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By J. M. Adams

IT is my purpose to give some of the results obtained by an experience of nearly seven years in working ores by the method frequently called the Washoe Process, and in several mills of which I have had charge, but principally in the Owyhee Mill, at Silver City, Idaho, which had twenty '650-pound stamps, and sixteen pans. I shall discuss here merely the mechanical details for working ores generally, subdividing the subject as follows: 1. Preparation of the ore for the stamps; 2. The crushing in the battery; 3. The settling of sand or pulp in vats or tanks; 4. The treatment in the pans; 5. The results obtained in settlers, agitators, and concentrators ; 6. The straining of quicksilver, cleaning of amalgam, and retorting; 7. The saving of slimes and their subsequent treatment; 8. The loss of quicksilver. For descriptions of the various kinds of orebreakers, stamps, tanks, pans, settlers, etc., I must refer to the various works on these subjects, prominent among which are the reports of the United States Commissioner of Mining Statistics, and the volume on "Mining Industry," the third volume of the United States Geological Survey on the Line of the Fortieth Parallel through the gold and silver bearing regions of the great West, undertaken under the able guidance of Clarence King, assisted by Mr. James D. Hague and others. In this discussion it will be assumed that the general arrangement of the quartz mill is understood; and the question will be treated how to secure, from such a mill, the greatest economy in working, combined with the largest results. This place seems fittest for a single preliminary suggestion-namely, that there should be double "floors" throughout the mill, so that nothing can sift through and be lost.

Jan 1, 1874

By L. C. Graton

INTRODUCTION CLEAR recognition by Lindgren1 of the important control exerted by physical conditions on the formation of ores laid the foundation for that long-sought attainment, a classification? of mineral deposits based consistently on origin. In probably no other portion of the realm of mineral deposition has the importance of physical influences been so manifest or the validity of Lindgren's genetic classification been so well proved as in that extremely important family of ore deposits which are now universally classed as hydrothermal and generally regarded as of magmatic derivation. While many varieties of deposits, some of them possessing great scientific interest and economic importance, fall outside the limits of this hydrothermal group, inclusion within it of most of the veins and a vast number of the replacement deposits of the world gives to this grand genetic class at once a dominating importance and a powerful scientific appeal. Nowhere are these vein and replacement deposits of hydro- thermal lineage more generously distributed, more extensively exploited or more thoroughly known than in the Cordilleran province of the United States. One of the respects in which these hydrothermal deposits command the interest of both geologists and mine operators is in their relation to depth: the great vertical range through which many of them have already been developed, the disappointing failure of others at relatively shallow levels, and the noteworthy downward changes in character and tenor exhibited by still others. In this hydrothermal category (if the Rand be granted place here) are included the ores of all the very deep mines of the world, ranging from 5,000 to nearly 8,000 ft., as well as of many other mines undoubtedly destined in time to attain corresponding depths.

Jan 1, 1933

By Samuel G. Lasky

FAULTING at Kennecott, with its attendant fracturing, is unusual, complex, and important. As study and knowledge of the various fault systems have progressed, appreciation of that importance has helped in the selection of proper horizons for exploration and in the avoidance of useless crosscutting and drifting. During the study of this faulting and fracturing, a suggestion concerning the formation of the ore-bearing fissures occurred to me. Further study in the available portions of the approximately 45 miles of workings in the Kennecott mines for the purpose of checking up the the suggestion led to the hypothesis which this paper will attempt to present. Briefly, the hypothesis may be stated as follows: The formation of transverse faults that stop against a main system is connected with changes in the strike or dip of the main fault, and such cross faults or fractures lie in the moving block of the main fault system and indicate a change in strike or dip of the main fault. It has been found that each kind of change tends to produce definite effects and that careful study of the evidence can often suggest the exact type of change. Outline of Kennecott Mines Geology The mines at Kennecott are on the northeast flank of a broad anticlinell where erosion has exposed the Upper Triassic Chitistone limestone resting conformably on the Permian or Triassic Nikolai greenstone.2 These two are the only formations exposed in the immediate vicinity of the mines that bear relation to the ore deposits. The Nikolai greenstone is a series of altered basaltic lava flows, the actual thickness of which is unknown. The Chitistone limestone is the ore-bearing formation. At its base is a bed of about 5 ft. of red, green, or black shale which shows strong evidence of movement wherever it is exposed underground—one of the

