Opening Pages
THE Published every Thursday Vol, 84: No. 9. Reading Matter Contents Alphabetical Index to Advertisers Classified List of Advertisers Advertising and Subscription Rates “ page 662 “184 174 673 “é CHROME ORE | GROUND 40 to 50% REED F, BLAIR & CO,, Pittsburgh, Pa. LUMP The original and only Genuine » ‘**STILLSON “STILLSON > WRENCH’’ io is manufactured by WALWORTH MFG. CO., Boston, U.S. A. And bears their registered Trade-Mark The Bristol Company | Bristol’s Recording Instruments tor Pressure, Temperature and Electricity THE BRISTOL CO. Waterbury, Conn. Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co., Cleveland, 0 TURN BUCH UES gol pica MERRILL BROS. Maspeth, New York, N. Y. a, Low Phosphorous Pig. Real Estate Trust Build- —_ & Crane “iss: poia a es, Sew TS. Building, New Y ork. UFKIN "2 DE IN AMERICA and THE ’ BEST IN THE WORLD | THE LUFKIN RULECO., Saginaw ~ oy U.S.A. New York London, Eng. in le Like a good coin MF 32 Pounds Coating ROOFING TIN has its value stamped plainly on its face— AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. See our ad on page 18 Morning by David Willi New York, Thursday, August 26, 7909. IN 1. AGE 14-16 Park Place, New York. $5.00 a Year, oe Postage…
THE Published every Thursday Vol, 84: No. 9. Reading Matter Contents Alphabetical Index to Advertisers Classified List of Advertisers Advertising and Subscription Rates “ page 662 “184 174 673 “é CHROME ORE | GROUND 40 to 50% REED F, BLAIR & CO,, Pittsburgh, Pa. LUMP The original and only Genuine » ‘**STILLSON “STILLSON > WRENCH’’ io is manufactured by WALWORTH MFG. CO., Boston, U.S. A. And bears their registered Trade-Mark The Bristol Company | Bristol’s Recording Instruments tor Pressure, Temperature and Electricity THE BRISTOL CO. Waterbury, Conn. Cleveland City Forge and Iron Co., Cleveland, 0 TURN BUCH UES gol pica MERRILL BROS. Maspeth, New York, N. Y. a, Low Phosphorous Pig. Real Estate Trust Build- —_ & Crane “iss: poia a es, Sew TS. Building, New Y ork. UFKIN "2 DE IN AMERICA and THE ’ BEST IN THE WORLD | THE LUFKIN RULECO., Saginaw ~ oy U.S.A. New York London, Eng. in le Like a good coin MF 32 Pounds Coating ROOFING TIN has its value stamped plainly on its face— AMERICAN SHEET AND TIN PLATE COMPANY Frick Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. See our ad on page 18 Morning by David Willi New York, Thursday, August 26, 7909. IN 1. AGE 14-16 Park Place, New York. $5.00 a Year, oe Postage, Single Copies, 183 Cents. a ne Rents” Lee “SOLID BREECH AMMERLESS Sap = |} hats hie . tt 7 This beautiful window trim i re lM wt I sent free to any dealer aed who will guarantee to Le use it during the hunting season. THE UNION METALLIC CARTRIDGE CO. Agency, 315 Broadway, New York City WATER TUBE BOILERS The Babcock & Wilcox Co., 85 Liberty Street New York | ) For All Classes of Horses pone |THE CAPEWELL”| No. 1 nail is the best nail for shoeing. Safe and satisfactory in all respects, it commends itself to horseshoers and horse owners in all sec- tions. Make sure that ‘‘ The Capewell’’ is used every time. It pays! See page &4 MADE BY THE CAPEWELL HORSE NAIL CO., Hartford, Conn., U. S. A. The Largest Manufacturers of Horse Shoe Nails in the World. JenKins Bros. Valves have the favor of engineers because they are the easiest to keep tight. Made of new steam meta! of best quality, Interchangeable parts. Con- tain genuine Jenkins Discs—either Hard, for steam and hot water use; or Soft, for cold water, airor gas. May we send you Catalog ? JENKINS BROS., New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago “Swodoh” Cold Rolled Steel cue 1 among and Stamping celled for page 27 THE AMERICAN TUBE & STAMPING COMPANY (Water and Rail Delivery) BRIDGEPORT, Conn. ANTI- MAGNOLIA rei8sx METAL © The Standard Babbitt of the World 31 St. Nicholas St. We manufacture everything in the Babbitt Line. MAGNOLIA METAL CO New York 115 Bank St Chicago: Fisher Building. Montreal- THE IRON AGE BRASS {hob The Plume & Atwood Mig, Co. WIRE Manufacturers of Sheet and Roll Brass, Wire, GERMAN } Ro Rods, German Silver and Brass SILVER Goods in great variety WIRE Rolling Mill Factories ——————— Thomaston, Conn., Waterbury, Conn : SSS SEER TT TTT TTT TTT TO FOLLANSBEE BROTHERS COMPANY MAKERS OF $1 Pat. Leveled Sigtt Brass) see roc ee meee ance prance BRIGHT CHARCOAL No Buckles, — Surface, TIN PLATE Polished or Plain STEEL STAMPS and DIES FOR PAT. LEVELED GERMAN SILVER senor femesnd and Waiaed HIGH GRADE WORK " = means our dies last ] Polished or Plain for Soda than =f ahae ontn ee Water and Bar Fixtures Matthews of Pittsburg Low Brass, Gilding and Bronze Metal, Sheet, Rod and Wire |! SAQVILL MFG. CO 8 ¥ Manufactured Goods Manufacturers of in Great Variety BRASS, GERMAN SILVER, Sheets, — Wire, and oas. Waterbury Brass Co.|) seas seis, cup Hines, Beton WATERBURY, CONN. ay ae 1 Cliff St., New York Providence, R.I. Special Brass Goods to Order. Bridgeport Deoxidized Bronze WATERBURY, CONN. & Metal Co. NEW YORK ounam BOSTON BRIDGEPORT, CONN. Phosphor and Deoxidized | Hel} Souther Engineering Co. Bronze HARTFORD, CONN. Composition, Yellow Brass and Alumi- Consulting Chemists, Metallurgists num Castings, large and small and Analysts, Complete Physical Testing Laboratory. Expert Testimony in Court and Patent Cases. Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Co. ArthurT, Rutter & Co, LA SALLE, ILLINOIS ' 1: R F SPELTER sun Tans OF 8 256 Broadway SHEET ZINC AND SULPHURIC ACID NEW YORK Special Sizes of Zinc cut to order, Rolled Battery Plates Selected Plates for Etchers’ and Lithographers’ use SEAMLESS TUBE Selected Sheets for Paper and Card Makers’ use. Stove and Washboard Blanks. BRASS AND COPPER io ZINCS FOR LECLANCHE BATTERY Brands “Banfield Best Bright” : “Gilbert” ““Rosedae”’ FOLLANSBEE ELECTRICAL SHEET STEEL is producing best results wherever used. WORKS: FOLLANSBEE, W. VA. OFFICE and WAREHOUSE PITTSBURGH ifs Small Sizes a Specialty In Sheet, Wire, Rods, Tubing and Blanks. | BRIDGEPORT, CONN. | | Pestal Telegraph Bullding, Broadway Polished wide sheets, patent levelled, for soda foun- | and MG0-87 Peart St., Bos t., Boston tains, bar fixtures etc. German silver for spinning. ae altace NICKEL ANODES BRASS, BRONZE, COPPER BRASS SHEET in all forms \ THE SEYMOUR MFG. CO., Seymour, Conn. po AND TUBING ene en nnn eee neta COPPER WIRE HENDRICKS BROTHERS Metal Goods made to order from Manufacturers of Sheet, Rod, Wire and Tubing