Dec., 1916
T H E J O U R N A L OF I N D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
MINING IN ROUMANIA The mineral resources of Roumania, says Mining World, 91 (1916), 409, comprise antimony, coal, copper, hematite, petroleum, rock salt and stone. Beds of anthracite and bituminous coal (lignite) crop out in various parts of the country, and anthracite is mined a t Schela in the province of Gorj. Lignite beds exist which are 2 0 ft. thick. Coal is mined in the following provinces : Mehedintzi, Muscel, Dambovitza, Prahova and Bacau, the mines in Dambovitza being worked in concession by, the state. The principal petroleum centers are Prahova, Dambovitza, Buzen and Bacau, but nearly go per cent comes from the Prahova district. It is obtained partly from shallow dug hand wells and partly from bore-holes. 900,000 metric tons are exported annually. Roumania possesses rich deposits of salt which extend for a distance of about 100 miles along the Carpathians. One bed of pure rock salt is said t o be from 800 t o 1000 feet thick and two beds, viz., those a t Oenele-R’ari and Targul-Ocnei are estimated to contain 600,000,000 tons of salt. The industry is a government monopoly and the quantity produced annually is about 126,000 metric tons, valued a t $1,750,000. Ample supplies of stone and building material, including granite and marble, are found in the country, the largest number of quarries being worked by the government -M. CARBO-TEREDO TIMBER PROCESS Engineering seports that Mr. J. G. Cunningham, of Sydney, New South Wales, demonstrated his carbo-teredo process in the presence of representatives from nearly all the main-line railways of England. Sections from treated and untreated hardwood and Oregon pine timbers employed in five tests conducted by the Commissioners of Sydney Harbour Trust were shown and a photograph showing the result of the white ant test. In view of the fierceness of attack both by teredo and termites, the evidence appeared to be convincing The process consists, broadly speaking, of impregnation by a hydrocarbon followed by burning with a high pressure gas flame. It is applied t o piles before and after they are slung t o the frame of the driver so that there is assurance that the protecting stratum is intact when it passes into the water. Though the process was primarily directed against the operations of borers, it has been ascertained that it protects timber from weathering and decay. It has been suggested that the treatment would not be suitable for railway sleepers because the exterior surface is likely t o become abraided. The inventor, however, claims that the necessary protection is maintained by 1he calcined undercrust which, in fact, is a hardening of the surface of soft wood. The process is said t o be used by several Australian Governments for wharfs, railway and road bridges and river embankments-AI. CREAM OF TARTAR EXTRACTION According t o an article in the Giornale Vini. Ital., the Cambiaggi method for the extraction of cream of tartar from grape marcs depends on its solubility in a cold solution of commercial soda. Cream of tartar, as is known, is almost insoluble in pure water but dissolves readily in water containing soda with the formation of the double tartrate of sodium and potassium. The mass of grape rnarcs is acted on by an upward moving solution of soda which passed on through four other masses in a similar manner. On treating the liquid with hydrochloric acid, the acid tartrate of potassium crystallizes out. The mother liquors are then treated with lime, and calcium tartrate is precipitated. The marcs are treated by a mechanical arrangement which permits each layer to be uniformly and completely washed. The liquors generaliy take about a day to exhaust the contents of a recipient. The process also provides for the scientific utilization of the residue and one of its advantages is that it gives a pure cream of tartar instead of a crude one.-M.
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SUPPLY AND DEMAND OF RUBBER A writer in the London and China Telegraph says that in 3111 to 4l/2 yrs. the available supply of rubber may not be sufficient to meet the world’s demands. The world’s output increased in 1915 by 31.8 per cent and the gain for the current year is estimated a t 27.3 per cent. This rate is, however, not likely to be maintained as no very considerable areas have been planted since 1911. The additional 214,000 acres brought into bearing this year is the largest increase there will be for many years to come. It is estimated that between now and rgzo, the total increase in the areas in bearing will be only 377,000 acres. The average yield per acre now stands a t 336 lbs. and, in 1920, it may have reached 400 to 450 lbs. This would give a world’s output of from 300,000 to 330,000 tons provided the receipts of wild rubber were maintained. The question of consumption is more difficult. The average increase in the United States during the past six years was 24 per cent and if that rate were maintained, in 1920, there would be a serious rubber shortage. If the world’s demand increased by 20 per cent per annum, 373,000 tons would be required in 1g2o.-M. SWEDISH PRODUCTION OF IRON ORE A report on the production of iron ore in Sweden for last year has been published by the Swedish Department for Commerce. It would seem that, notwithstanding the difficulties arising from the war, the Swedish iron industry had quite a successful year on the whole during 1915; the production of iron ore including concentrates amounted t o 6,883,308 tons as against 6,586,630 tons for 1914, an increase of 4.5 per cent. The returns from all the iron ore mines show an increase with the exception of the Upsala and Xorbotten districts; in the latter the diminution was no less than 467,520 tons and was chiefly due to the manner in which shipments, via Karvik, have been impeded. The report does not include the Gellivora ore used for concentrates a t Hoganoss, West Sweden, in the total for 1915. The total value or iron ore produced in Sweden during last year amounted to $581,490. The production of pig iron showed an increase of 120,983 tons and the value in the year’s production is the highest on record amounting t o about $787,j24, giving a much higher average per ton than for the preceding year.-M. TIN MINING IN QUEENSLAND I n the annual report of the Queetlsland Mine Department for 1915, an interesting note is given regarding the mining for tin in the Herberton field where the outstanding feature is the large number of mines owned and worked by parties of miners and the diminishing number of mines under the control of companies. The result of this is the production of a higher-grade tin than that mined by the larger combinations. Vulcan mine in Herberton district had 9,396 tons of ore to its credit in 1915, which yielded 397 tons of tin concentrates valued a t $137,065. Stannary Hills district, however, was far from flourishing during 1915, and work on the tin dredges in the Stanhope district was irregular.-M. DETECTION OF STEARIC ACID IN BEESWAX According to a paper in Annales chim. Analyst, 21 (1916), 179, the presence of stearin or stearic acid as an adulterant of beeswax may be readily detected in the following manner: A small quantity of the sample is heated with a little of an aqueous solution of a copper salt or of copper potassium hydroxide reagent. If the beeswax is pure it either retains its yellow tint or shows at the most a pale green color. If, however, stearic acid is present, a light green color will be produced. This reaction is the cause of the green color seen in the grease of certain candles when used in copper or brass candlesticks.--M.