Jan 1, 1929

By Damon H. McFadden

5.1-1. Geographic and Geologic Factors. Surface mines are located where the coal seam can be economically uncovered and where the product can be utilized competitively with other fuels. The planning and designing of a pit may follow various procedures. The sequence for consideration of the influential factors as considered here may not be complete for every pit, nor will it be necessary to be completely used in each design. It is suggested as a check and outline for the engineering approach. Controlling conditions for the layout should be listed and considered with the facilities and equipment for the exploitation. After these items, as listed below, have been discussed and the feasibility agreed upon, then the actual planning and design of the pit can be done. GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES. The location of the coal area sets the climatic stage. The rainfall, the temperature extremes, and the general weather conditions all affect the design of the pit. Overburden soil when wet may not be stackable and may be impossible to move by standard procedures. The coal seam itself may be so soft that it must not be traveled on when wet, as the losses may be the difference between a profitable venture and an unsuccessful one. Some equipment will work well on dry soil only, just as a dredge works only in the wet. The conditions must be checked and analyzed. Some equipment cannot handle frozen soil (wheel excavators), so temperature extremes must be noted. The extreme weather conditions may also govern the expected working days and therefore the ultimate production. The altitude (atmospheric pressure) may affect the equipment, and this should be checked. All of these conditions should be noted on the preliminary map of the area. GEOLOGIC FACTORS. The geologic and surface conditions of the coal field dictate the type of pit generally feasible. Rough terrain, rolling terrain,

Jan 1, 1968

By Charles Brush

THE general subject of accurate pyrometry, its great development in recent years, and the importance of its application in arts and manufactures is so ably treated in other papers that this paper will bee confined to a resume of some research work on certain temperature effects in carbon and other steels, some of which appear to, be new. The results of these researches are embodied in several papers presented to' various scientific societies during the last few years, most of them under the general title of Spontaneous Generation of Heat in Recently Hardened Steel.1 Several years ago, when studying the behavior, tinder certain conditions, of specimens of hardened tool steel, I observed that they all spontaneously generated a small quantity of heat, the rate of generation diminishing from day to day for several weeks before generation became imperceptible in the sensitive calorimeter used. In each case the steel had been hardened only a few days prior to its use. It seemed highly probable that the generation of heat was associated with some sort of "seasoning" or incipient annealing process, perhaps accompanied by slight changes of volume, and that it would be most rapid immediately after hardening. I subsequently investigated this curious phenomenon more fully. Twelve ½ in. round bars of tool steel, 5 in. long and with machined surfaces, were hardened by heating to high cherry red in a reducing atmosphere of a gas furnace and quenched in cold water. The bars then had a thin strongly adhering coating of black oxide. They were next stirred in a large quantity of water at room temperature, to acquire that temperature, wiped dry, and oiled with heavy, neutral mineral oil to prevent generation of heat by further surface oxidation, wiped free of excess of oil and placed in the copper cylinder of a heat-insulated box.

Jan 9, 1919

"The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific railway extends from Butte to Anaconda. The electrification comprises 30 miles of main line single track, and includes sidings, yard and smelter tracks. When complete the electrified trackage will total about 90 miles on a single track basis.The traffic conditions are unusually severe as they consist principally of hauling copper ore from the Butte mines to the smelters at Anaconda, as well as hauling all the mine supplies, lumber, etc., in both directions; this traffic amounts to approximately 5,000,000 tons of freight per year. The maximum grade against the load is .3 per cent and the maximum train consists of 50 loaded steel ore cars, weighing 3,400 tons. .The locomotive units, two of which will be used for freight trains, weigh approximately 80 tons each. In addition to the freight business, there will be a certain amount of passenger traffic.The power for operating the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific railway is generated by, the Great Falls Power company, and is transmitted to the sub-stations at 100,000 volts. The synchronous motors are supplied with power at a potential of 2,300 volts, 60 cycles, 3-phase. Voltage regulators are installed in each sub¬station to secure the benefit of synchronous condenser effect of the motors.The passenger and freight locomotives are exactly similar, with the exception of the gearing.The roller pantograph mounted on the top of the cab is operated by air from the engineers position.The adoption of the 2,400-volt apparatus for so important a system, where the conditions of operation are so severe, is interesting of itself, as indicating the trend that future electrifications of importance may follow. A trolley potential of 2,400 volts was only adopted after a thorough investigation of other systems already in operation."