SheetandBar Copper, Copper Fire Box Plates and Staybolts, Wire and Braziers Rivets) Fe = tammy sue Importers and Dealers in Xi OF Ingot Copper, Block, Tin, Spelter, RL J ye. THERIVERSIDE Lead, Antimony, Bismuth, Nickel, etc. Poae”: ETAL CO. TRADE ake RIVERSIDE, N.J 49 CLIFF STREET - - NEW YORK THE IRON AGE New York, Thursday, August 26, 1909. Suspension Railways in German Iron Works. BY C. VAN LANGENDONCK, BRUSSELS. During recent years the use of wire rope tramways and suspension railways has increased remarkably, chief- ly because they can be hung at any hight and do not encroach upon space which can be employed for mann- facturing purposes. The wear is slight, as all delicate parts are out of reach of the material carried, and can- not, therefore, be fouled by it; the material comes in contact only with substantial car buckets. Improvements have made possible not only vertical, but horizontal de- flection of the cars without detaching them from the rope or track, giving them a greater range of action In the electrical single driving system the cars run automatically from the loading point to the beginning of the ropeway and again from the terminus of the inclined plane to the furnace. Only the opening of the hopper escape gates and the tipping of the cars require manual labor. The cars couple automatically, without stopping, to the traction rope at the foot of the gradient, and un- couple automatically again at the top. On the inclined section the current is broken. This combination of electric and rope driving is of especial importance for those works in the original layout of which the transport of material was not the main question, as the system can be developed according to requirements, even under the most unfavorable conditions. The pockets can be put up at any distance from the furnaces and separated from them by shops, such as the foundry, blowing house, &c. Generally the materials most difficult to transport General View of the Suspension Railway System in the Stumm Works, Neunkirchen, Germany.—In the Middle Background Is the Ore and Limestone Loading Station; Just in Front of it the Collecting Siding, ground the Incline Leading to the Charging Platform. than most other conveyors. An exceptionally small staff of attendants is necessary, and the material is not un- duly damaged, because it remains in the same receptacle from the start to its destination. The suspension railway with electrical single drive of the cars is even more adaptable than the wire rove tramway and requires fewer attendants, as the cars can be run automatically. All pushing of the cars between the loading and coupling point is done away with; the attendant can stop the cars at any desired point and re- start them through the control of a switch. The cars must run singly and not in trains, however, so as not to concentrate too heavy a load at one point, and as it is impracticable to supply an operator for each car, they must necessarily run automatically without colliding at the switches and crossings. If one car approaches an- other too closely on the open track or at crossing points it is stopped by the first car cutting off the current from that section, and it starts again automatically when the first is safely out of the way. This is of special impor- tance at the loading station, because cars must often wait there for some time. and from the Latter in the Right Fore- should be stored or worked nearest the furnaces. Witb modern appliances, ores, limestone and coke may be in- cluded among materials easily handled. The piping of compressed air and the handling of pig iron occasion much greater difficulties and expenses. Nowadays the main points to be considered in designing new works are very different from those of earlier days. It is now possible to give particular attention to the convenient arrangement of the casting and blowing houses, and the handling of raw material is no longer the primary con- sideration. An example of a systematic plant is the one built a few months ago by Adolf Bleichert & Co. of Leipzig, for Gebriider Stumm, Neunkirchen, Germany, of which views are given herewith. Ore and limestone are delivered in railroad cars and are placed in pockets under which the electric suspension railways run. From here the ma- terial is drawn off into the suspension cars by chutes with special gates, and run first over an automatic weighing machine and then to the collecting siding. Here the cars are divided, according to the kinds of ore car- ried, and placed on the various lines by setting the 610 switches, until] the attendant stationed at the starting station of the wire ropeway puts them in motion by switching on the current, so that they couple on to tne traction rope. The cars are now hauled up to the charg- ing platform, uncoupled automatically, and are directed to the various furnaces by the attendant here in charge, who has only to set the switches correctly. The cars are then tipped over the mouths of the furnace, return and run down the rope again. to the wire ropeway At THE IRON AGE August 26, 1909 outside and those of the other rcpeway inside. Compared with the old working with vertical lifts in the Stumm Works, there is a saving of 50 men on every shift, al- though for the present the new method is only employed for the conveyance of ores. —-— ——- ~>-+e—_____—_—- The L. A. Green Company, 419-420 Park Building, Pittsburgh, dealer in new and relaying rails, machinery, &«.. has secured the agency for the Ernst Wiener Com- A View in the Loading Station.—At the Right Are the Pockets from Which Through Gated Chutes Limestone and Ore Are Discharged the foot all cars arrive on the section running beside the -hoppers to the other end of the hopper building, where by setting the switches they are transferred from the cross line to one of the three loading sections. A reserve is provided by arranging the wire ropeway as a double line. ‘These two lines, however, are not simply laid side by side, as it would in this case be impossible to avoid the rails crossing on the charging platform, but are so arranged that the two tracks of one ropeway lie Into the Electric Suspension Railway Cars. View Looking Down the Incline from the Charging Platform.