Magnesite: Its Geology, Products and Their Uses - Discussion

A. MALINOVSZKY,* Belleville, Ill. (written discussion?).-I have been very much interested in Mr. Dolman's paper. We all realize, I think, that this question of developing our home industries and support-ing the new industries which have developed during the great war is very important at present. Mr. Dolman has well shown the quantity and quality of the raw magnesite in the United States, and the commercial and industrial possibility of our home magnesite and I believe, with him, that our home industries should receive adequate protection. There are two reasons, however, for believing that this may be difficult. One reason is that much American capital is invested in the Austro-Hungarian magnesite industry. The raw magnesite can be quarried and prepared for the market in Austria with much cheaper labor expense than in the United States; large deposits which are very easy to quarry and good transportation facilities also contribute to the cheapness of production. The second reason is the old saying that the magnesite found in the United States is not of the same quality as the Austro-Hungarian mag-nesite; this I doubt. Even if the magnesite found here does not in a raw state equal the Austro-Hungarian, it can be synthetized so that the finished article will have the same properties as the Austro-Hun-garian finished magnesite refractory possesses. Thaw magnesite from Greece is not the same as the. Austro-Hungarian, but it has linen demon-strated that a good refractory can be made from the Greek product.