Jan 1, 1913

By James H. Hance

Several years ago the writer was connected with the Mint and Assay Service of the Federal Government as Assistant Assayer at the Salt Lake Assay Office. At that time cyanide bars formed approximately half of the bullion purchased by that office. Disagreement in valuat,ion between the producer and the office was not infrequent and to a lesser extent between the Assay Office and the Mint, this latter issue being soon obviated, however, by adopting uniform methods of sampling the bars. A nice problem seemed to offer itself for research and the writer began a series of experiments which were soon terminated, however, by his going into other work, and which he regrets have not since been completed. The results attained may suggest lines of approach to this problem and are, therefore, offered in this article. Frederic P. Dewey, Assayer of the Mint Scrvice, U. 5. Treasury, has had abundant opportunity to study this phase of metallurgy, and has published several articles relative thereto.1 In the last article cited Dewey quotes analyses of cyanide bullion similar in content to that with which the writer worked, and which show some of the variations met with. In the discussion of these papers,2 comparison has been made in terms of copper bullion, but to the writer this seems of questionable value. Copper bullion may resemble silver bullion, but its similarity to gold bullion with little or no silver content is another thing. The freezing-point diagram of Roozeboom, reproduced on page 881 of the discussion cited, is for the gold-silver series as stated. The original problem under discussion, however, is not this alloy but gold with base metals other than copper. As for the statement that the corners are the worst places or

Jan 1, 1916

By P. S. Rudman

The solubility limit and the diffusivity of carbon in molybdenum have been obtained by duffising carbon into molybdenum rods from a Mo + Mo2C powder mixture. The solubility limit was taken as the long-time asymptotic limit of the rod composition. The diffusiv-ity was obtained from fractionally saturated rods from the rate of change of the average composition. Compositions were determined by chemical analysis. The solubility limit obtained is: WhILE the Mo-C system is important in refractory alloy technology neither the solubility limit nor the diffusivity of carbon in molybdenum is unambiguously known. In Fig. 1 the Mo-C phase diagram is presented. The heavy lines, the terminal solution solubility limit, and the eutectic temperature are results of the present investigation and will be discussed in detail later. However, it is readily seen that the previously published solubility limit determinations, Few and Manning1 and Fromm and ROy2 differ by up to an order of magnitude. The general form of Fig. 1, the Mo2C field, and a eu- tectic temperature -2200°C are due to an early Investigation by Sykes et a1.3 Although they did not determine the solubility limit, they did establish that the maximum at the eutectic temperature was about 1000 ppm. The only other prior data found on the solubility limit is from a lattice-parameter study by Speiser et a1 .,4 from which it can be concluded that the maximum solubility is greater than 1800 ppm. There does not appear to be any data oh the diffusivity of carbon in molybdenum. However, Samsonov and Epik5 have determined, from the rate of growth of an MozC layer, the diffusivity of carbon in Mo2C, and this has been erroneously interpreted, for example by ~c~eil,' as applicable to diffusion of carbon in molybdenum.

Jan 1, 1968

"The zinc concentrator of the Butte & Superior Copper company, shown on the opposite page, represents an industry which is coming into importance in Butte. The existence of large bodies of zinc ore in some of the silver veins of Butte has been realized for years, but it is only recently that some of them have proved amenable to successful concentration. Most of the zinc ores thus far found in the camp are mixed with considerable pyrite, but those found in the Black Rock and Elm Orlu mines contain very little pyrite, so that a concentrate low in iron is possible.The Butte & Superior mill is rated at 1,200 tons daily capacity. The ore is sphalerite, most of which is finely disseminated through a hard quartz gangue, with small quantities of galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, rhodocrosite and rhodonite. In mining, the included granite and the low grade vein matter are sorted out and used for waste filling so that the ore as it goes to the concentrator will carry about 20 per cent of zinc, 1 per cent lead, .25 per cent copper, 8 to 10 ozs. silver and a little gold. The ore bodies ranging from 5 to 103 feet in width, are mined by the square set method and filling of stopes with waste rock.The ore is hard and tough requiring extensive crushing and grinding equipment, consisting of Blake and gyratory crushers, 54-inch and 42-inch high speed rolls, Chili mills, Tube, and Conical mills. All of the lead con¬centrate and part of the zinc concentrate are recovered in the upper part of the mill by jigs and tables. The classifier overflow and the re-ground jig and table tailings go to settling tanks and from there to the Hyde Flotation process, where the balance of the zinc concentrate is recovered, and the tailing go to waste."