— Here the Cars Are Uncoupled Automatically from the Haulage Ropes and Proceed Under Their Own Power at the Direction of an SN oo a ‘ e . ee » ol 4 x \ Ss i> yas A hal ae ew aed ae * LV \ A ew ay war Ty mesa 4 oF Li Attendant to the Various Furnaces. pany, New York, and will handle its line of industrial cars, portable equipment, rails, &c., in western Pennsyl- vania and all of Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. The United Engineering & Foundry Company, Pitts- burgh, has received a contract for 12 stands of hot rolls, four stands of cold rolls and the necessary roughing rolls required in an addition to the sheet mill capacity at the plant of the Inland Steel Company, Indiana Harbor, Ind. August 26, 1909 Manufacturing by a Municipality. The Cost of Valves to the Boston Water Department. The recently published report of Metcalf & Eddy, con- sulting engineers to the Boston Finance Commission. contains some interesting information regarding the cost of manufacturing gate valves, hydrants and similar goods in a machine shop maintained by the Boston Water De- partment. Investigation immediately disclosed laxity in discipline, inefficiency in work and inaccuracy in the ac- counting system. It was at once shown that no allow- ance was made in the latter for ‘holiday and sick leave with pay for supervision, clerical service, fuel, oil, tools, engine room labor and other general expenses, nor for interest and depreciation. It was brought out that the actual cost of labor (including general expenses) was 93 per cent. in excess of that shown by the books. Com- parative values of the following items are shown by the accompanying curves: 1. The cost to the Boston Water Department in the year 1907 of each size of valve manu- factured, as obtained from the depart- ment’s books. 2. The true cost of such valves after adding labor cost of holidays and sick leave, shop superintendents and shop ad- ministration, and interest and deprecia- tion charges upon shop and plant de- voted to this work. 3. The cost of the metropolitan water works gates under their last purchase, with the dates of such purchases. (It is to be noted that most of these purchases were in 1902 and 19038, when prices were less than at the time of this report.) 4. Prices at which “ commercial valve A” could have been bought in 1907. (This is the heavy stock pattern of gate, the weight of which approximates that of the Boston valve.) 5. Prices at which “ commercial valve B” could have been bought in 1907. (This valve is of the ordinary weight of stock valves.) 6. Prices at which the engineers esti- mate the Boston valvé could have been bought by contract in 1907. Certain facts regarding the manufac- " ture of gate valves are also presented 34 6 8 in Table 1. These valves, which were all of special design by the city engineer, are extra heavy, varying but little in weight from the extra heavy commercial type marked “A” in the diagram, although considerably heavier than the stock patterns of most makers desig- nated “ B.” The cost of hydrants is presented in Table 2. These are all of special design, and are not at all comparable with the commercial types. No contract prices were presented by Metcalf & Eddy, but it is pointed out that the labor cost being relatively slight in proportion to the total cost, the disadvantage of the municipal shop would not be as great as in the case of the gate valves. Table 1.—Cost of Reston Waterworks Gate Valves in 1907. Total true cost to city. -——Cest of——, including in- Number Direct terest and de- Total Size.—Inches. made labor. Stock. preciation. for year. Mao teaviav eas sone 15 $4.88 $7.87 $18.40 $276 Biiesacwad suas oes 45 7.74 9.76 26.40 1,188 Tr eee 25 10.38 17.32 39.96 999 iad ein be Sia bie earelenad 67 11.00 25.26 49.65 3,325 Wiese cxcnaweteyes 49 18.75 38.05 79.40 3,890 Bese vit ivvaseawee wen 39 18.30 47.55 88.50 8,450 IB ia TS as we eR ES 15 36.94 68.04 147.00 2,205 Berscd dt vateasesovas 3 68.72 182.36 337.00 1,011 rs rrr 2 86.97 204.37 398.00 796 TOCR vs 23s + eee $17,140 THE IRON AGE 611 Table 2.—Oost of Hydrants Made in Boston Waterworks Shops, 1907. Number Total Total cost Kind of hydrant. made. true cost. per year. GN vn cis on arcnwr das 84 $81.80 $6,870.00 BGS VHIVE POM... ccscccss t 80.20 320.80 POCO BEG a ec ici eee 20 29.60 592.00 Fo. ar i ae eer eee 12 43.05 517.00 os ae ae ere 3 43.55 130.65 A oe eee nin ae 44.50 178.09 oe og ae eee 10 45.55 455.50 Foose ef a 8 ere 10 46.55 465.50 Lewes O° OWA 6 cas ies 2 47.30 94.60 RON Sesh 0s dative wie 1 47.60 47.60 oo ae aS eee 7 48.00 336.00 $10,007.65 — Oe German Iron Workers’ Wages.—Consul George Nicholas Ifft of Nuremberg reports as follows to the De- partment of Commerce and Labor concerning the prevail- ing wages in the South German iron and steel industry in 1908: “ The South German Iron and Steel Association (Berufsgenossenschaft), which comprises 12,498 con- cerns, employing 210,689 workmen, reports the average vearly earnings of a fully employed journeyman work- 10 12 16 20 24 30 36 SIZE OF VALVE-INCHES Diagram of True and Book Costs of Valves to Boston Water Works in 1907, witn Comparisons, man during the year 1908 at $283.94, as compared with $280.13 in 1907, an increase of $3.81 for the year. Not counting Sundays and deducting 20 days for holidays, it will thus be seen that the average daily wages of the journeymen workmen in the South German iron and steel industries was less than 97 cents. While even this was a slight increase for the workman lucky enough to have steady employment, there was, however, during the year ry 99 less employment to be had than in 1907. a+ e____—- The Liggett Spring & Mfg. Company.—At a recent meeting of this company the following officers were elected: Edwin S. Marston, New York, president, to suc- ceed Wm. G. Park, deceased; Wm. B. Cardozo, New York, vice-president ; H. R. McMahon and J. H. Neihart, both of Pittsburgh, vice-president and general manager and secretary and treasurer, respectively. These officials and D. E. Park of Pittsburgh constitute the Board of Direc- tors. The company’s main office is in Pittsburgh and the plant is located at Axleton, near Monongahela, Pa., where it manufactures a general line of springs and axles. It is heavily increasing its output of springs and axles for automobiles. 612 The Aeromobile, a Novel Heavier-Than- Air Machine. Bleriot’s recent flight across the English Channe!