Thomas O'Conor Sloane

“ It is a strange thought that when man wanted to make a cover for his body, he started with thin threads and to effect the dying of the fabrics aluminium and iron salts came into play, and in this way the world drifted along for centuries. ”

“ Chromium goes far to prevent this, but aluminum is subject only to superficial oxidation. The oxidizing of the surface protects the interior. Our metallurgists have produced rustless steel by alloying it with chromium as one constituent. The futility of attempting to lighten it is of course perfectly obvious. But the common clay of mother earth gives us this metal which does not perish by oxidation, which is very strong, very light and a good conductor of electricity, so that the lecturer we have alluded to very happily predicted the age of aluminum as due within ten years. ”

“ In the Duren district, Germany, an alloy of the metal with copper, manganese and magnesium was produced which had such good qualities, that it is replacing other aluminium alloys, especially for the frames of dirigibles. The name duralumin is familiar to everybody, it is so frequently spoken of in the daily press. It is fair to say that very little unalloyed aluminium is used in a practical way; it is almost always alloyed with some other metal. ”

“ There are many deposits of magnetic oxide or iron in nature which are almost chemically pure. By applying the thermit process to this, it may be as little as a pound or two mixed with powdered aluminum in a crucible and starting the ignition, the metal oxide will be reduced and made liquid, so that it can be cast in a mold, and you can have a piece of almost chemically pure iron, so soft, because of its purity, that, as the metallurgist says, it can be cut with a knife—but if you will believe the writer, it cannot be cut to any considerable depth. ”

“ If we go right down the line, aluminium will impress us as a very wonderful substance. It does all sorts of things according to the temperature and other conditions. The metal, when it approaches its temperature of fusion, is very brittle and can be easily reduced to powder. This powder mixed with a varnish-like vehicle constitutes aluminum bronze paint. It can also be beaten out until it is almost as thin as gold leaf. And now we come to a mechanical operation based on its affinity for oxygen. ”

“ A great number of jars were required for real power, and it was a long and tedious affair to set them up and fill them with solutions. From the moment the solution entered them, the zinc plates began to deteriorate, the copper or other negative plate would begin to polarize, as it is called, so that to get anything like power, even as much as every automobile uses in its starting, a very large battery would be required, and to get the good out of it there should not have been the least delay in starting work with it, because of this automatic and rapid deterioration in power. ”

“ Nothing can seem cheaper than a flower pot, but the identical aluminium oxide, crystalized and colored, it may be by chromium or some other element, gives us the ruby, the oriental emerald, the sapphire and other jewels, the ruby being practically at the head of the list in value. ”

“ The reduction of price of aluminium, putting this very light metal within the reach of large mechanical structures, gives a cause for very radical changes, but one which has required some seventy years to reach its present development and which is still increasing very fast in varied uses. Enormously tall structures such as we have in this city in their perfection would be impossible except for the use of steel instead of masonry in their construction. ”

“ Iron, as we know, perishes by rust, if pure. Cast iron, which contains a quantity of carbon, is almost exempt from destruction by oxidation, but the so-called steel as used in the past is subject to relatively quick destruction. ”

“ If such a building as the Empire State were constructed of masonry, the walls of the lower stories would be so thick, in order to resist the crushing strain, that there would be hardly any room for occupants and the very object of the height would be lost. By using steel the walls are kept so thin that the lower stories are as open to use and of as good an area as the upper ones. ”

“ Aluminum has already played a part in the manufacture of steel. The metal from the open hearth or Bessemer converter is liable to contain oxides or oxygen gas. By adding aluminium to the melted metal, it takes up most or all of the oxygen forming iluminium oxide which goes off with the slag. ”

“ It is said that the world’s copper will be exhausted inside of fifty years—apparently aluminium will have to take its place. It is a good conductor of electricity, but it is so light that it has to be about double the diameter of copper wire of the same resistance. ”

“ With all its interesting properties, one is impressed by the definite limitations to which it is subject. Its soldering is not very impressive; it is done with considerable difficulty and is apt to be imperfect, but two or three workmen can go out on a railroad and using the thermit reaction can weld the joints of the heavy rails into a solid mass, carrying all the required material in a wheelbarrow. ”

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