Sept., 1912
T H E ] O U R A T A L OF I S D U S T R I A L A N D ESGIiZ-EERIAYG CHEI1IISTRY
tense white light, in fireworks. Orpiment, the trisulphide, called also king’s yellow, is used as a paint pigment and as a reducing agent in chemical work. The trioxide is used in paints; for preserving hides, both for taxidermists and in the leather industry; as an antiseptic; and in killing animal pests. Sodium arsenate is used in dyeing with turkey-red oil and in printing fabrics; the arsenite in making soaps for use on skins and hides. Potassium arsenite is used as a reducer for silver in the manufacture of mirrors. A copy of the report on arsenic may be obtained free on application to the Director of the United States Geological Survey a t Washington, D. C. SWISS FACTORY STATISTICS. The following statistics, reported by Commercial Agent Archibald J. Wolfe, show the preliminary results of the Swiss Federal census of 191I regarding Swiss factory enterprises: Employees. Trades.
Factories.
Male.
Female.
Total.
326 215 67 24 866
11,617 7,735 2,190 440 11,787
17.932 23.802 3,135 567 16,822
29,549 31,537 5,325 1,007 28,609
Other textile trades.. . . ’ . . . . 112 Clothing a n d outfitting.. . . . . . . . . . 660 Provisions and alimentary trades. 694 198 Chemical industry.. , . , . , , , , , , . Centrals for power, gas, and water 263 Paper and graphic trades.. 625 Woodworking trades.. . . . . . . . . . . 1,268 Metal working.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623 Machinery, apparatus, e t c . , , . , . . 640 Jewelry and watchmaking.. . . . . . 856 Clay and stone trades.. . . . . . . . . . 441
8,789 13,440 6,967 4,254 13,227 23,333 21,865 45,313 21,445 17,160
2.633 16,061 12,604
4 , 150 24,850 26,044
1,725
8,692 4,255 18,157 23,765 23,325 46,435 34,983 18,160
Cotton trades., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Silkindustry., , . , , . . , , , , . , . , , . Woolen industry. . . . . . . . . . Linen industrv.. . . . . . . . . . . Embroidery.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
......
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1
4,930 432 1,460 1,122 13,538 1,000
TITANIUM AND ALLOYS OF STEEL. Much experimenting with various alloys of steel has been carried on by railroads and rolling-mill operators to produce a rail t h a t will give more satisfactory service than the ordinary rail now in use. One of the principal metals used in these experiments, according to the United States Geological Survey, is titanium. More than 250,000 long tons of rails were rolled in 1910 from steel to which ferrotitanium had been added. More than 150,000 tons of steel rails in which nickel or nickel and chromium were used as alloy were also made during 1910, and experiments were made with about 80,000 tons of steel rails in which chromium, manganese, vanadium, and other metals were used. Certain steel makers, according to the Survey, are now advertising titanium steel, claiming t h a t although no titanium is left in the steel, the removal of gases and impurities effected by i t greatly increases the good quality of the steel. GOOD INCREASE I N PLATINUM PRODUCTION. California and Oregon produced all the platinum mined in the United States in 1911; this, as shown by Waldemar Lindgren, of the United States Geological Survey, in an advance chapter from “Mineral Resources” for 1911, was $8,631 greater in value than the output for 1910. The following is a statement of production in Troy ounces and the values for the two years :
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1910.
California.. Oregon.
1911.
----------.
Ounces. 337 53
Value. $8,386 1,121
Ounces. 511 117
390
9,507
628
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__
Value. $14,873 3,265
- -
18,138
The average price paid for platinum in 191I was $28.87 an ounce, compared with $24.38 in 1910, the higher price undoubtedly resulting in an increased production.
697
Importations in 1911 of crude platinum sands resulted in an estimated refined product of 27,500 ounces, nearly four times the domestic production. An additional amount was derived from imported ores and mattes, so that the total quantity of refined platinum produced in domestic refineries is estimated by Mr. Lindgren a t approximately 29,140 fine ounces, of which about 940 ounces, val ed a t $40,890, was derived from domestic sources of various kinds-platinum sands, copper and gold bullion, etc. The corresponding estimate for 1910 was 773 ounces, valued a t $25,277. The platinum imported and entered for consumption in the United States in 1911, including ores and manufactured products, was valued a t $4,866,207, an increase over the 1910 figures of $1,212,543. The exports amounted to only $8,139. The world’s production of platinum in 1911 was 314,323 troy ounces, compared 154th 288,952 ounces in 1910. Mr. Lindgren’s report of platinum contains an interesting discussion of the platinum-bearing minerals, the uses of the metal, its sources in the United States, and the possibility of new discoveries. I t also contains notes on the other platinum metals such as iridium and palladium.
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PAINT PRODUCTION I N 1911. I n 1911, according to the United States Geological Survey, the value of the paint produced from all sources was $31,822,827. Paints are divided by the Survey into three groupsnatural mineral pigments, pigments made directly from ores, and chemicallv manufactured pigments. Of thc total uroduction of paint in 191I $498,821 is to be credited to natural mineral pigments, $7,343,762 to pigments made directly from ores, and $23,780,244 to chemically manufactured pigments. The production of natural pigments was less than in 1910; that of pigments made from ores increased; that of chemically manufactured pigments decreased. There was a total decrease in value, compared with the value for 1910, of $241,49j. The report on mineral paints, by W. C. Phalen, of the Survey, has been issued as an advance chapter of the volume “Mineral Resources” for 1911. I t contains tables showing imports of the pigments of different classes, thus giving a n idea of the magnitude of their consumption in the United States; descriptions of the characters of the natural mineral pigments, and brief data on the methods of preparation of the prepared pigments. The report also contains a summary of the results of paint tests recently published by the American Society for Testing Materials.
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WASTE I N COKE MAKING. If the 27,703,644 short tons of coke manufactured in 1911 in ovens of the beehive type had been made in by-product ovens the value of the by-products thus recovered, which were wasted in the beehive ovens, would have been between $35,000,om and $40,000,000. This interesting statement is made by Edward W. Parker, of the United States Geological Survey, in an advance chapter on coke from the volume “Mineral Resources” for 1911. This estimate is based on the value of the by-products resulting from the 7,847,845 tons of coke made in by-product ovens in 1911. The value of these by-products recovered in 1911 was equal to the value a t the mines of the coal used in making the coke. From information received by the Survey from the superintendent of motive power of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Mr. Parker estimates that the quantity of power which might be obtained from the coking operations in the Connellsville and Lower Connellsville districts by substituting non-recovery retort ovens for beehive ovens and using the heat which is now wasted would be more than twice the quantity of power necessary to move every train on the Pennsylvania Railroad between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. The amount of boiler norse-