}, Latham’s nearly successful attempt at the same feat and the even more pronounced successes of the Wrights in the Government tests at Ft. Myer, Va., last month, have brought the subject of mechanical flight into special prominence of late. Airships or dirigible balloons may be considered to have almost passed the experimental stage and in their design to have attained some semblance of standardization. Their performances in the past year, and notably those of the Zeppelin II in Germany, have demonstrated their practicability in covering long dis- tances. Flying machines or heavier-than-air machines, variously classified as aeroplanes, orthopters, helicopters, &ec., show a greater diversity of form and involve more complicated problems. Now that satisfactorily light and fairly reliable engines are available, the principal diffi- culty is stability. It requires the constant vigilance of the aviator to keep the present forms of flying machines on an even keel. They must be balanced not only fore THE IRON AGE August 26, 1909 known to be right from experience to practically insure its success before trial that it seems appropriate to add its description to the list of articles which have already appeared in The Iron_Age dealing with aerial naviga- tion.* Plans are now under way to build a machine of the dimensions given later, and it is hoped that an actual test may be made in the near future. The aeromobile “ Luisel,” as it is called, is designed to leave the ground by its own power from any spot and to be capable of easy and safe handling even in a heavy wind. It is smaller than the familiar machines of cor- responding carrying capacity. The frame is to be 6 ft. 8 in. long, 4 ft. 10 in. high and 2 ft. 10 in. wide. This will be made of light steel tubes and mounted on four 18-in. bicycle wheels. In the center of the frame will be a movable seat for the aviator and below him a motor of 36 hp. On each side of the frame will be two hori- zontal rotary wings or helicopters, each 6 ft. in diameter and intended to run at 120 rev. per min. In the view of the model two types of helicopters are shown; it is the intention to use all of the same kind, however, and prob- ably the four-bladed type shown at the right. The unique feature of the helicopters is that the blades can The Aeromobile Luisel, Invented by Bruno von Biiltzingsliwen, New York. and aft, but right and ieft, requiring a degree of skill that is not called for in navigating a dirigible. The reason, and one seemingly without explanation, is that design- ers have so far persisted in making the center of gravity and the center of suspension practically coincident—i. e., they have concentrated the weight very close to the sup- porting surfaces of the planes. This is true of the Wright, Curtiss and Farman biplanes, in all of which the engine and the operator are located between the planes. A machine proposed which departs from this practice is shown in the illustration, the engine and operator being well below the planes, where their weight will act as a balance, just as a boat is balanced by its weighted keel or a balloon or airship by the basket or car. This machine is further of interest because it is something of a hybrid, being a combination of an aeroplane and heli- copter. It is the invention of Bruno von Biiltzingsléwen of New York, and a model of the machine is now on ex- hibition at the Autolyte Mfg. Company’s office and store, 26 Warren street, New York City. While no full size machine has been built as yet, nor even a model that has flown, it contains so many interesting mechanical fea- tures sufficiently near in principle to those which are be turned on their radial axes, so that in ascending they may be set at an angle, and then for forward flight they will be folded flat and take their share of the load with the main planes. They wii! continue to revolve, how- ever, and it is believed that their gyroscopic effect will oe a further assistance to stability. At the front and back, 4 ft. above the frame, will be located two double flying planes, the upper and lower ones 3% ft. apart, and all controlled simultaneously by a single lever to tilt them to any angle. Each of the four planes will be 6 x 15 ft. in area, making their combined area 360 sq. ft., which with the 160 sq. ft. of the four helicopters will make a total of 560 sq. ft., or the saine as that of the Wright machines. At the back of the frame, about midway between top and bottom, two three- bladed propellers will drive the machine forward and at the forward end a rudder will guide the machine right and left. Everything will be controlled by the aviator from his seat in the middle of the frame. In- cluding the planes and helicopters, the over-all dimensions 7 The Present Status of Military Aeronautics,” by Major George O. Squier, U S. A., December 3 and 10, 1908. “The Conquest of the Air,” by J. F. Springer, January 7, 1909. 5 tf August 26, 1909 THE IRON AGE 613 of the aeromobile will be 12 ft. 8 in. long, 15 ft. wide aud 12 ft. 2 in. high, and it will weigh about 750 Ib. In starting from the ground the four helicopters will be assisted in lifting the weight of the machine by set- ting the propellers in motion and tilting the upper flying planes. In a normal descent the engine would be stopped or disengaged and the machine, under the control of the planes and rudder, guided so as to float gradually to the ground. If while in the air there should be any mis- hap, such as a stopping of the engine and a consequent joss of beadway, the aviator would turn the two sets of upper planes so as to incline in opposite directions and slightly open the helicopters, and the machine would then become practically a parachute and settle gradu- ally to earth without damage to itself or danger to the operator. Should it be desirable or necessary in maneu- vering the machine to run on the ground the planes can be set horizontalty and the helicopters folded flat, and if the propellers are not found to give sufficient pro- pulsive effect the wheels can be connected by chains to the driving mechanism. Compared then with machines now in use, the aeromobile will be lighter and more com- pact, and promises the advantages of greater safety and stability, less dependence on the weather, or special or even particularly favorable places from which to start or at which to alight, and ability to travel on the land as well as in the air. Se eee The Dodge Relief Association. The Dodge Mutual Relief Association celebrated its twentieth anniversary July 31. This