THE ROMANCE OF ALUMINIUM

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 161, 6 January 1912, Page 10 (Supplement)

THE ROMANCE OF ALUMINIUM

The story of aluminium is one of the romances of industry. Since the' days of Pliny it has been known to exist as a part of the earth's crust—the basic metal of all clays. Iron is probably the most common, but aluminium' the moat abundant metal the earth at present yields us. It enters into the composition of rocks, and the ruby, the sapphire, the topaz and the emerald all disclose aluminium to the analyst* To obtain it in sufficiently pure form for commercial use was the problem from the time of Paracelsus until the day when a student of science discovered an electrical process for reducing aluminium from the ores of which it formed a part. When the first aluminium article was manufactured—a rattle made for the , Prince Imperial, son of Napoleon 111. the cost of the metal was very great, but the discovery before alluded to_revolu- ! tionised the industry and brought down ; the price. ! Cooking utensils are but one of the , products of aluminium, and there has I been a comparatively small output of ' these as compared: with its many other I forms'. It is a fascinating metal, its : pjhysdcal properties being so marked, 3 and in lightness it is in a class by itself, i Its heat conductivity is the peculiar prof perty—coupled with its lightness^—which b has so adapted it to the manufacture r of cooking utensils. Aluminium cannot be kept looking like e salver or nickel, but it can be easily i kept clean and properly bright for use. " Aluminium utensils generally discolor r when alkaline substances are cooked in s them, and, as the water in various places e differs in degrees of hardness, the action )- varies. The very fact that alkalinity has i- caused the discoloration makes the use :s of soda for cleansing worse than useless. II The inside stains may be easily removed y by sand soap or pure silver sand, and is the polished outside can be kept bright n with any good smooth metal polish. ss With ordinary care these cooking uteni- ails may be handed down to coming geniy ovations as the careful German hausfrau |> hands down the burnished copper pans which adorn- her kitchen. Who ever heard of a German housekeeper complaining that her utensils were difficult to of clean 1 And think of the- polishing to* quired for copper! ■ • "■>■'jiA.'VHj-.iKKivJi