Jan 1, 1913

EDITORIAL comments on the anthracite report of the Federal Fact-finding Coal Commission, which became public on July 5, together with an analysis of its more important conclusions, will be found on another page of this issue. In this place, only a few extracts from the report, bearing more directly on technical matters, can be quoted, for lack of space. COST OF MINING Mining cost, as it stands on the books of each mining company, represents the average cost of the total output, all sizes, of anthracite. Egg coal has at least five times the market value of barley, but these' sizes are mined together and their costs can not be separated. Mine costs directly reflect the conditions under which these deposits of coal are recovered. Even within the few counties in which anthracite is found there is a conspicuous range of natural conditions. The distinc-tion between the Northern, Middle, and Southern field, or, as they are also termed, the Wyoming, Lehigh, and Schuykill regions, is primarily geologic and topo-graphic, but the effects of the natural conditions largely control costs. The contrast is great between Some of the level-lying beds of moderate but fairly constant thickness under the broad Wyoming Valley, where mining and underground haulage present relatively simple problems to the engineer, and the steeply pitching or overturned and faulted beds of variable thickness in the Schuykill field, where crushed coal' and treacherous roof multiply the difficulties of mining; and increase the unavoidable waste. Even more direct is the connection between geologic processes and the, differences in the character of the coal as mined, the varying proportions of large and small sizes demanding differences in preparation and resulting in different average prices realized for the product of the mines.

Jan 8, 1923

At the end of June, 1938, a new oil field was opened in Egypt, the Ras Gharib. Five wells were completed during the year and gave a total production of 512,988 barrels.' In the Hurghada field production was as follows: Hurghada Field Age of field to end of 1938, years..................... 25 Producing area for gas and oil, acres................ 1,050 Barrels1 Total oil production to end of 1938............... 31,207,754 Total oil production during 1937................ 1,141,356 Total oil production during 1938.................. 1,019,520 Average oil production per acre to end of 1938... 29,719 Average oil production per acre-foot to end of 1938. . . 243.6 Daily average: production in December 1938.......... 2,603.54 Daily average production per well in December 1938. . 34.90 Millions Cu. Ft. Total gas production (Aug. 1925 to end of 1938)... 4,356.7 Total gas production during 1937.................. 222.5 Total gas production during 1938....... . 167.6 Maximum gas daily average of 1938 (ill May 1..... 0.6 Wells Number of producing wells completed to end of 1938 . . 100 Number of producing wells completed during 1938..... 3 Number of wells abandoned during 1938.............. 2 Producing wells at end of 1938 (all pumping)......... 78 Abandoned wells at end of 1938...................... 22 Dry wells at end of 1938......................... 21 Feet Average depth of bottom of producing horizon........ 1,720 Average depth of top of producing horizonlt 1,598 Character of oil, approximate average ill 1938: specific gravity at 60" F'., 0.900; base, mixed. Character of gas, approximate average for 1938: gallons gasoline per 1000 cu. ft. of gas, 6.4. Main producing formation: Nubian sandstone, Cretaceous (PI; sand rock and sandstone.

Jan 1, 1939

By F. R. Hewitt

THE methods of mining talc are simple, and in western North Carolina are almost entirely by open cut and quarry. The larger part of the talc of this section lies in various-sized "veins" inclosed in quartzitic walls, the majority of which have by folding been thrown into a perpendicular position, or nearly so, and the exposed edges of which have been covered by debris from erosion of the mountain above. This covering of loose rocks and earth is from 5 to 25 ft. thick, and in most cases has to be removed because it is difficult to support. Sometimes the covering is heavy enough to "catch" and timber successfully, and in this case the talc can be worked out by the usual method of following the "vein," using stulls for holding up the walls until the vein is worked out, and then allowing the cut or drift to fall in. In some cases it proves more convenient to sink shafts and run drifts, following the talc "veins" until exhausted. The talc deposits of this section are badly broken and faulted both laterally and perpendicularly, and in some cases are found many feet below the level of drainage, necessitating pumping at considerable expense. . My own experience in mining talc has been that the chief point is to get a reliable "vein," and that then the mining is not as difficult, or any more so at least, than that of any common ore. If the. "veins" are pure talc it is simple; if the talc is admixed with foreign matter, such as tremolite in excess, or stains of iron or manganese, as is often the case, one had better abandon the deposit.