organization, made up of employees of the Dodge Mfg. Company, Mishawaka, Ind., is the oldest of its kind in Indiana. Its manage- ment is entirely in the hands of Dodge workers, and membership is voluntary. A complete executive force is maintained to look after membership, claims and other business. The membership is divided into two classes: First, those whose weekly earnings exceed $6, for whom the weekly dues are 5 cents and the benefits 80 cents per day, Sundays and holidays excepted. Second, those whose earnings are less than $6 per week, for whom the weekly dues are 2% cents and the daily benefits 40 cents. All benefits continue for a period of 13 weeks as a limit for any one term during 12 months dating from the first date of disability. In the event of death of a member of the first class, $50 is paid; of the second, $25. Cases of dis- ability are investigated by a committee which makes a report to the Board of Directors. The fees are $1 for the first class and 50 cents for the second. The weekly dues are suspended when the funds on hand amount to $500 and resumed when they get as low as $300. This association has proved a highly satisfactory method of mutual assistance in cases of misfortune, and the employees of the company generally approve its oper- ation, the 2000 on the pay roll being members to a man. Charles Endlich, secretary and treasurer of the company, has served as treasurer of the association since its for- mation, July 31, 1889. Since that time over $15,000 has been disbursed in benefits, and a goodly sum is now on hand. ——__—_.3-- Virginia the Oldest Coal Producer.—The first bituminous coal mined in the United States, says the United States Geological Survey, was taken from what is usually termed the Richmond Basin, a small area in the southeastern portion of Virginia, near the city of Richmond. This basin is situated on the eastern margin of the Piedmont Plateau, 18 miles above tide water, on James River. It lies in Goochland, Henrico, Powhatan and Chesterfield counties. The coal beds are much dis- torted, and the coal is of rather low grade when com- pared with that from other districts with which it has to come into competition. The occurrence of coal was known in the Richmond Basin as early as 1700, and in 1789 shipments were made to some of the Northern States. In 1822, according to R. C. Taylor, the produc- tion amounted to 48,214 gross tons. At present what lit tle coal is produced in this field is for local consumption only. A New Gear-Testing Machine. To insure a perfect bearing on both face and flank, giving smooth and noiseless operation, is the desideratum in gear testing. A machine designed to detect minute deviations is a recent product of the Cincinnati-Bickford Tool Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is adapted for test- ing both spur and bevel gears. The gears are mounted on removable studs held in adjustable slides, moving freely by hand in both horizontal and vertical directions and can be clamped at any point. A fine adjustment is provided on each slide by means of a screw and knurled nuts, and a vernier scale reading to thousandths of an inch gives correct center distances between studs. The cause of the slightest imperfections in the gear teeth can be analyzed by means of the device and the remedy applied to secure the desired perfect bearing and the absence of jar or other effect of improper meshing. The shortest distance between centers of studs for spur gears is 2 in.; the greatest,19%4 in. This permits of the The Cincinnati-Bickford Tool Company’s New Gear Testing Machine. testing of a pair of gears 2-in. pitch diameter, represent- ing the minimum of range and a pair 14-in. pitch diam- eter the maximum, or a combination set of 4 and 35 in. pitch diameters. The machine will take miter gears from the smallest up to 18 in. diameter, or a combination of bevel gears 4 and 32 in. diameter. Each machine is furnished with two studs 1 in. diameter and 4 in. long from the slide, and extra studs can be supplied as de- sired. The net weight of the machine is 325 lb. The floor space required is 16 x 34 in. —___+- oe __ ——_ The W. R. Beatty Machinery & Equipment Company has leased two floors of a brick building, 40 x 50 ft., located at 30 Carson street, S. S., Pittsburgh. Some machinery, consisting of a gas engine and machine tools, is to be installed, which will enable general repair work to be undertaken. The site offers excellent shipping fa- cilities, connections being available with most of the rail- roads entering Pittsburgh. The company will shortly re move from the House Building to its new quarters. THE The Residual IRON Brown AGE August 26, Iron Ores of Cuba. An Estimated Total of 1,000,000,000 Tons in the Mayari, Moa, Cubitas and Baracoa Deposits. BY C. M. WELD, Attention has been turned recently to the exploration and development of certain large blanket deposits of brown iron ore in Cuba. The most conspicuous of these to-day, and the one upon which the most light has been shed, is the Mayari deposit, situated about 15 miles south of Nipe Bay. Here the Spanish-American Iron Company has sole contro] over 18,500 acres of ore bearing lands. reported by its engineers to contain 500,000,000 tons of ore; and the necessary plant and equipment, with docks and railroads, is now under construction for the early marketing of this ore. A similar deposit, and undoubtedly the next to be exploited, is the ore field at Moa Bay, where 13,000 to 15,000 acres of ore lands immediately adjacent to the shores of an excellent harbor have been generously covered by numerous mining claims, prac- tically all controlled by four large interests. This deposit is now estimated to contain approximately 350,000,000 tons, on the basis of dried ore ready for shipment, a fig- ure which may be increased when the western limits of the ore deposit have been more accu- rately defined. Other deposits of the Same type, but smaller and less acces- sible, are those at Cubitas, situated from 12 to 15 miles north of Camaguey City, and at Taco Bay and Navas, points lying a few miles west of Bara- coa. The area of the Cubitas deposit is said to be 6000 acres and the yield of ore is estimated at 150,000,000 tons. The Baracoa deposits are less well known, but preliminary estimates have placed their joint ore reserves at 40,- 000,000 tons. Accepting the above tonnages as SS ¢ ous ‘ seh Supe reasonably correct, we conclude that the deposits enumerated give promise of adding about 1,000,000,000 tons of iron ore to the world’s supply; they have, therefore, to be considered in any attempt to forecast the future of | Cabo Crucss the iron and steel industries. The map, Fig. 1, shows the approxi- mate location of all the deposits men- tioned. An illustrated description of the Mayari deposit, and the proposed plant and equipment for its exploita- tion, has already been published ;' also additional infor- mation, together with brief reference to the Moa deposit.’ These two papers are largely commercial in their atti- tude. A. C. Spencer, in his paper entitled “ Three De- posits of Iron Ore in Cuba,’* gives valuable and interest- ing information along more purely scientific and tech- nical lines regarding the deposits at Mayari, Moa and Cubitas. While the subject of the present paper is there- fore not altogether new, it has appeared to me that certain features concerning the character and probable genesis of the iron ore deposits have not yet been brought out, and it is with this in view that the paper has been prepared. General Characteristics, The deposits under discussion possess essential char- acteristics in common. ‘They occur as residual mantles of enormous surficial extent, with a thickness occasion- ally as great as from 50 to 60 ft., but more commonly varying from 10 to 20 ft. The underlying rock is ser- pentine. The ore, which extends from the grass roots to bed rock, is for the greater part a homogeneous, tenacious, clay-like material, red to yellow to brown in color. The transition betw een ore and the comparatively unaltered . F rom a paper prepared for the New Haven meeting of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. 1The Jron Age, vol. 1xxx., No. "t, pp. 421 to 426 (August 15, 1907). . 2? The Iron Age, vol. Ixxxi., No. 15, pp. 1149 to 1157 (April 9, 1908). Bulletin No. 340, U. S. Geological Survey, pp. 318 to 329 (1908). NEW YORK. serpentine bed rock is as a rule fairly abrupt. Within the clay ore are found disseminated nodules and pellets of brown ore ranging apparently through all the hydrated forms from limonite to turgite. Hematite also is pres- ent and at times magnetite. These concretionary forms increase in abundance toward the top of the ore bed, where they frequently appear as recemented masses of spongy brown ore, occasionally of large dimensions, form- ing beds or layers within the clays. At many places a capping or crust, as it were, of recemented brown ore of considerable extent is found at the Immediate surface. Fig. 2 represents an idealized section of the ore beds from grass roots to bed rock. This sketch has been constructed from numerous observations in the field and presents graphically the conditions above described. Table I gives representative analyses from four dif- ferent fields. That for Mayari is taken from the article cited above,* while the others are of samples taken in FB 0 ~~ ve. 0 es we - ee . o 1 © » Cedr? Golfo de ph F Lit, Manzanillo, S: suis . fe, — , a ao VOTHE 0%, , «. ; + é GuacanayabéZ7 \ { “Ghas anamio , on \ obré \¥ i Pe ; Santi: ‘go dg ff a a —_ T= Sa CARIBBE Longitude West 77 from Greenwich Fig. 1.—Map of Province of Santiago de Cuba, Showing Deposits of Brown Iron Ore. connection with private examinations and not before pub- lished : Table I.—-Analyses of Brown Iron Ores of Cuba, Mayari. Moa. Taco. Navas SN 2 ive. vm et le ih Wie. ik ie ee ~. oe - 46.03 46.75 46.23 42.48 AY Sas hs th a a a ie Ae ein 01s 4S se 5.50 1.71 2.06 3.01 Se Stans oo eklos Pee mae eee 10.33 11.60 2.16 6.12 My Saded es bc Ch WS chien e oes oes 1.73 1.81 2.07 2.39 NN Rete ie ki eas hee ha Oa ee ee a 0.14 a a PP we eta bs Ve ke BO eS ORES 0.015 0.031 0.021 0.032 DD o& inh Wes bs 6 SA Re 13.62 13.15 a a a Element not reported. These analyses represent the entire mass of ore; that is, the clay ore as well as the concretions and nodules. The figures are for the ores dried at 212 degrees F. The ore in the ground frequently contains in addition up to as high as from 30 to 35 per cent. of hygroscopic moisture. The general similarity of these ores is at once appa- rent, the conspicuous features being low silica, high alumina and the presence of chromium in very appre- ciable amounts. These features are more especially true of the ores from Mayari and Moa, and it should be noted that the analyses given for those fields are the averages of a much greater number of samples than for the Taco and Navas fields; hence they should be regarded as more truly representative. In addition to the elements given above, nickel has been found in amounts of from 0.5 up to in some cases 2.0 per cent. Manganese is also present. The balance of the ore comprises small quantities of *The Iron Age, vol. 1xxx., No. 7, p. 424 (August 15, 1907). x 4 ik 3 5 ¥ 4 hee ee nb i a at at as PR SINE ALERT IRE es +a ARS aad vieteRalahs cat a ah Aaah MMM sets August 26, 1909 THE magnesia and lime, with probably traces of the alkalies and a very little sulphur. The Moa Ores Typical, Having established a common relationship between the ore beds of these various localities, the discassion in its bearing upon questions of genesis will henceforth be more particularly confined to the ores at Moa, since my opportunities for personal observation have been con- fined to that field. The Moa occurrence, moreover, as will appear later, approaches more nearly to a model type; at the same time, it will be seen that conclusions based on the Moa occurrence are equally applicable in their general aspects to the other occurrences. Before leav- ing the question of common relationship it may be well to review briefly the points from which this has been deduced, which are: 1, The blanket or mantle form of all the ore beds; 2, the common bed rock of serpentine; 38. > < pitas Sas Bien tha ale ies SFO: a Bm, OOK LON ¥ 5G AT - Pr See i 5 & -@: Ss Sx 4 wD Bt > on eg : a ¢ BD. POs mea Fig. 2.