MEERSCHAUM FOR DYNAMITE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 34, 4 November 1907, Page 9

MEERSCHAUM FOR DYNAMITE.

IMMENSE MINE FOUND. < ■■• The meerschaum industry is receiving a new impetus through the discovery of immense mines of the foamy white mineral in iSew Mexico. Tho announcement of this discovery came almost simultaneously with reports that the meerschaum mines of tho Old World are practically exhausted. Not only does the newly-discovered meerschaum field make possiblo the continuance of tho pipes with which the name of tho beautiful mineral has become identified, hilt the enormous' quantities in which it can now be produced will, it is believed, tend to revolutionise other branches of industry. One of these is tho' dynamite industry. Owing to the 'difficulty ami clanger of handling and transporting liquid nitro-glycerine, ofrorts have been made to incorporate it with other substances by absorption. The resul-tant-compound is dynamite. Silicate is largely used in this absorbing process, as aro also enarcoal and other substances; butnoiie of tlieso interferes so little with the explosive force of the nitro-glycerine as does meerschaum; nor does the" latter give off any fumes or smoke when exploded, which is not true of any other known substance.

.Meerschaum is thus tho ideal thing, Professor Sandrigam tells us, for dynamite; and the only reason it had not been- uspd hitherto was oh account of its "extreme and growing scarcity and .consequent prohibitive l price. Another use to which meerschaum can now be put is as an insulator of electricity. In regard to this phase ah export states that since .meerschaum is at once the best insulator of electricity, and is at the same time the greatest absorbent known, a new type of insulating material is commencing to bo made for high tension •currents of electricity tßat gives promise ot superseding ail others noiv in use, such as glass, porcelain, otc. The new meerschaum insulation is made by impregnating tho meerschaum with insulating vurnish in vacuum and then baking it, making it absolutely impervious to water. Other electrical products aro formed by pulverising the meerschaum and then moulding it into different forms for electrical apparatus.-

In electrical furnace work where high temperatures, aro employed meerschaum-will*bo used for crucibles. A good crucible should bo capable of withstanding great and sudden changes of temperature without fraction or disintegration; it should not be attacked by the substance it is to contain, and it should be infusiblo at .the temperatures to which it is to be exposed. Clay or a mixture of clay and sand are used for work at ordinary temperatures. Graphite crucibles aro employed for high temperatures, but under excessive boat those will bulge and split. Platinum is an ideal material, but it is too expensive, and caiiuot bo used for the ■infusion of metals. Magnesia crucibles aro practically infusible, and are not affected by exposure to air. Alumina also makes excellent crucibles, as it will withstand sudden changes of temperature, but meerschaum, which contains both magnesia and alumina, is tho only material which possesses the good features of the preceding and which will withstand even the action of melted sodium. Meerschaum lias been tested to temperatures as Inch as (i,OOO degrees. Physically, tho meerschaum found is a hard and compact mass when thoroughly seasoned, and in this condition it is most difficult to cut, and almost impossililo to broak. After being dried out it is so light it will float on water, yet if it is immersed for some time it will absorb the fluid lil tu a sponge, but soon yields it up again after being removed. When damp, it becomes very soft, and is easily worked into any desired shape. When dug up this meerschaum is found to bo very white, or occasionally yellowish-white, and it is of such groat variety that no two pieces among 100,000 oxaminod were found to be of exactly the samo texture, though always of the same composition. One piece may be light, another a little heavier, and still another almost as heavy as stone. • t Geologically, meerschaum is the result of volcanic action, as is evident from the fact that lava of considerable depth covers a largo portion of the areas where it is found in New Mexico as in Asia Minor. The rock formation which includes the .inccrschaumbearing vein consists of massive sections of sedimentary conglomerate and sandstone strata, probably of tho Triassic Ago.