Jan 8, 1916

At the end of June, 1938, a new oil field was opened in Egypt, the Ras Gharib. Five wells were completed during the year and gave a total production of 512,988 barrels.' In the Hurghada field production was as follows: Hurghada Field Age of field to end of 1938, years..................... 25 Producing area for gas and oil, acres................ 1,050 Barrels1 Total oil production to end of 1938............... 31,207,754 Total oil production during 1937................ 1,141,356 Total oil production during 1938.................. 1,019,520 Average oil production per acre to end of 1938... 29,719 Average oil production per acre-foot to end of 1938. . . 243.6 Daily average: production in December 1938.......... 2,603.54 Daily average production per well in December 1938. . 34.90 Millions Cu. Ft. Total gas production (Aug. 1925 to end of 1938)... 4,356.7 Total gas production during 1937.................. 222.5 Total gas production during 1938....... . 167.6 Maximum gas daily average of 1938 (ill May 1..... 0.6 Wells Number of producing wells completed to end of 1938 . . 100 Number of producing wells completed during 1938..... 3 Number of wells abandoned during 1938.............. 2 Producing wells at end of 1938 (all pumping)......... 78 Abandoned wells at end of 1938...................... 22 Dry wells at end of 1938......................... 21 Feet Average depth of bottom of producing horizon........ 1,720 Average depth of top of producing horizonlt 1,598 Character of oil, approximate average ill 1938: specific gravity at 60" F'., 0.900; base, mixed. Character of gas, approximate average for 1938: gallons gasoline per 1000 cu. ft. of gas, 6.4. Main producing formation: Nubian sandstone, Cretaceous (PI; sand rock and sandstone.

Jan 1, 1939

By James Norman, E. W. Gieseke

SPODUMENE is a lithium-bearing pyroxene, and is an important source of lithium compounds. Because of its high alumina and lithia content. it might be a desirable constituent of glass batches. The use of spodumene in ceramics will undoubtedly increase, as it has been shown that a mixture of the proper proportions of this mineral with soda feldspar and potash feldspar has a much lower maturing temperature upon firing than has any one of the three components.1 The mineral spodumene seldom occurs as pure mineral, but ordinarily with feldspars, mica and quartz. All spodumene-bearing rocks tested contained these minerals as gangue. Small amounts of iron and manganese oxides also were present, usually as stains on the silicate grains. Mica associated with the spodumene carried a considerable amount of lithia. This was discovered in flotation tailings, which, although virtually free of spodumene grains when examined microscopically, showed 0.4 to 0.5 per cent Li20 on chemical analysis. The lithia content of micas picked from the North Carolina spodumene rock was variable. Some samples contained little lithia, others more than 3 per cent. In 1938, under the supervision of Oliver C. Ralston, [t] the Bureau of Mines, in cooperation with the Tennessee Mineral Products Corporation, undertook to study the beneficiation of North Carolina spodumene by froth flotation. The Bureau had previously published investigations on the beneficiation of spodumene.2, 3 The methods described in the second publication3 did not give good results with badly weathered spodumene rock, so that more thorough investigation of the subject was warranted. STUDY OF METHOD OF FLOTATION SEPARATION Most of the work on concentration of spodumene was done with rock from near King's Mountain, North Carolina. Rock from two