—Idealized Vertical Section Showing Nature of Occurrence of Residual Iron Ore in Cuba. A. Recemented capping of brown ore, from 1 or 2 up to 10 ft. thick. absent. B. Clay ore, red, yellow or brown in color, from ated in the form of beds or layers. C. Serpentine bed rock. the common appearance and nature—namely, ocherous clay-like materials carrying disseminated nodules and masses of brown ores; and, 4, the common analysis, showing low silica and high alumina, with notable quan- tities of chromium and much combined water. The map, Fig. 8, shows the general features of the Moa deposit. The ore bed occupies practically the entire area adjacent to the shore, and extends thence inland for a distance of from 3 to 5 miles, finally fingering out along the crests of the divides. Wherever the ore comes to an end laterally and where it has been cut through by streams serpentine is found as the country rock. A num- ber of samples of this serpentine were taken, of which an average analysis is given in Table II, together with a reconstructed complete analysis of the ore: Table IIl.—Analyses of Country Rock and Iron Ore, Moa Bay, Cuba. Serpentine. Iron ore. Per cent. Per cent. NN ea rah ae cotati hath aioh aiara ents i 66.90 ERS Ack ne CMa ss ob bas Ris ee eee ee 8.55 ae Gs < sown eh ANS he tee Saleh BAS ee 37.29 1.71 Als pins Rk angie ate laine iA athe Kobe ace aa 1.33 11-60 CriOs Pescccsscvessececreseseessecceeseee 0.28a + 2.65 NiO J | 0.60 OE ee ee Pe yee ee ee ee ee 0.07 0.07 —_ eee eee a ees a kant bos eG ker nes 2 : 0.80 NT i. bo wih me Aes muh ae Lae na aabena PEE . SE, Lk. Caatad o-uaalc Gaia Ride o aindle BEMB Es Bed 86.53 a2.38 Neo’ sialyl 6 Aik Rona Mata WN a aca ew ree eel — SUE cee ce cee eee casenenesrieeetedeeseces oF PE ads tVikckewbn tes weld isvasietaeenedus 15.27 12.15 tii 5 a5 te epee i «lee eak 100.00 100.00 a Calculated by difference. 7 or S up to 50 or 60 ft. thick. Contains disseminated nodules and pellets of brown ore, at times agglomer- IRON AGE 615 The ores have already been described as “ residual mantles,” the inference being that they have been de- rived from the underlying rocks by processes of sub- aérial decay. Any other theory of origin involves trans- portation. The theory that they are derived directly from the serpentine is supported by the analyses in Table II. The ore is, in fact, a laterite, a product due to the peculiar form of decomposition known as laterization, which is common to humid tropical climates. The essential char- acteristic of laterization is the breaking up of the sili- ‘ates, with the ultimate almost complete removal of the silica, wherein it differs radically from the kaolinization processes of the temperate zones. Laterites have been reported from many tropical localities and are especially common in India. The ordinary procedure in rock decay involves the removal of lime, magnesia and the al- kalies, while the aluminous silicates and the ferric oxides for the greater part remain behind. Laterization goes one step further and removes the silica as well. Its characteristics are: 1, the liberation of the silica from its various compounds; 2, the removal by solution of the lime and magnesia ; 3, the oxida- tion of the ferrous to ferric iron; 4, the removal of the silica and the alka- lies ; 5, the concentration, as a residual mantle, of the alumina and ferric iron, with titania, chromic oxide and other impurities; and 6, a sort of secondary dehydration leading to concretionary and pisolitic recemented masses, more or less abundantly disseminated through the mantle. With this process in mind, the ser- pentine may be readily recognized as the parent of tlie iron ore. Lime, mag nesia, silica and the alkalies have been largely if not wholly rem:..ed, and the iron and alumina have been concen- trated. There is seven times as much iron in the ore as in the serpentine, and eight and one-half times as much alumina. About the same ratio appears to hold with the chormium, nickel and titanium, which are nearly equally per- sistent with the iron and alumina. In short, there is no need to appeal to a hypothetical foreign source for any of the elements constituting the ore, either in whole or in part. No supposition involving transpor- tation of material is required. Everything is at hand and the history of the ore as residual material derived directly from its underlying rock is complete. History of the Moa Deposits, We may now turn from the question of genesis to a consideration of the probable age and history of the Moa type of brown ore deposits. In this connection I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to A. C. Spencer for sug- gestions taken not only from his publication but also from verbal discussions. The Cubitas, Mayari, Navas and Taco deposits all occupy plateaus. Mr. Spencer says of the Cubitas in his paper, “ Three Deposits of Iron Ore in Cuba,” already referred to: Frequently Within an area measuring roughly 10 miles east and west and 4 miles north and south, there are several flat-topped mesas rising 300 to 400 ft. above the general level of an almost fea- tureless plain. The ore deposits are all surface mantles covering the plateau-like megsas. The actual elevation of the mesas above sea level is not given. ‘The following description of the Mayari de posit has also been published :5 The ore body is on the summit of a gently rolling plateau, roughly ten miles long and 4 miles wide, with its principal axis lying northeast and southwest. Its elevation is about 1600 ft. at the northwestern extremity, which is nearest to Nipe Bay, and it rises toward the southwest to an elevation of 2200 to 2300 ft., with one peak reaching to 2600 ft. and another to 8200 ft. The Taco deposit occupies a partly dissected plateau. © The Iron Age, vol, 1xxx., No. 7, p. 421 (August 15, 1907). 616 THE approximately 4 miles long by 1.5 miles wide, with the longer axis, NE.—SW., at a general elevation of 2100 ft. above sea level. The Navas plateau, extending 2.5 miles N.—S. and 1.25 miles wide, is from 1600 to 1800 ft. above sea level. At Moa the conditions are different. The ore mantle, adjacent to tidewater and extending thence inland for a distance of from 3 to 5 miles, lies on a surface exhibiting no very pronounced relief, the average grade shoreward being about 250 ft. to the mile. The final disappear- ance of the ore mantle iuland is obviously due to the usual processes of surface denudation. The underlying serpentine first appears in the stream beds, which may be wholly in bed rock, with the ore still persisting on the inter-stream divides. Thus, the upper edge of the ore body presents a series of fingers persisting upward along the crests of the divides till it finally disappears on the divides as well as in the stream bottoms. There can be little doubt that the Moa type of ores was originally formed on an ancient peneplain, and probably occupied at that time vastly greater areas than CORAL REEFS GAR SSS A yy ASS SE ta Cabait ae — JR a Cabarias s a 04 X A B . \ x Oo ‘3 » \ Z <—\ G Y caper = gp i, \Punta Yuguasay x o —“zFunta Cocoa P~ ; ae 7 } YvS$ ] “Ree, ZF ) Fig. 3.