri furnished an assistant, and in other ways co-operated in the research within the boundaries of that State. In order that the ore-deposits of the southwest might be compared with those of other sections of the Mississippi valley, an examination was made of the lead- and zinc-mining area of Wisconsin-Iowa, and of the argentiferous lead-mines of the region extending westward from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Indian Territory. In the discussion of the general geology, and in comparisons between the ore-deposits of the Mississippi valley and those of the Rocky Mountains, the writer has drawn largely from his personal experience, having been engaged for many years in professional work as a geologist and mining engineer in that region. The Director of the U. S. Geological Survey and the Scate Geologist of Missouri have kindly consented to the publication of the present paper. While giving the more important economic results, an endeavor has been made to set forth the unity of plan which appears in the formation of the deposits of lead and zinc of the Mississippi basin, and to show their relation to the argentiferous ores of the Rocky Mountains—that the ores of gold, silver, and mercury, and also of copper, antimony, zinc, and lead, have a universal common origin, irrespective of the geological formations in which they occur.

Jan 1, 1894