Jan 1, 1940

By Frank C. Greene

The principal event in the development of oil and gas in Missouri in 1942 was the drilling of the Cities Service Oil Company's No. I Jim Cook, in the northwest corner, NW. 1/4 sec. 32, T. 65 N., R. 39 W., Atchison County, in the northwest corner of Missouri. This well, not yet completed, bailed several barrels of free oil in about 27° Baume from a sand called the Bartlesville by those in charge, at a depth of 1450 ft. The well is on a block of leases obtained after the area, which is covered by several hundred feet of glacial drift, had been prospected by core drilling. Earlier in the year the same company drilled a well on the Glen Gray farm in the southwest corner, SW. 1/4 sec. 29, T. 65 N., R. 39 w., to a depth of 2427 ft. in the Hunton lime with a rotary drill. Oil stains in this hole led to the drilling of the second well. Table i .—-Wells Drilled for Oil and Gas in Missouri in 1942 Country Number of Number of County Oil Wells Gas Wells Dry Andrew.......... Atchison.......... I Bates............ 2 6 Caldwell.......... I 3 Cass............. I Clinton........... I Holt............. I Jackson.......... I I Knox............ I Nodaway......... I Platte............ 4 4 Ray.............. 5 Sullivan.......... I Totals.......... I 7 28 Otherwise drilling in Missouri was uneventful, with a total of only 36 Completions, of which one was a very small oil well, Seven were small gas wells and 28 were dry holes. The total footage drilled was 24,7541/2 ft., of which 14,0281/2 was by cable tools and 10,726 ft. by rotary. Twelve of the dry holes were drilled into Mississip-pian or older beds. Table I gives a summary of activities by counties.

Jan 1, 1943

By I. G. Grettum, Eugene A. Stephenson

The flooding process was originally the result of accidents to casing and tubing, but it has gradually passed from an accidental condition to a definite engineering procedure. In spite of the general sheetlike char-acter of the major sand body, the position of shale bands, their thickness, the size of the grain and variations in effective porosity all give the sand different characteristics in different layers and in different places in the same layer. This condition has an important influence on the movement of flood oil and water, and on the yield per acre, as well as a bearing on what shall be considered the best method of handling flood wells. . A valuation takes into consideration six factors: (1) Flooding methods, of which four have been in common use, as follows, in order of effective recovery, (a) circular flood, (b) line flood, (c) five-spot and (d) five-spot with delayed drilling; (2) recovery per acre, which is definitely related to the oil content, the porosity, the method of flooding, the spacing program, and the continuity of the water supply; (3) the rate of production per well per day, which is definitely related to the mcthod of flooding, the oil content and the porosity of the sands; (4) the operating cost of the well, including royalty, overhead, taxes, etc. (Operating costs are usually expressed as unit cost per barrel.); (5) the expected price per barrel. It is safer to use the average price over a number of years than to attempt to forecast future price fluctuations. The discount factor (the sixth factor) used in appraisal of Bradford flood properties should be less than that commonly applied to other properties, because the hazards of operations have been reduced almost to those of a manufacturing industry.

Jan 1, 1930

By Peter Hood

Data on worldwide geophysical activity in mining exploration programs is collected annually by the Geophysical Activity Committee of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists as part of a continuing service to the industry. The data is obtained by sending out questionnaires to all organizations (which are) known to be carrying out mining geophysical work; the organizations canvassed include mining companies, contractors, government departments and universities. The questionnaire is divided into three sections, namely ground methods, airborne methods and research. In 1968, 515 questionnaires were circulated throughout the non-Communist world and 283 replies were received which is a 55% return. A 67% return was received from the U. S. organizations surveyed so the statistics quoted in this report for the United States are reasonably reliable. This report is published in condensed form, but with emphasis on the United States statistics, with the permission of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists. It was presented at the 39th Annual International Meeting of the SEG in Calgary, Alberta, on September 15, 1969. Worldwide utilization of mining geophysical methods reached a new high in 1968 with total expenditures of United States $41.4 million, compared lo $32.3 million in 1967, representing a 28%, increase. The expenditure distribution by area and type of activity is shown in the graph on page 64. In terms of money spent, ground geophysical surveys accounted for 49% of the total, airborne survey's 36% and research 15%. The percentage of the money spent on ground geophysical surveys fell by approximately 7% from 1967, that for airborne surveys, increased by 5%, and for research the amount increased by 2%. Industry accounted for 79°1% of the total monies spent on mining geophysical activity in the world in 1968 and governments and universities 21 o%.