—Sketch Map of the Moa Iron Ore The cross-hatched area indicates approximately that occupied by iron ore. western extremity of the deposit is not shown, but has been count in estimating the tonnage of ore offered by the field. to-day. The present plateaus are remnants of the ancient peneplain and owe their elevated position to a period of uplift, accompanied by a certain amount of warping, frac- turing and probably partial subsidence. The plateau de- posits underwent more or simple vertical uplift. The Moa area was tilted and possibly fractured, sub- siding once more to somewhere near its present position and level. The peneplain period may perhaps be referred to the Upper Oligocene, since at that time, according to Hayes, Vaughan and Spencer,’ nearly the whole island of Cuba was submerged, excepting portions along the north less and south shores of Santiago Province. The next suc- ceeding (Miocene) period was one of general uplift. Quoting from the report of the above: There was folding and uplift during this period, the eleva tion along the axial line heing greater than at the sides. . One could infer that the central portion of the Province of Santiago was more highiy elevated than the coastal portion, since Upper Oligocene limestones occur in the central portion of that province at considerably higher elevations than along either the north or the south coast. This last statement probably explains the tilting of the Mayari plateau toward the north, and also the tilting and possibly the breaking off and resulting partial sub- sidence of the Moa block. 6 Report on a Geological Reconnoissance of Cuba, included in Civil Report of Brig.-Gen. Leonard Wood, Military Governor of Cuba, vol. i., pp. 31 to 34 (1901). IRON AGE Field, Santiago Provinc August 26, 1909 The uplift followed by a streams and renewed denudation activity. The ancient peneplain was dissected and cut back until there was left only the present remnants, still carrying their orig- inal mantles of ore; and even these are in a geological sense still rapidly disappearing. The upper portion of the Moa block has been planed off, while the lower por- tion owes its preservation to the fact that it lies so near sea level that the stream gradients have practically dis- appeared and their power to dissect and remove has been reduced to a minimum. was rejuvenation of the New Ores Forming To-Day. Thus the original development of the Moa type of ores should probably be referred to pre-Miocene times. During and since the period of uplift, vast quantities of these undoubtedly mechanically re- and dissipated. At the time there is no reason to suppose that laterization processes have ceased ; ores have been moved same it is, in fact, probable that new ores are forming to-day wherever opportunity offers. Such opportunity may be regarded as at a minimum on the plateaus, where heavy mantles of material lying nearly hori- zontal effectively protect the underly- N ing rock from the action of surface a y A waters. Wherever the stream beds have dissected the plateaus, however, revealing fresh areas of serpentine and inducing new and lower curves in the adjacent ground water levels, the growth of laterite must be proceeding as it did in former times. The pres- ence of numerous sinks appears to fur- nish evidence to support this state- ment. Thus the descent of the lateritic zone must be keeping pace with the degradation of the land surface, except where this is so rapid that products of decay. are soon formed. We infer, then, that there are two limits to the accumulation of laterite. On the one hand, too great an oppor- tunity, which has led to its develop- ment on an undisturbed peneplain up to a point where the underlying rock removed as as LT INE LY is pretty well protected—in this case / Se oe J 4000 Meters SERPENTINE the decay will no doubt continue to ’ a RPENTING 4 ote Seiccutecnaaal proceed downward, but at a greatly reduced rate; and, on the other hand, , Cuba. too little opportunity, through its re- The moval mechanically as fast as it forms. taken into ac- The first limit may have been the con- dition of affairs at the close of the Upper Oligocene, when huge mantles of laterite had accumulated to about their maximum depth. The second limit is that of to-day, except where locally intermediate sets of conditions may exist. At such points the beds are undoubtedly increasing. On the whole, however, since the beginning of Miocene times the probabilities are that very much greater quan- tities of the lateritic ores have been destroyed than have been formed. ore The Moa deposit differs from the others chemically in being a more perfect type of laterization, and structural- ly in not occupying a plateau. It would appear that the deposit was originally a portion of a great peneplain, upon which accumulated a thick mantle of ore through processes of subaerial decay common to humid tropical climates. At the time of the general uplift the Moa block apparently broke off and partly subsided once tilting toward the north. Renewed denudation then planed off the upper edges of the block, removing the ore mantle and cutting down into the underlying Any further ore forming at the higher levels was removed as fast as it formed. Lower down, however, transportation was at its minimum, and the ore already existing not only remained undisturbed, but probably increased somewhat in depth. Furthermore, through saturation by surface waters, the process of laterization advanced nearly to theoretical completeness, and was more, rock. vas pile ssa “ais arabe ie RTM betters . 4 i 4 August 26, 1909 at the lower levels, representing the heart of this great ore field, there are occasionally found mantles of ore exceeding 60 ft. in thickness, containing a minimum of silica. No Evidence of Transport of Ore Materia). The structural history of this field may raise the question, Why attribute the accumulations of ore entirely to decay in place? Was there not exceptional opportunity here for mechanical transport or transport in solution with secondary concentration? The answer is the absolute absence of evidence o