Jan 1, 1970

By Frank Firmstone

. In the early decades of the past century the method of starting iron blast-furnaces by " scatlolding-down" seems to have been in universal use for coke-furnaces and, at least in this country, for charcoal-furnaces also. It was likewise used at some of the early anthracite-furnaces, as is stated in the important " Reminiscences" printed by the late Samuel Thomas.' It had been generally superseded in Great Britain as early as 1850, by some variations of the plan now used, and was rarely used when Percy wrote.2 On the Continent it was still followed ill the 60's; and was elaborately described by Valerius in 1852. I have never read any statement as to when and by whom " scaffolding " was first dispensed with, but the following extracts from journals of my father seem to fix an authentic date for an instance in this country: " [Pittsburg] July 12, 1838.—Went with Major Wade to his foundry,etc., and he gave me a letter to D. Tyler, Esq., Farrandsville, Agent Boston Coke & Iron Co." " [Lockhaven, Pa.] July 18, 1838.—Heard there was a flat-boat going to take some gentlemen up to Farrandsville. Got on boat and to Farrandsville, 5 or 6 miles, in 1 hr. 30 min. Dined, and then delivered my letter to Ma Tyler, who showed me much attention, and everything belonging to the furnace, and had the water turned on the wheel that I might see the blowing-cylinders at work. There are two cylinders, 6-ft. stroke, -56 in. in diameter, but they find that one makes more than enough blast for the furnace. The furnace has 16-ft. boshes, 7-ft. tunnel-head, and is 47 ft. high, 3 tuyeres, and 3 heating-ovens [hot blast-ovens]. A

Jan 1, 1908

ON July 2 the Krupp plant in Essen was occupied by the French. The City of Frankfurt, on the edge of the Mayence Bridgehead was surrounded by the French. French infantry and cavalry occupied some more towns in the Ruhr. These moves were apparently in the way of reprisals. The Bank of England on July 5 raised its discount rate from three per cent. to four, per, cent., the lower rate having previously prevailed for almost exactly a year.. The advance appears to have been inspired by the reserve ratio, but especially owing to the fact that the low rate in the London market had led to the out-flow of funds from there to other markets. Philip Snowden brought up again in the British .Parliament his motion in favor of the condemnation of the capitalistic system and the substitution of socialism. The motion was put to vote and was defeated by large majority, only the members of the Labor party voting for it. The Allies and the Turks finally came to an agree-ment at Lausanne, the Turks getting about all for which they asked. It would be tiresome to record the details. The main fact is that the Turks, after having been ejected from Europe in 1918, are now going to return. Russia agreed to the settlement respecting the Straits. The Soviet Government of Russia formulated and adopted, subject to ratification, a constitution for the United States of Russia, which appears to be patterned after the constitution of the United States of America and the unwritten constitution of Great Britain. The important thing about this seems to be that it definitely reunites the constituent parts of the old Empire, the semi-independence of the Ukraine being surrendered.

Jan 7, 1923

W. A. SCHLESINGER,* Denver, Colo.-Two problems are of great interest to the radium manufacturer at the present tine: The first is to perfect a process, more efficient and more economical, which is capable of treating a greater variety of ores. . Practically all the radium now manufactured in the United States is extracted from carnotite ores and these vary a great deal according to their location. The amount of sulfates contained in the ore is of particular importance, and any straight acid-leaching method, such as developed by the Bureau of Mines, becomes prohibitive when the ore contains more than 0.5 per cent. of sulfates, as the sulfates go into solution and naturally precipitate the radium as insoluble radium sulfate. Since the amount of ore obtained from any one claim is usually comparatively small, it is necessary to work a number of claims in different localities, and a process, in order to be commercially satisfactory, should handle all of these ores. In other words, it would be entirely unprofitable for radium manufacturers to employ any process which cannot treat any but sulfate-free ores. He must deal with carnotite containing appreciable amounts of sulfates, and must be able to work this in with the other ores. Carbonaceous ores from certain sections in Utah; which are known to contain as pinch as 1.0 per cent. and more of volatile matters, are prone to a, nitric acid-leaching process. The second problem relates to the treatment of concentrates. There is no doubt that a very large amount of low-grade ore, containing less than 0.75 per cent. uranium oxide, is available. It has been demonstrated that these ores can be concentrated, but there is still room for research

Jan 11, 1918